"That" Seller

In my journey through the world of handcrafting, one of my biggest dreads is becoming "that" seller. You know the one. You've met him or her at just about every flea market, craft show, yard sale, or church bazaar.

That seller sits in their booth, scowling at you as you walk past. When you walk up to their table because something catches your eye, their animosity for you rolls off them in waves. They hate you, and apparently, they hate your money, your relatives, your children (if you have them), and your little dog too. Polite questions on their products get you a terse, grunted answer, a sarcastic comment, or sometimes, just a forbidding look. If you *do* buy something from this seller, chances are good that their payment terms will be very restrictive. They'll have a minimum credit card limit that requires you to buy $15 when you only wanted something costing $5. They'll have a hand written sign in ALL CAPS with black marker so thick you can still smell the fumes if you get close enough. That sign will tell you in no uncertain terms that if you buy something from this seller, you're fortunate that they've decided to allow you to give them your money in exchange for goods. Sometimes, you feel like if they thought they could charge you just for breathing the air in their booth space, they'd do that too. Even if the thing you're buying is something you really, really want, and you can't get it easily anywhere else, you'd rather tear out your own fingernails than to deal with that seller again, because at the end of the transaction, even when you've gotten what you wanted, their attitude and hostility make you feel like crap. Who needs that, especially nowadays, when so many people are selling a little something on the side to make ends meet, and you can get almost anything your heart desires on the internet? Why would that seller continue to do something they clearly hate to do for people they hate to see?

There are a lot of answers to that question. Let's deal with two of the most common ones. One, it's probably that the seller has been doing this so long that they've lost their passion for what they're doing, but are too financially sunk into supplies, products and equipment to stop doing it. Two, and this one will probably upset some of you - that while you on your own as a person are lovely and lovable, "the public" all gathered under the roof of that show are flaming bunghole jerks. Some shoppers have no respect for the seller, and they make it obvious. Rude comments abound. Even the most forgiving, sweetest tempered seller wants to stick a knitting needle into the eye of the fifteenth person who complains that her 100% wool, hand knit and hand felted hat is too expensive compared to something from Wal-Mart, or the twentieth person who asks "Can't you go lower on the price?" or the first person who tries to cheat her. (Seriously, trying to cheat a seller is definitely needle-in-the-eye for the first offence.)

Okay, you say, those are both bad. But it's not that hard to do a show, right? You just get a table, put your stuff on it and sell, don't you? Not quite.

Attending a show as a vendor takes a strain on you, both physically and mentally. You're up WAY early before the show starts and either driving there to set up, or you've paid for a hotel for the night before so you can set up. Then there's finding the vendor parking, finding your assigned booth space, unloading, setting up the tent (for an outdoor show), the table, the chairs, the displays, the cabinets, the decorations, the cash register, securing your cash change box, making sure your credit card reader works, your phone is charged, and trying to find a willing neighbor to watch your booth on the rare cases you might want to eat or go to the rest room, if you're on your own.

Then, once you've done all that and you finally sit down, you must be pleasant, cheerful and a not too pushy but involved and engaging salesperson, sometimes to people who assume a "Good morning" is a hard sales pitch, sometimes to people who won't even acknowledge that you've just wished them a good morning or look at you. And you must do it over and over again all day, while listening to nasty comments about your pricing, your workmanship, your materials, your skill level, or the shopper's opinion of what you do compared to their grandmother, cousin, best friend's brother's sister's hairdresser. And when you're all done, you get to take everything back down again, pack it up and start over tomorrow, if it's a two or three day show. Oh, and for the ability to do all this, you've probably paid out anywhere from $50 to upwards of $600, depending on the show venue, not counting the additional jury fees, filing fees, mailing fees, licensing, gas to get to the show, hotel cost, food and incidentals.

If you're a handmade seller, let's also add in the insult to injury of getting to a craft show or art show to find out that the show organizers were more interested in booth fees than in promoting crafts or art, so you're competing with home party sellers and sellers one step up from the ones who approach you in a dark alley with a coat full of watches sure to turn your arm green as soon as you buy it.

It all takes a toll on your average seller. We feel it each time you walk by our table and won't look us in the eye, or when you ignore our greeting of "Good morning" because you think it's a sales pitch. Chances are, we're just wishing you a good morning because we'd like you to have a good morning. If you want to buy something from us eventually, that's great, but it's not required to return a courtesy. We hear every comment you make while standing at our table, even if we pretend we didn't and keep smiling. We try to not let you get to us when you've made a particularly nasty comment about our items on sale. But it does get to us, and slowly but surely, we become "that" seller if we're not careful about it.

