In this global economy everyone is quite aware that when we shop at most online chain stores, we are in many cases, spending our American dollars overseas. We usually choose to visit chain stores to find high quality at lower prices, but even in high end stores, a quick label inspection might reveal the overseas origins of a $450 purse.

The reality is that when American dollars are spent at stores that support foreign manufacturing, the money goes out of our economy and never comes back. This easily results in lower wages and layoffs for American workers, and some of them could easily be part of your family or a neighbor down the street.

Today the quality of manufactured items is at an all-time low, but because of the supposed affordability, we are somehow forced to buy them, not realizing that we have other choices. Handmade products are generally far better in more ways than one, and they should be sought out whenever possible. Consider these reasons to buy handmade items, and discover why handcrafted goods are almost always better than anything made by machine.

Higher Quality 

Quality is one of the biggest reasons to buy...