We do not pay our Artisan Partners a salary or a percentage of the sale price.
We partner with artisan businesses, cooperatives and non-profits. We pay our Artisan Partners for the work they do up front: 50% when we place an order and 50% when the order is shipped to us. This allows our partners to purchase raw materials and to pay fair wages to Artisans while they create our products.
In developing countries, artisan businesses often do not have access to credit. Advance payments enable our partners to grow their businesses sustainably.  Not only do the Artisans have consistent work by working with our groups, they are also guaranteed to be paid fairly per the standard of living in their country. Typically, this is 4x-12x more than they would be paid if they had other consistent work.