How to get the most out of BFCM... but ethically!!

Shop ethical fashion from Palestinian makers!

Update 2021: Last two years have been a challenge to all of us all around the world. We believe that our artisans are among the most affected by the closures due to the global pandemic.

Most of our artisans depend on selling in markets, events and festivals that happen locally in Ramallah, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jafa, Nazareth and other cities, in addition to markets held abroad.

With the closures, and many unprepared to sell online, or don't even have any online presence, we believe its our job to support the sale of their handicrafts via this website.

We also invite you, reading this right now, to help us share our web page with your friends and family, and invite them to participate and play an active role in supporting the artisans and shopping ethically this year's season and every season. 

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Can BFCM be ethical?

If you are following us you most probably keep a close eye on buying ethically sourced products or have heard of how unethical black friday, cyber monday is due to “unsustainable consumption”, which fuels the climate change, and doesn’t pay fair wages to its employees. “Do we really need another piece of plastic in our homes? Must we really buy something only because it’s cheap? Is it really worth our while spending a day fighting over poorly made items of clothing?”. 

Also remember that small businesses and ethical brands such as Handmade Palestine can’t compete with the offers of bigger brands like Amazon, Ebay and Apple but we look at this as an opportunity to give you a discounted pricing to encourage you to support the makers, which means more opportunities for them to get their handicrafts to you. Meanwhile we can’t give you big discounts on all collections, as some collections we make small margins on, but carry for the sake of supporting the makers. Whereas 99% of the items we carry are handmade, meaning they cost more and take more time to finish, making it almost impossible to compete with the cost of China made items that are easily replicated using a machine in the count of few minutes.

So are we in on BFCM? Yes we are. We think it’s a good chance to help our artisans get more of their work out to the world. Hence, we put here some tips to help you prepare, the more you prepare means the more buck you save. Everything in life take some preparation, doesn’t it?

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are a great opportunity for you to get good deals and to get those handicrafts that you’ve always saved in your cart or your wishlist. But this time let’s agree to only seek out and buy from retailers that are ethically sourcing their items, meaning less waste, less environmental damage, fair opportunities, and fair wages to the makers and their employees.

Here are some tips for how to get the most out of BFCM:

• Follow: make sure to follow your favorite brands on social media; this is where they will be posting about their deals and offers especially on Facebook & Instagram.
• Sign-up: It’s obvious when you sign-up for a brand’s newsletter they will most likely offer you something for free in return. Could be a shopping guide, or a discount code to use on check-out. And in the case of BFCM they will most probably push out deals and discounts to their lists first. And you want to be on that list.
• Click here to sign-up for our newsletter and get %10 OFF your next purchase.

Some tips in how to find and support ethical brands:

* The key here is to search for retailers using keywords on google, or hashtags on Instagram such as ethical brands, or ethically sourced, eco-friendly products, made in Palestine, Handmade in Palestine.

*Go to their websites, read more about how the products they sell are made and who made them.

*Ask the retailer, if you have to, about how fairly are the makers paid. For us we always tell our customers that we pay most of our artisans up front because for many of them selling the handicrafts they've made is their only source of income--you can now read more about our artisans here.

*You might want to support a cause of interest. A lot of websites are donating a certain percentage of their profits to supporting good causes, raising awareness about contemporary issues such as climate change, or supporting a children's center. To do that in your search use keywords such as: brands that are supporting [keyword for the cause you want to support].

Did you know that Handmade Palestine donates 100% of its profits to Juthour's Arboretum in Palestine?

CLICK HERE >> SUPPORT OUR CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN