Frequently asked questions
Nineteen questions about buying handmade, and about how this site works.
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These are the questions that come up most often, grouped by what they are actually about: the marketplace, the objects, the buying, and this site. Where a full answer needs more room, there is a link to the guide that covers it properly.
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What is Amazon Handmade?
A separate marketplace inside Amazon where sellers apply to be admitted, must make what they sell, and are prohibited from selling mass-produced goods. It is not the same as the general Amazon catalog and the rules are genuinely different. Amazon Handmade explained covers how approval works and where enforcement is thin.
Is Amazon Handmade the same as Etsy?
No. Etsy is a standalone marketplace with far more sellers and a broader definition of what qualifies; Amazon Handmade is smaller, more tightly gated at entry, and rides on Amazon's shipping and returns. Amazon Handmade vs Etsy compares them without pretending either is a moral choice.
Is there a legal definition of handmade?
Not in the United States. The FTC regulates specific claims like Made in USA, but handmade itself is undefined in law, which is exactly why marketplace rules do more work than the law does. What handmade actually means covers this.
How can I tell if a listing is really handmade?
Check whether it sits in the Handmade marketplace rather than the general catalog, whether the seller is a named person or workshop, whether the listing states a material and a dimension rather than adjectives, and whether the same photograph appears on twenty other listings. Spotting resold mass production walks through each signal.
What do your handmade, maker-direct and factory labels mean?
Handmade means the item was returned under Amazon's Handmade search index — a checkable fact about the listing. Maker-direct means an identifiable independent maker selling outside that marketplace. Factory means mass-produced, and we list those only when they are genuinely the better buy. The full definitions are on how we pick.
Why do you recommend factory-made items at all?
Because occasionally one is the better purchase for the reader — a well-made production board at half the price of a mediocre artisan one, for instance. Handmade pays us a higher commission, so recommending the factory option costs us money. It gets labeled every time.
Why is there no score or rating on your product cards?
Because we have not handled these objects, so a number out of ten would be invented rather than measured. You get a stated best-use, a plain verdict, the specs the listing actually states, and a caveat where one applies.
Have you tested any of these products?
No, and we say so on every page rather than burying it. There is no lab here. What we publish is what is checkable, plus reasoning about which option suits which person. About explains the position in full.
Are the prices on this site current?
They are pulled from Amazon's API on a daily schedule and stamped with the date taken. If our data goes older than 48 hours the number disappears and the button reverts to Check price, because a stale price is worse than no price.
Why does one product show a price and another says Check price?
Either our data for that item expired, or the product currently has no buyable offer. We never substitute a remembered or estimated number.
Will I pay the price shown here?
You pay Amazon's price at the moment of purchase, which may differ from ours. Personalization and shipping can add to it. Our number is a timestamped snapshot, not a quote.
How far ahead should I order a handmade gift?
Two weeks for anything personalized or made to order, three to four weeks in November and December. The bottleneck is one person at a bench, not a courier, so the usual retail shipping cutoffs do not apply.
Can I return a handmade item?
Usually, under Amazon's standard returns policy — but personalized and made-to-order items are typically excluded, and that exclusion is the single most common surprise in this category. Check the listing before you commit to an engraving.
Why does the item look different from the photograph?
Because handmade goods vary, and in some crafts they vary a lot. Kantha quilts are stitched from recycled sari fabric and are materially unique; full-grain leather differs in grain and shade between hides; glaze color shifts with kiln position. The photograph is a representative sample rather than a promise, and honest listings say so.
Is personalization always a good idea?
No. It is right when the object commemorates a specific event — a wedding, a retirement, a first Christmas — and wrong when the object is simply a good object that the recipient might want to replace or pass on. It also usually removes your right to return.
Is handmade always more expensive?
Not below about twenty-five dollars, where handmade soap, keychains and bookmarks compete directly on price. The gap opens above fifty dollars, where the handmade version often costs two to three times the factory one — because you are paying for hours rather than materials.
Can a handmade cutting board go in the dishwasher?
No, and this is the single most common way a gifted board dies. Heat and prolonged wet separate the glue joints and the board splits. Hand wash, dry upright, oil it periodically. Wooden cutting board care is four minutes well spent.
Is handmade pottery microwave and dishwasher safe?
It depends on the glaze rather than the clay. Anything with metallic lustre must never go in a microwave, and crazed glazes should not go in a dishwasher. If the listing does not say, hand wash. Handmade pottery care has the test.
How does this site make money?
Amazon Associates commission on purchases made through links here, at no extra cost to you. No maker pays for placement and none can. The full accounting, including the incentive it creates, is on affiliate disclosure.
How do I report an error?
Through the contact page or info@wickandwhittle.com. Corrections are the messages we most want to receive, and they get made.