According to Klarna's 2023 Shopping Index, a global payment services company operating in multiple countries, from January to September 2023, the average sales of friendship bracelets in the surveyed countries (including the US, UK, Germany, Sweden, Spain, France, Italy, and Poland) increased by 157%. In September last year, sales of friendship bracelets in the US increased by 91%, while in Sweden, they grew by 108%. At the same time, friendship bracelets were also very popular in Italy, France, Poland, Spain, and the UK. Moreover, new data from eBay shows a 15,200% increase in sales for friendship bracelets.

Friendship Bracelets in History

Some sources suggest friendship bracelets can be traced back to the mid-20th century Indigenous communities of Central and South America. During this period, bracelets began to become popular as handmade crafts, often sold as souvenirs to visitors. It wasn't until the 1970s that macrame friendship bracelets became common among hippies, a period that emphasized peace, love, and global awareness. Friendship bracelets were often symbols of friendship and peace, becoming popular among young people in the United States and Europe.

In the 90s and early 2000s, friendship bracelets became a part of teen culture. It was popular for schoolchildren to use "scoubidou" to create bracelets in a variety of knotted patterns, traded across the playground. They symbolized commitment and loyalty between friends and were a popular gift, especially at summer camps and in schools.

In recent years, the widespread use of the internet and the rise of social media have made it easier for people to learn how to make bracelets, and with the rise of DIY culture, friendship bracelets have gained global attention once again. People can freely choose colors and materials based on personal preferences, even adding special symbols or letters to express personal messages or specific meanings.

Bracelets in Music Scenes: From EDM to Taylor Swift

The phenomenon of exchanging bracelets in music scenes originates from EDM culture.

With the rise of EDM in the 90s, it became common at large music festivals or club events, such as Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), to see almost every participant wearing colorful "Kandi" on their arms. People would exchange these bracelets through a specific handshake known as the "Kandi handshake." "Kandi" refers to bracelets, necklaces, headbands, and even larger decorations like masks and vests, all made from colorful beads. Making Kandi is often a personalized creative activity, with the user selecting bead colors and types based on their preferences, sometimes adding letter beads to spell out meaningful words or phrases.

The surprising popularity of friendship bracelets at Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in 2023 has brought the Kandi culture back into the spotlight. On November 1, 2022, Taylor Swift officially announced her "Eras Tour." Some fans suggested they make friendship bracelets to swap with each other at the shows, and thus, a worldwide trend was born.

The trend has extended far beyond the fan community. Leading this fashion, Taylor Swift has been seen wearing both traditional friendship bracelets and custom-made pieces from jewelry brands at concerts and various events. In January, while supporting her boyfriend, Travis Kelce—who plays for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs—at the AFC Championship Game, Taylor Swift wore a custom diamond friendship bracelet featuring the initials "TNT" (representing Taylor and Travis). This bracelet was crafted by the custom jewelry brand Wove Made. According to Kendall Junck, the brand's Chief Jewelry Design Consultant, after the bracelet's appearance at the game, Wove Made's website traffic surged by 2,260% in a single day, sales increased by 477%, and there was a significant rise in custom orders.

Additionally, the trend has reached numerous celebrities, including Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce, Blake Lively, and Ryan Reynolds, and even Princess Charlotte has joined in. It has also spread to other artists' concerts—fans have reported seeing friendship bracelets at Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan, and Niall Horan's shows.

The tradition has had a positive impact on craft stores, with bead demand increasing significantly.

According to Paul Georgiou, the regional manager of the Australian craft store chain Bead, Trimming & Craft Co in the Greater Brisbane Area, since the announcement of Taylor Swift's "Eras Tour" dates for Australia, the store's friendship bracelet sales have skyrocketed, with a large number sold even before the concerts began. The situation was similar in Milan, where the Milan branch of the Italian retail association Confcommercio reported that the Milan stop of the "Eras Tour" boosted friendship bracelet sales, with 130,000 concert attendees eager to exchange bracelets at the event.

On the craft-focused e-commerce platform Etsy, friendship bracelets sold globally between April and August 2023 were valued at $5.5 million. Etsy trend expert Dayna Isom Johnson stated last year that during Taylor Swift's U.S. tour in 2023, searches for friendship bracelets increased by 22,313%. One of Taylor Swift's fans, Coral Mack, who now lives in the UK, started selling her handmade friendship bracelet kits on Etsy in her spare time in August last year. By July this year, just before Taylor Swift's UK tour began, her shop's sales had reached £20,000.

