Guides · Sourcing
Almost none of that gap is profit. It is nine specific differences, none of which show up in a photograph — and once you can name them, you can read any quote in this category, including ours.
None of those differences is visible in a product photograph. All of them are visible in the numbers further down the quote, which is why the two lists below are worth more than anyone's promise about quality. This is written for anyone buying handwoven pieces for the first time, and you can send all nine questions to us or to anybody else.
Nothing here is specific to one supplier. These are the mechanics of the category, and they are the reason two numbers can both be honest and still be 40% apart.
A tight weave is not a stylistic upgrade, it is hours of labour. The weaver sets the spacing by hand, row by row, and a piece reading as a solid surface can take several times as long as an open one of the same diameter. That difference is real labour time and it lands directly in the price — and much later, in whether the piece still sits flat on a wall.
Sun-drying takes 7 to 15 days and cannot be compressed: it is weather, not labour. A kiln does the same job in roughly a day, but the outside of the strip dries faster than the inside, and the stress locked in then is what later becomes a crack in a dry room. This is the single least visible and most consequential difference between two quotes, because it costs nothing to skip and takes months to show up. The full sequence is here.
Split by hand, a strip stays within roughly a millimetre of its width along its whole length, and the weaver reads where the node and the grain are. Machine-cut strips are faster, dead straight, and fray at the edge, which wastes material and shows in the finished surface as light and dark bands. Ask which one it is; the answer tells you most of what you need to know about how the piece was made.
A locked or wrapped edge, where every end is folded back into the binding, takes time and stays tight for years. A thick band appearing from nowhere at the edge usually has loose ends underneath it. Look at the edge first — it is the fastest single check in this whole category, and you can do it in a photograph.
This one quietly moves freight per piece by multiples. Shallow pieces that nest, or that can be sent flat-packed, fill a carton usefully. Deep baskets shipped one per box carry mostly air. A consultation about the shape is worth more than a negotiation about the unit price, because it changes a cost you pay on every reorder rather than once.
This is the line most first-time buyers discover too late. Carriers bill whichever is greater: the actual weight, or the volumetric weight, which is the carton's length times width times height divided by a divisor in the region of 5,000 or 6,000 depending on the service. A carton around 35 × 35 × 15 centimetres holding a single light piece can therefore be billed as though it weighed around three kilograms rather than one. Woven pieces are usually air. Ask how the freight figure was calculated and what carton size it assumes.
Sampling, a new shape, a new finish — these are one-off costs that have to sit somewhere. Spread over twenty pieces they are visible in the unit price; spread over three hundred they nearly vanish. That is why the step between quantities is more informative than any single figure, and why asking for prices at two or three volumes tells you more than asking for a discount.
The rate you pay depends on the customs classification, and handwoven plant-fibre pieces can fall under different headings — straw under 4602.12, other plant materials under 4602.90 — which is why two suppliers can honestly quote two different duty outcomes for the same object. Thresholds move: the United Kingdom has a relief on consignments below £135 while overseas sellers supplying UK consumers generally have to register for VAT and charge it, and the European Union has been replacing its low-value exemption with a per-category charge. Rules change often enough that you should confirm current thresholds with your own authority before pricing anything.
A weather-dependent step makes the schedule genuinely uncertain: rain extends sun-drying and nothing moves it along safely. Add sea transit and a first order is measured in months, not weeks. Ask three things — how long production takes, how long transit takes, and what happens if a week of rain arrives between the two. A supplier who answers those three in specific numbers is describing a process they actually control.
Two counters can be a thousand kilometres apart and still both be right, but only one of these answers can be checked.
| Ask this | An answer you can check | An answer that tells you nothing |
|---|---|---|
| What plant is it, and how long was it dried? | Bamboo, split by hand, sun-dried 7 to 15 days | Natural material, eco-friendly |
| What are the carton dimensions and how many pieces per carton? | Figures in centimetres, plus pieces per carton | Standard export carton |
| Is that freight by weight or by volume? | Volumetric, with the divisor named | Freight is cheap at this quantity |
| Which HS code do you declare? | A specific heading, stated | Do not worry, we handle customs |
| What is included in this figure? | Production, freight, duty, tax, fees — itemised | Everything |
| How long is production, and how long transit? | Two numbers, separately | Around a month |
| What happens if production slips? | Who pays for what, written down | There will be no delay |
| Price at 20 pieces and at 100? | A visible step you can reason about | Bigger is always better |
| Can I see how the edge is finished? | A close photograph of the edge, unposed | A catalogue page |
Do not compare unit prices. Divide everything you will actually pay by everything you can actually sell:
The numerator is the part people forget. The denominator is the part that hurts: pieces damaged in transit, or rejected on arrival, still cost money and are not in either number most buyers compare. If one quote is 40% cheaper but arrives boxed one per carton with duty unpaid, it is frequently the more expensive of the two by the time it reaches your shelf.
We do not publish what we pay. What we do answer is all nine of the questions above, because they are questions about a specification and about shipping physics, not about anyone's margins. If you send us those nine, we will send back one delivered figure for the quantity you asked about, with freight, duty and tax included, within two working days.
We are a small operation and the first production run for a new style is often the one you are buying. We would rather say that here than have you find it later.
[email protected] — we answer within two working days. Wholesale enquiries worldwide.