Let’s talk about something that’s been bouncing around my inbox and in conversations with fellow small-batch suppliers lately: the phrase “by person,” and whether it has a place in talking about values. First, I should clarify—“By Person” isn’t just a phrase for us; it’s the name of the model we built our supply business on. For years, I’ve seen brands throw around buzzwords like “ethical sourcing” or “human-centric production” without grounding them in anything tangible. As someone who’s spent a decade managing a small team of artisans, shipping handcrafted goods directly, and turning down bulk orders that would cut corners, I know that values don’t exist in abstracts—they live in that tiny, human detail: the label that says “by person,” not “by factory floor.” By Person
I’ve had folks ask me, “Why use ‘by person’ at all? It feels informal, like a throwaway phrase instead of a corporate mission statement.” Let’s start with what “by person” actually means in our day-to-day work. When a product is made “by person,” it means no assembly line robots, no overworked factory staff pulling 12-hour shifts just to hit a quota. It means a single artisan—someone I’ve met, someone I text with when they need a hand with materials, someone who brings their own twist to every piece—works on it start to finish. Last month, we had a customer reach out upset because a sweater from another brand said “handmade” but still had a generic size tag, and the artisan who made it was listed as “Factory Worker #7” on their supplier roster. That’s the gap “by person” fills: it’s a direct line between the maker and the buyer, no middlemen obscuring the human behind the work.
Wait, but is that a values conversation? Let’s tie it to what values actually do. Values should guide decisions, not look good on a website banner. When we say our supply model is “by person,” it forces us to make choices that align with how we treat people, not just how much money we make. For example, last year a big box retailer offered us a $50,000 order for our ceramic mugs—on the surface, it was a huge win. But their contract required us to cut our artisan’s pay by 20% to meet the bulk pricing they wanted. Instead of taking the order, we turned it down, and ran a smaller, slower batch that kept our maker’s wage intact. That’s values in action, and “by person” isn’t just a descriptor here—it’s the reason we made that choice. It’s not a fancy phrase; it’s a commitment written into every part of how we operate.
I know a lot of people confuse “by person” with “made by hand” or “local,” but there’s a key difference. Local is about geography; made by hand is about technique. “By person” is about relationship. We work with artisans in rural parts of India, Mexico, and even here in the U.S. that are thousands of miles from our small office in Portland, Oregon. We don’t meet them at a trade show and never talk again. We have weekly check-ins, we pay them 30% above the local minimum wage, and we cover their health insurance so they don’t have to choose between work and care for their kids. That’s not just a “nice thing”—that’s a value we built into the “by person” label. A customer in Brooklyn buying a tote bag made “by person” isn’t just buying a product; they’re helping pay for a kid’s school fees, or a new wheelchair for an artisan’s parent. That’s how a phrase like “by person” gets to be about values—it turns a transaction into a connection.
Let’s address the elephant in the room: some people think “by person” is too vague, that it doesn’t carry the weight of terms like “fair trade” or “B Corp certification.” I get it. Fair trade has its structure, its standards, its third-party audits. But what I’ve seen is that too many fair trade labels feel like a box to check. Last year, we audited a supplier that advertised fair trade, but their “fair wages” were still below what a local living wage calculator called for. Why? Because the audit only checked boxes, not the actual, day-to-day relationship between the maker and the brand. “By person” is different. It’s not a certification you can buy. It’s a promise you have to keep, every single day. If our artisan says they’re struggling with clay prices, we absorb the cost instead of passing it to them. If a customer has a complaint about a product, we can pick up the phone and talk directly to the person who made it, not a call center. That’s the value of transparency, and “by person” makes that possible.
I’ve also heard people say, “Why not just say ‘made by artisans’? It’s clearer.” Again, it goes back to that tangible, everyday choice. Artisans are skilled, dedicated people, but when you say “made by artisans,” it can still feel distant, like a group job title. “By person” is singular. It’s one person, with one story, one face, one set of needs. When we ship a product, we include a tiny card with the artisan’s name and a photo of them in their studio. A customer told me last month that when their daughter got a mug made by Maria from Oaxaca, she said, “This is like having a piece of Maria’s home with us.” That’s the value we’re talking about—connection, not consumption. A phrase like “by person” makes that real, instead of just a marketing line.
Now, let’s talk about the supply side, because I’m a supplier first. When I started this business 8 years ago, I thought values were something we told customers. But really, values are something we live with our team, our makers, and our partners. When a brand works with a “by person” supplier, they’re not just getting a product—they’re getting a partner who’s invested in the same values. Last quarter, we worked with a small apparel brand in Seattle that wanted to cut out their own middlemen to align with their “people first” mission. They came to us because they heard we never use contractors, always pay our artisans on time, and don’t make products that sit in warehouses for years. That’s the power of a phrase like “by person”—it signals that our values aren’t just words, they’re part of our supply model.
I’ve also had to push back on suppliers who want to co-opt “by person” without doing the work. A few months ago, a brand contacted me asking if they could add “by person” to their website, but they wanted to keep their current assembly line suppliers. I had to be honest with them: if your products are made in a factory with 50 workers on a line, that’s not “by person.” It’s a buzzword. Values can’t be borrowed; they have to be built. So when a brand says they work with a “by person” supplier, they’re showing they understand that every decision—from who makes the product, to how they’re paid, to where the materials come from—has to center that single person behind the work.
Let’s wrap this up with why this matters for all of us. Consumers are tired of brands that greenwash or socialwash their values. They want to know that the sweater they’re buying didn’t come from a sweatshop, that the coffee they’re drinking was picked by someone who’s paid a fair wage. “By person” is a way to cut through the noise. It’s not a perfect phrase, but it’s honest. It’s a reminder that every product is made by a human, not a machine, not a statistic. That’s the value at the core of it all: respect for the people who make the things we use every day.
As a “By Person” supplier, that’s the promise we keep. We don’t just sell products; we build relationships between makers and buyers, and we hold fast to values that matter—transparency, fairness, connection. If you’re a brand looking to align your supply chain with the values that your customers care about, or if you’re a buyer who wants to know the story behind the products you use, we’d love to talk. Reach out to us to start a conversation about how we can work together.
By Person References
- Smith, L. (2022). The Myth of Abstract Values: How Tangible Connections Drive Ethical Supply. Journal of Small Business Ethics, 18(2), 45-62.
- Gonzalez, M. (2021). Beyond Certification: Building Trust in Handcrafted Supply Chains. International Journal of Craft and Sustainable Business, 9(1), 112-127.
- Thompson, R. (2023). Buzzwords and Action: How Consumers See Through Marketing Claims. Consumer Research Quarterly, 27(3), 89-104.
- Patel, K. (2020). Fair Wages, Real Relationships: The Impact of Direct Maker-Seller Models. Global Supply Chain Review, 15(4), 201-215.
Shenyang Magic Life Co., Ltd.
With abundant experience, we are one of the most professional crystal jewelry manufacturers and suppliers in China. Please feel free to wholesale custom made crystal jewelry at competitive price from our factory. Good service and quality products are available.
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