Anyone who wants to buy a handbag that helps save the world has hundreds of options. They are online, in boutiques, in natural food stores, etc. The bags of this project will not join their ranks and compete in the same small market.

I am pretty convinced that just knowing it “helps the poor people” or is “environmentally responsible” actually isn’t enough to inspire most people to pull out the wallet.

People want to buy things that add value to THEIR lives. I think fair trade marketers make the mistake of emphasizing the need of the producers and treating the product and its benefits as secondary.

There are three reasons why I will not do this.

1. I don’t think it will work.
2. I don’t think it’s ethical.
3. I don’t think it’s truthful. When I went to this community the first time, I was a bit overwhelmed by its poverty: lots of mud, few shoes, scarcity of food, stick houses, etc. But when I saw these bags, they completely stood out. Somehow, amid all those meager conditions, the Ngobe people had managed to preserve one of their last “high arts” (with the invasion of the Spanish, they lost their homeland and many of their crafts). Everyone who visits appreciates their value.

So in order to do justice to this craft, I have to sell it as what I see it is. These are special, rare, and the result of great skill and hard work.

What I know from my market research experience is that people judge a thing’s value in large part by its price. If such a bag has a price tag of $15, you figure it’s worth $15. If a bag has a price of $1500, you probably say “Yikes! That’s expensive!” But your second thought will be “…..hmm, why IS IT so expensive?” And the mind will open to the idea that what is before you is extremely special.

To some, this might sound like manipulation. But the truth is that any price is manipulation, high or low – it affects a consumer’s perception. I have to pick a price: I want to pick a price that makes people understand and appreciate that this is a valuable work of art.

I also understand that if this venture gets the opportunity to grow, it will be pretty tricky to manage the supply. It involves trekking to places without roads, communicating with women who only speak their indigenous language, finding the best artisans, and then waiting patiently for them to make more. These are bags that, because of their inherent limitedness cannot be made available to everyone.

At the same time, the people who truly believe in them and feel an affinity should be able to buy them: they should not be priced out of reach.

In the end, after extensive research, the best range of price seems to be $200 to $350 each.

If Louis Vuitton can charge $2000 for a bag you see 5 times a day in the grocery store, we can charge $200 for a one-of-a-kind piece of indigenous art.

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