It doesn't help either one of us. You don't want to buy something from someone who clearly has no liking or caring about you. I don't want to sell something feeling animosity toward you, or wishing you'd never walked up to my table or come to my Etsy shop.

I fully believe that it is not the customer's responsibility to ensure my success as a business. It is mine. I can do that by giving the best product I can at a price that is both market competitive and self sustaining, by providing courteous customer service, and by living up to the promises I make to my customers. But still, it's not your fault if you decide to spend your money elsewhere. It's your money, and it's your decision, and since I make that same decision as a customer of other businesses every day, I must respect it. I may be disappointed that you didn't buy from me, but it's my job to make my products so good, and so well made and so irresistible that you will WANT to buy from me first. If I didn't do that this time, well then, I want to leave you with the clear impression that you are always welcome to come back again and will receive pleasant, courteous treatment whether you buy something from me or not.

The fear of becoming "that" seller is the reason that Joey and I decided we would not attend more than two handmade shows this year, and as it turned out, we were only able to attend one, due to an unavoidable circumstance. I knew that if I continued the grueling show schedule we had last year, my transformation into "that" seller would be more likely than ever, and I do not want that. I freely and fully admit that I am snarky, often sarcastic, and tempermental, but I never want a customer to feel unwelcome. I haven't always succeeded in that, but I will always do my best.

It's a two-way street when it comes to buying and selling, especially in the handmade world.

As a customer, respect the seller's pricing. They're trying to stay in business. If you love their product, you'll WANT them to stay in business. Don't try to get something for nothing, if you want the business to survive. Be courteous, be polite, and be understanding if they say no, they really can't go any lower, or they can't stack coupons, or whathaveyou. Realize that you're maybe the twentieth person to ask that today, and it can be taken as an insult to the seller sometimes. We don't mean to be insulted, but it happens.

As a seller, realize that your customers are your biggest asset. They don't owe you their money just because you've set up a table/a website/an Etsy shop. They don't owe you anything. If they love your product and tell their friends about it, and you find out about it, be thankful. Tell them you're thankful. Be gracious. Be willing to go the extra mile, and do it with charm, humor and pleasant conversation. And most of all, don't be "that" seller.

How low can you go?

"Every limbo boy and girl
All around the limbo world
Gonna do the limbo rock
All around the limbo clock
Jack be limbo, Jack be quick
Jack go unda limbo stick
All around the limbo clock
Hey, let's do the limbo rock

Limbo lower now
Limbo lower now
How low can you go?"

Limbo Rock - Chubby Checker

My mother is a consummate horse trader. She's a tiny woman of four-foot-something and I have seen her strike terror in the hearts of large, fully grown men trying to sell her a car. She loves the challenge of the deal, the give-and-take of negotiations and the final victory of getting what she wants at the price she wants. If she doesn't get it, she can and will walk away, leading at least one salesman to chase after her in the parking lot, begging her to come back inside.

Me, on the other hand? Well, let's just say when Saturn introduced their "no haggle" pricing policy I was a happy girl. Still, I have learned with time to appreciate my mother's wheeling and dealing approach. She helped my husband negotiate the purchase of my last car - I was home sick from a viral-something-or-other I picked up in the hospital after being treated for the wreck that totalled my car before this one. (A wreck that was not my fault, I'll hasten to add!) She walked out of the car salesman's office with a price that was well below the current book value of the car we were buying and a year's additional warranty coverage. I ended up with a very reliable car that I've been driving for the last seven or so years.

My father is a conniseur of flea market shopping. Growing up, nearly every Saturday in the summer, my sister and I would go with him to a local flea market held in a nearby town. He'd always tell us that if we wanted something, no matter how badly we wanted it, to look at it once on the table and move on. If you still wanted it when you'd walked through all the booths, then go back to it. Chances were good, he'd say, that the seller would cut you a deal. I tried to follow his advice, but patience has never been my strongest virtue and at the age of ten it was practically non-existant.

So, I appreciate the fine art of negotiations in the pricing of an item. I appreciate that sometimes, if you ask nicely, you can get a lower price for an item, or if you're intent on buying a lot of one particular item, the seller can cut you a deal for the larger quantity purchase. I take advantage of this all the time as a buyer of supplies, and have made it a habit to develop relationships with the sellers I deal with often, regardless of whether or not I get an additional discount from them. As a seller of items, I also understand their position on pricing and appreciate it when they do offer me a lower price.

But, that being said, as much as you may love the "high" of striking the deal, there are some times when a seller won't, or simply can't offer you a lower price. Is it worth it to you to alienate a seller and create a bad relationship by continuing to push for a lower price? Maybe yes, and maybe no.

