Fair-trade e-commerce is about to get interesting

When I first learned about World of Good, I was pretty excited about it. Unlike other web retailers of housewares, accessories, and gifts, it peddles only fair-trade, sustainably made products. It also actively supports worldwide community-development projects through its nonprofit arm.

Granted, World of Good’s selection is somewhat limited, but that’s because of the stringent process it follows to choose its vendors, most of whom are small groups of artisans. All are affiliated with social and economic development programs, and each product is screened in regards to its environmental footprint, production process, and community benefit.

All very cool.

But what got me really excited was talking with World of Good’s global marketing associate Matt Levinthal about an upcoming project: a joint effort by World of Good and eBay to create a large online marketplace for ethically made artisanal products. The platform itself doesn’t have a name yet, but the initiative to develop it is called Project Good. The goal is to launch before the holidays.

Levinthal says the site will feature multiple sellers (including World of Good), thousands of products, and, most important, about 25 different “trust providers”—independent, mission-driven verifying organizations with clear sets of standards—to give users the type of information that is so sorely lacking in most shopping environments: details on sustainability, labor conditions, etc.

“People really want to make good choices, but it’s just not easy for them to do it,” Levinthal says.

Don’t expect to be able to buy any type of product on the site. It’ll be a source for things like handmade jewelry, apparel, home furnishings, and chocolate, not DVDs and lawn mowers.

But the important thing about this project is that it will advance the notion of social responsibility as an in-demand product attribute—as well as the idea that we consumers have a right to know what goes into the making of all the stuff we buy. If this initiative takes off, there will be a demand for similar enterprises that cover even more product categories. (The closest thing I can think of that currently exists is Alonovo, which I’ve blogged about before, but for it to reach the next level, it needs to provide ratings for far more goods than it is currently able to.)

 “Access to information enables consumers to make good choices,” Levinthal says. “Companies will have to follow. That whole idea of a third-party verifier, trade organization, or some other body that provides approval will become the only thing that people trust, and will become the norm, we believe.”

Comments

[Scott James]

Yes, this will be interesting, and exciting!

We're one of the many vendors to be featured in the upcoming Project Good, for our line of sports balls that are certified Fair Trade, as well as eco-certified.

But given that the code base is on eBay, I don't see any reason why Project Good cannot expand rapidly to include items like DVDs and lawn mowers.

- Scott James
Fair Trade Sports
www.fairtradesports.com
Fair Trade Eco-Soccer Balls!

[Bronwyn Ximm]

I hope you're right, because that would be amazing. I imagine the biggest barrier to that scenario is getting the manufacturers of things like DVDs and lawn mowers on board with the idea that even those types of products can be ethically made and certified as such. I'm guessing that may be a foreign concept right now, particularly to the ones located in countries where sweatshops are common.

Then again, I didn't know anyone was making fair-trade sports balls (thanks for commenting and letting me know about your very cool company!), so maybe that goal is not so far out of reach.

Bronwyn Ximm
walletmouth.com

[Scott James]

That's the most common reaction we get from our customers, both resellers and end consumers..."I had no idea" or "I had not stopped to think about it" when thinking about who actually makes their sports ball.

I'm pleased with the direction the eco-movement is going...moving into larger companies like GE so their managers are catching a clue that they can have a significant positive impact on our environment with their sourcing and production choices. That's great, because I believe we can get them to consider the social justice aspects of their choices after that (e.g. Fair Trade).

- Scott James
Fair Trade Sports
Blog: www.fairtradesports.com
Fair Trade Eco Soccer Balls!