There have been reports of craft stores completely selling out of beads, with Brisbane experiencing what has been described as a "great bead shortage." Although the bead stores that Guardian Australia spoke to in Brisbane hadn't entirely sold out, they noted a remarkable surge in sales since the Australian leg of Taylor Swift's tour was announced last June. Many of these stores have struggled to keep up with the demand, as fans rushed to buy beads to make friendship bracelets for the concerts, leading to unprecedented interest in craft supplies across the region.

A cottage industry of Swift-themed bracelets has also emerged, with people selling their handmade creations on platforms like Instagram and Etsy. "Taylor Swift is her own economy," one seller joked, having sold more than 20,000 individual bracelets since the Australian tour was announced. The tradition has also led to the rise of bracelet-making tutorials on YouTube and workshops in cities where Swift's tour stops. On TikTok, videos tagged with #friendshipbracelet have surpassed 547 million views, with 259 million of those views occurring over the past year.

Dropshipping Merchants Noted

Equally impressive as its market response is the remarkably low procurement cost of friendship bracelets. The basic materials for friendship bracelets, such as embroidery thread and plastic beads, are generally very inexpensive and extremely lightweight, making them highly attractive for sellers across different platforms from a logistics perspective. Considering all these factors, friendship bracelets represent a promising sourcing option for both physical and online store merchants.

If you're considering adding friendship bracelets to your product lineup, it's crucial to understand the price range for different materials beforehand, allowing you to choose specific materials based on your target audience.

You'll also need to decide whether you want to offer semi-finished DIY kits or completed bracelets. DIY friendship bracelet kits offer customers a great deal of creative freedom, reduce production costs, and are often more affordable, making them especially appealing to younger audiences like teenagers. On the other hand, the pricing of finished bracelets can vary widely depending on the materials used and the complexity of the design. If your brand already has enough credibility for customers to pay a premium for branded finished bracelets, it could definitely provide a greater profit margin for you.

A Success Story

John, a young entrepreneur from California who has been working with us for nearly two years, was always looking for new business opportunities. After the Eras Tour began, he quickly recognized the potential of this trend and took immediate action. He reached out to us and ordered a batch of friendship bracelets and semi-finished bracelet products (most of which were plastic letter beads — to be honest, we were also surprised by how popular these beads became among young people) that matched the tour's style, listing them on his Shopify store. John even designed a few special versions of the bracelets using beads and charms inspired by Taylor's tour themes. This strategy quickly drove significant traffic and orders to his store, and sales began to soar. As Taylor's Eras Tour gained momentum, so did John's sales. Six months ago, he officially opened his own office downtown and hired more employees to handle the growing volume of orders.

As the Eras Tour approached its end, John didn’t stop there. He noticed that Olivia Rodrigo's new tour was also gaining huge popularity among young fans and wasted no time placing another order to expand his inventory of friendship bracelets. “I’m so glad I didn’t miss this opportunity — in fact, bracelet-related products have now become the main category in my store,” the young man shared with our sales representative.

PS: Refer to the attached table for detailed information on the prices and characteristics of each material.

About Beads

Beads Material	Plastic	Glass	Metal	Semi-precious Stone	Wood
Price Range	A few dollars for hundreds of beads	Several dollars to about ten dollars	Ten dollars to several hundred dollars	A few dollars to several hundred dollars	A few dollars
Suitable Occasions	Suitable for children and beginners making friendship bracelets	Used for more delicate or adult bracelets.	Used for making upscale or adult friendship bracelets	Used for making unique bracelets with healing/spiritual significance	Suitable for natural style or eco-friendly bracelets

 About Threads

Thread Material	Nylon	Elastic	Braided  (e.g., Hemp, Cotton)	Leather	Metal	Silk
Price Range	A few dollars per roll	Around a few dollars	Several dollars to about ten dollars	A few dollars to several tens of dollars	A few dollars to several tens of dollars	Over ten dollars
Features	Durable and waterproof	Suitable for making easy-to-wear stretch bracelets	Natural texture and environmental friendliness	Suitable for making refined and durable bracelets	Used for making structurally unique or styled bracelets	Used for high-end handicrafts