Wicker baskets have been popular for centuries owing to their beautiful look and light nature. In ancient days, they used to be hand-woven from sisal and other tough fibers that could withstand the test of time. They were used in market places to display goods, in the palaces, in homes and mostly in trade routes. Because they are made of verylight material, they can be large without necessarily being heavy which makes them popular for laundry. In the US, they are used as such and it is common to find two or three large baskets in every home. These serve to help people organize their clothes and to carry things. Some baskets are actually just used for decorative purposes. These are the ones which are usually gathered during tourist trips to exotic regions of the world such as the Middle East or Africa.
The baskets are usually made of strong fiber that is able to withstand pressure. Such fiber can be wicker, sisal, reed grass, bamboo and sometimes even wheat. These are then woven by hand by expert craftsmen and women. In places like Africa, women weave these baskets and sell them at the market. These baskets usually fetch even higher prices in the West especially the hand-woven ones. When tourists visit these places, they usually carry some of these baskets as sourvenirs. The hand-woven baskets are usually more original and more durable than machine-woven ones and that is why they are considered more expensive. So tourist trips to the countries where the baskets are woven is one way of getting the baskets.
Baskets can also be easily purchased at local large department stores such as Walmart which stocks just about any size shape and color.While these baskets are of great quality and will serve any purpose that any other such basket would serve, they are mostly mass-produced although some brands from Mexico are hand-woven.
Another way of getting genuine hand-woven baskets is to check on Craigslist. This is an online market place that is set as a garage-sale style marketplace. People from almost all the world's major cities are invited to post free classified ads of whatever they are selling. African wicker baskets, which are usually in great demand but in short supply can easily be found here. If they are not readily available all you have to do is post a wanted ad where you describe in detail what you want and someone will get back with you if they have something that matches what you are looking for.
E Bay is also another way of getting nice hard-to-find baskets. EBay is the world's largest online auction site and boasts millions of users per day. Here people from all over the world buy and sell things. Sometimes you can buy or sell directly via another person or you can use a third party escrow company that guarantees that all the parties have adhered to all the rules and regulations of the deal before the money is released to the seller. This is a safe way to guarantee that there are no scams.