Fairtrade

ChiselCraft Ltd  a family run business that has imported wood carvings directly from Bali, Java, Thailand, Vietnam & China directly going to each respective country many times  to see working conditions & building good working relationships over many years.

I personally have been importing from Indonesia for nearly 20 years.

I have heard many ‘fairy tales’ regarding other companies buying methods & would like to explain how we conduct our business.

I have built up longstanding relationships with our suppliers.We bring a new design to our suppliers & between us we design & manufactur the new item.When we find a product we like, we talk to the supplier and enquire how much the product is. We also check what wood is used, and the sustainability of the wood.

The supplier will answer our questions and depending on the answers & proof of sustainability, between us we will agree a price for the item..

In my experience in nearly 20 years of trading in Asia, the negotiations are exactly the same as when I negotiate in England or any other part of the world.

The supplier will offer me a price; I will do a calculation that incorporates

Relevant costs such as Packing, transport, container & shipping costs.

We between us agree a price & confirm the order with at least a 50% deposit.

The suppliers are skilled craftsmen & women, they do not work for nothing, If I do not offer enough for the carving, they will politely decline my offer & wait until some one else comes around with a better offer.

I do not have a business without a these crafts people supplying me their carvings , so it would be crazy & stupid for me to offer a paltry amount for something that has been hand made. Also in my Experience, as in any country, if you deal with people in a fair manor , the word will spread that you are ‘bagus business’ Good business and suppliers will want to work with you as they know that they are going to be paid, & also they will have guaranteed work for the future.

It seems many people are jumping on the fair trade bandwagon purely for profit, they will tell you what you want to hear and seem to have no conscience, I can sleep soundly at night, myself & my company have done all we can to make sure both  parties are more than happy in every deal we do. 

Many suppliers we deal with, live and work from home in remote villages, They are litturally 'living the dream' they are earning a good income doing somthing that they love, working with their family in very comfortable conditions. I have become life long friends with many of my suppliers, 

I can only speak for how my company conducts our business in these far away countries. I will not make any extravagant claims that I pay more than the next man for the same wood carvings, or that we are the biggest and best . What I can say is that any suppler who works with ChiselCraft does so with a smile on their face .They know that they will be paid & also they know that they will get repeat business.

We were a member of BAFTS  (British Association for Fair Trade Shops) for a number of years, however we decided not to renew our membership, due to our own Fair Trade ethics, We  were not happy with a fellow members outrageous & far fetched Fair Trade claims,Which in our opinion & in the opinion of other members we spoke to, were basically fairy tales. Please be aware , we are a FairTrade company.