When people buy something handmade, they rarely describe it as a transaction. They talk about supporting  someone.They talk about connection .They talk about care . The object matters, but it isn’t the whole story. What’s being exchanged often feels larger than the thing itself. That raises an uncomfortable question: when we buy handmade, are we buying a product — or entering a relationship? Handmade carries expectations that mass production doesn’t A mug bought from a superm