An alpaca sweater, delivered to me from the Andes by NOVICA
An alpaca sweater, delivered to me from the Andes by NOVICA

Still looking for a great holiday gift this year?

NOVICA provides an online platform for talented and traditional artisans from around the world—from the Peruvian Andes to Thailand to Bali—to sell their goods. Specifically, more than 30,000 of these goods are available for sale, from beautifully soft alpaca sweaters to colorful paintings to handmade jewelry, and they are all pretty much guaranteed to be great quality.

The coolest part is this: Though it serves as a for-profit vendor, NOVICA is working for and with the artisans producing world-class products. In association with National Geographic, the company leaves full control of pricing with those whose ingenuity and skill deserve it; it offers 0%-interest loans to craftsmen in need; and it shares the tradition and satisfaction in every piece by introducing customers to the stories of the artisans themselves.

So far, sales through the site have generated more than $46 million dollars for these artisans, which is pretty incredible. And among those dollars now are some that came out of my own experience with NOVICA. I put them towards a beautifully soft alpaca sweater from the Andes, and I couldn’t be happier with how it all went down.

The delivery was swift, and I got an alert during my sweater’s journey telling me it was en route. The packaging was nice enough, and nicer inside the shipping box. More importantly, the sweater came with a Machu Picchu postcard with a thank you note from the artisan himself!

Most importantly, though, the sweater itself, while a bit darker than how it was depicted on the site, turned out to be great. So go ahead and help yourself to a NOVICA treat this holiday season—you’ll help an artisan while you’re at it.

Here’s a quick list of seasonal items NOVICA is currently highlighting:
Handmade Christmas gifts
Alpaca sweaters
Artisan jewelry
Christmas gifts for Dad
Christmas gifts for Mom
Shawls

A letter from the artisan behind my sweater
A postcard from the artisan behind my sweater

Leave a Reply

Required fields are marked *

Recent posts