Despite creating intricate designs that require a lot of skill and time, Latin American artisans are often shorted by buyers. Because these craftspeople are often not in a position to turn down money, they end up selling their one-of-a-kind pieces for less than they’re worth. A new campaign in Mexico, however, aims to change the way people look at their products.
Mensajeros Urbanos – a group known for various social experiments – worked with a group of artisans from Oaxaca to try a new method. “We sold the items in a different way,” Gerardo Alcobenda, the collective’s creator, told Verne. “We talked about the time it took to create the piece to show the number of hours it requires.”
The collective documented it all on a new video that has since gone viral. The short recording had a male artisan try out both methods. In one, he told people the price of the product; 70 percent of people tried to haggle. In the other, when people asked the cost of the item, he responded by telling them the number of hours that went into the product. Only 10 percent of people then tried to barter.
Check out the video below.