Frequently Asked Questions

If you need to contact us, please call 877-709-3845 or email ethix@solidarityexchange.com. It's inspiring to get your phone calls and e-mails!

You can also visit our bio page to learn more about the projects of those involved with Solidarity eXchange.

Solidarity eXchange is best described as an affiliate program for Ethix Merch. Our goal is to drive custom merchandise purchases toward labor- and eco-friendly factories.

If you agree with our goal, then register and tell us about yourself. We’ll email you when we receive your submission. Be prepared to respond with a good time to set up a phone conversation so we can answer questions and make sure we're on the same page.

If you are a part of Solidarity eXchange, then you receive several resources to support your efforts. These include: coupon cards, a personalized page on the Ethix Merch website, and access to password-only resources on this website.

You then use these resources to spread the word about Ethix Merch. Your main goal as a program member is to let others know we exist for their custom merchandise needs- and we will respect the planet and people when helping them! You can take as much or as little time engaging with us, there's no minimum commitment to participate.

We value people's labor- your time and energy. We know how difficult it is to find work, and stay employed. We know it can be challenging to spread the word and shift your friend's purchasing dollars to support worker rights instead of sweatshops.

That's why Solidarity eXchange does offer compensation for your efforts. But, you are welcome to join our community and donate the 5% referral fee instead! We currently send annual contributions to these organizations.

No, but it could be! When you first join then you can fill out a W-9 and work as an independent contractor if you want to receive 5% of all sales resulting from your efforts. This means you set your own schedule, working as much or as little as you like. If you really enjoy the tasks and think you could do it full-time, then talk to us… we just may be ready to hire a new Merchant Adventurer!

Read Daniel's Story to learn more about what full time selling is like for an activist.

There’s also the donation option, where 5% of your sales would go toward these groups. Whether you are paid or donate, you have the flexibility to promote Ethix whenever you want, however you want with our resources and support.

Ethix Ventures, Inc. is the legal corporation necessary for Ethix Merch to be able to sell ethical custom merch. Ethix Merch is the webstore that drives customers to purchase ethical merch. Solidarity eXchange is the word-of-mouth affiliate program to get more people to buy through Ethix Merch. Ultimately, all these actions support the workers in good factories!

Here is a graphic of these relationships:

You can read more about us at our bio page. Feel free to contact us personally if you have further questions!

We look to a variety of certifications, non-profit endorsement, and union reputation before deciding to offer a product to our clients. Every item on the Ethix Merch website is labeled with at least one of the following tags: Union Made, Locally Made in USA, Fair Trade, or Eco Friendly. You can read more about these four tags here.

Further, it is important for us to acknowledge the challenge of finding the "perfect" product. While we are confident everything we sell is in some way better than the status quo, it's a process to further push our industry to utilize even better labor and environmental standards. We look forward to the challenge, and hope you will join us- whether through nonprofits, activism, product development, or Solidarity eXchange!

That's exactly right- you must have read our Union Made or Fair Trade pages! We feel strongly that workers everywhere deserve representation. Whether they choose to do so through a union or have the privilege to arrange democratically structured worker-ownership, we agree with the most respected NGOs that this is the best way for workers to have a voice.

There is a Fair Trade USA apparel label, but it has come under criticism from several groups. Ethix Merch is watching with interest to see if this apparel will be made in factories with legitimate union representation and union wages. If you have further questions or concerns about this, we hope you will talk with us.

Organic, recycled, or locally produced products help us accomplish our goal of environmental protection. You can learn more about these ideas at our Eco Friendly and Locally Made in USA pages.

Of course, the majority of consumption has a negative impact on our planet- no matter how "green" something seems, it uses energy. So, we are careful never to promote new consumption. By the time we have our first interaction, our clients have already decided to make a purchase. Therefore, our role is ensuring that purchase is not as negative as it might have been.

Through this process, we get to learn what inspires people to consume. Oftentimes it’s because custom merchandise is the best way to get across a worthwhile message, (when television or other advertising may be impossible financially).

It's also important to us to balance the need for environmental protections with the need for good green jobs. We are excited about innovations in the industry to allow this to happen!

These are the nonprofits and unions we respect. You can learn about numerous campaigns and projects by exploring the websites of these organizations! If you have any questions, let us know- we have friends who work at several of them.