We aim to always provide quality products, give honest information and respect our customers, suppliers and all those with whom we work. 

 This is what we view as real 'fair-trade' for all concerned. 

For many years, Planet-Craft was pretty much a 'one-man band' - me!  So, 'I', 'we' and 'Planet-Craft' really just meant the same thing; me and all those who have been involved along the way.  However, Tim and Liz at Heritage in Suffolk have now joined the gang and are more and more involved in the business - thankfully.  They are 'artisans' themselves, and you can click through to their page here (CLICK). 

Whilst living and travelling in Brazil I became very interested in Brazilian artisan craft and recognized the wealth of quality products made by artisans and their families (see page on Brazilian Artisan Craft).  You tend to find groups of artisans making the same kind of thing in their local area.  There can be quite a difference in quality between producers of the 'same product'.

   On the trail in Tiradentes, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

After moving from Brazil to Ireland friends wanted the leather beanbags and pouffes I'd brought back.  We first began selling these at Blackrock Market in Dublin and supplied some local interior designers.  We started selling online in 2003.  Trips to Argentina, Iran, Mexico and Egypt have since allowed us to meet other artisans and we now offer their prouducts as well. Maria, based in Ireland, has helped seeking out a women's co-operative, making hammocks, back in Piauí, Brazil, on her trips back home.

 Frames, frames and more frames, Cape Town.

Our ideas about selling:   From the start we developed the business without compromsing certain ideals.  We wanted to develop a website that is product orientated rather than sales orientated. Our website is informative and honest rather than slick and trendy.  For example?  We don't use cliches like 'hand-made' and 'unique' unless that really is relevant to the product.  Let's be honest - sometimes machine-stitched stuff is better than hand-stitched - sometimes not.  We really try hard to give as much useful information on our site as possible since ideally you would see these items first before buying.  We really have tried to take lots of pictures so you can really get a feel for each product.  We price things 'properly' - in other words we don't write 'normally £400' if it's normally £325.  As you can see from our site there's no selling of lifestyle here - just products which, if you like them, sell themselves.  We're constantly trying to improve the site without taking away from the products themselves.  We try our best to 'do as we would be done by' - we return calls, deal with any queries and try to always keep our customers informed.

Our ideas about buying:  We have sought out the very best examples of traditional crafts from Brazil, Argentina, Iran, Mexico and Egypt that suit modern homes .  We buy direct from artisans, their families and their small businesses.  We consider ourselves friends of all those with whom we deal.  We find what we want and develop lasting relationships and don't look for cheaper suppliers.  We are a small company who deal with other small companies and so offer an alternative to mass produced and mass marketed products.  Due to the way the artisans work they simply can't produce large quantities.  That's why many of the products we sell have cheaper alternatives on the market that are mass-produced.  Mass produced iPhones and Sunday Times papers are great but there's an intrinsic value in what we are selling.  Each product's manufacture only involves a few people and they put something of themselves into each piece work.  We don't put pressure on our suppliers to work in a way that would reduce quality, or pride in products, or working conditions or that would encourage out-sourcing.  We also don't want to brand the products 'Planet Craft' - that would be to take away from the artisans.

We also care about the origin of the products we sell. We have a keen interest in animal welfare, the environment and working conditions and work hard to ensure your custom, through our small business, is a force for good.  Many businesses (and customers) pay lip service to this kind of ethos these days - we're not doing it to brand ourselves 'green'.  It feels right for us.  What does it mean in practice?  It may, for example, mean making a phone call to the artisan to check the origin of a certain leather, or, saying no to something even though you know it may make you a little money!  

The website:  We have built our website up over the past seven years.  Time, toil, money and . . . lot's more time.  It's an on-going project.  There's always so much that could be better . . . . but, there's only so much time anyone should sit staring at a screen! If you like the site and want one too, contact Nick at DDL in Uley (www.databasedevelopments.com).  We also rely on our phone-a-friend guys Rod in London and Steve (www.apple-crumble.co.uk) in Newlyn.   

We aim to make the site gimmick-free, jargon-free and generally 'straight-up'.  Please let us know what you think and have any suggestions about making it clearer and less frustrating.  We always welcome feedback - especially competitor research from Miss Sherbrooke's 11 WG class.

         Taking pictures takes a long, long time.

Our photos? Well, many are poor, we know but it's impossible to do studio shots for all one-off items.  We're trying to constantly improve this as we want the photos to reflect the quality of the products.  We put the Planet Craft logo watermark on the photos not to claim any 'branding' status but to stop other people taking them and using them on their site - as they do with our ideas!

 Why the hands? We let the hands of the artisans do the talking!

Enough - Take me Home!