October is Fair Trade Month. Fair trade recognizes the hard work and craftsmanship of farmers, artisans and workers by ensuring they are justly compensated for their products. Developing fair trade standards takes a substantial investment of time and money to make sure they benefit producers. As such, fair trade organizations, like the FLO, have focused on developing standards for industries that have the largest impact on small producers worldwide, like agriculture and some manufactured products.
Why Isn’t Palms Trading Company Certified by the Fair Trade Organization?
Currently, there are no fair trade standards for Native American art, pottery or jewelry—so there is no certification for us to obtain.
How does Palms Trading Company Ensure Fair Trade?
Palms Trading Company takes great care to honor the spirit of fair trade. We do this in a number of ways:
Fair Pricing
Paying a fair price to Native American artists is essential to maintaining a sustainable market that keeps their traditions alive. Since there is no database available to check similar pieces, pricing Native American art demands evaluating several components, including things like:
- Authenticity
- Intricacy
- Technique
- Reputation of the Artist
Evaluating all of these components and determining the quality of a piece is something you learn through observation over time.
Relationships
To us, selling and appreciating Native American art is more than just finding great pieces to share with collectors—it’s also creating relationships with the artists and learning the stories behind their work. We honor the artists we work with and the traditions they preserve by striving to create personal relationships with them.
When you choose Palms Trading Company for your Native American jewelry, pottery and art, you can be confident that you are getting an authentic piece and helping to sustain Native American art traditions. You can also be confident that you are getting a fair price for your purchase. Since we buy directly from the artists, there’s no middleman distributor—and that allows us to pass on the savings to you.