To Handcraft or Not to Handcraft?

So, I've been thinking about opening an Etsy shop to sell my own knitting patterns and handmade items. I've also been enjoying shopping for handcrafted items lately, almost always online, and possibly partially because I have some PayPal money to burn. I thought I was getting on board the handmade movement in every way I could.

But today I attended a local craft fair and felt let down. I wanted to support the crafters there, but there was only one item I barely managed to get excited about, and in the end I decided not to buy it because of quality concerns. Nothing seemed innovative and few items seemed well-made. Every second or third stall sold jewelry, the ones next to them sold bedazzled t-shirts or grotesque garden imps, and the random stalls in-between sold other stuff I just didn't have any interest in. I attended with the intention of buying a new apron, but only found flag themes, cutesy prints that should have died with the '80s, and incredibly thin and useless fabrics.

Am I fooling myself that the online crafting community sells better stuff because I can't see the quality and I've been lucky in my purchases so far, or is there really a difference? Maybe it's easier to find what I'm looking for online because I can access the best handcrafters around the country, and locally I'm limited to folks within rock-throwing distance. And they, of course, are only going to make what they can sell in this very limited setting. I don't know what to think, but I'm certainly going to think twice before I waste my time attending another local craft fair.