In my case, when it comes to my suppliers, the answer is "no." I see many of these sellers several times a year at the shows we attend, and I want it to be as pleasant for them to see me as it is for me to see them. If they've seen me enough times to recognize me and I recognize them, then having a negative relationship isn't good for either of us. They have something I want - supplies, and I have something they want - money! When we deal together to get to a bargain that satisfies both of our needs at a price we both think is fair, it's the best possible outcome.

If you're never going to deal with that seller again, then maybe it is worth it to you to get that super-low price at the cost of a pleasant relationship. After all, the thinking goes, you're not there to make the seller feel better, you're there to get your money's worth! But the show circuit in your area is probably a small one, so if you attend a lot of sales and shows, chances are good that you'll see that seller again. I promsie you, they will remember you, and even if they are pleasant to you at the table, they are also thinking "No way am I going to let that person take me to the cleaners again." Your interaction will not be the best it could be for either of you.

As a seller, especially as a seller at an in-person show, I face the "thrill of the deal" all the time. Regardless of the show's venue, and regardless of the tone of the show, you are always going to have people who will ask you for a discount. Sometimes, I'm willing to make a deal with the buyer. Sometimes, I just can't. It used to be that the terror of losing a sale would lead me make deals that were not in my best interests. Even now, the word "yes" is on the tip of my tongue and I have to clamp down on saying it. The thing I had to learn, and what every seller has to learn is that a bad sale can be worse for you than no sale at all. Keep these things in mind when you are asked "Can you go lower on this?" Go through it in your head before you ever open your mouth to answer that question:

Your time matters
Your supplies costs matter
Your expertise matters
Your work matters

YOU MATTER

Then, and only then, do you answer yes or no on making that deal. If you can, great! If not, then be pleasant and professional about it, no matter how crabby you may feel, and no matter how many times you've been asked that day. And now I will tell you that I intend to have this blog post link bookmarked on my phone so I can pull it up and look at it when I'm at a show, to remind myself to practice what I preach!

By all means, indulge in a little horse trading. Haggle to your heart's content. But as a seller, don't sell yourself short. As a buyer, don't let the prospect of a super low price blind you to what it could be costing you in the long run.

"I'd never pay that much"

It seems that the universe is telling me that the blog post I've been putting off for a while needs to be written today. This has been floating around my head for a little while and after reading the excellent "A Buyer's Guide To Handmade" article I posted earlier today, talking to a friend about pricing earlier this week, seeing an exchange on Facebook about an article in the Wall Street Journal about $300 jeans, and a comment made to Joey about a pair of our earrings, I guess it's time for me to finally get my fingers in gear and get typing.

This may anger some of you. It may offend you. You might not want to know what a seller is truly thinking when you make comments such as the ones I'm going to describe below. (and please know that when I say "you" I don't mean anyone in particular. It's just a way to make the narrative flow along)

"I'd never pay that much for [insert item here]." I know I've said it before. You probably have too. It's a judgement on the person who *did* pay that much for that item, and a negative one. You're smarter than that person because you didn't waste your money on whatever that thing was. Well, maybe yes and maybe no. Maybe that person knew something about that item that you didn't. Maybe they knew that by spending that money on that item, they were supporting someone in their community make money to feed their family. Maybe they just wanted the cachet of a prestige brand, and it was worth that amount of money for them to get that feeling. Whatever their reasons, they decided that the cost versus benefit analysis had more benefit than cost.

"I'd never pay that much" is heard at shows too. As a seller, it goes through me like a blade. I may be smiling at you and making pleasant conversation, but what you've just done is tell me - the person sitting in front of you, probably working on another handmade item - that you don't consider my time, effort, skills, and materials worth paying my asking price because you think the item you can buy at the local big box store is "just as good."

You have no idea how badly I want to ask you to kindly step away from my table and not come back. I would rather have one person for an entire day come to my table who appreciates my work even if they can't afford to purchase it then than a hundred people who think what I do is on the same level as the cheap goods you find in a big box store.

Sellers of things do what they do for different reasons, but the fact of the matter is that we have to make profit if we're going to continue selling things. Profit doesn't mean just getting back the materials cost used to make the item. It's what's left over after you've paid for your materials, the website hosting/listing fees, credit card processing fees, postage fees, booth rent fees, packaging costs, marketing/branding costs and finally, your time as the creator. And yet, the "I'd never pay that much" mentality basically states that you don't want there to be a profit, or sometimes even be paid for their time. After all, if the crafter wanted to make money, he or she should just go out and do what everyone else does and get a job!

Well, most crafters and creators already have full time job. Their handmade business is their second full time job. Joey and I each have full time day jobs. We couldn't afford health insurance, or our household costs otherwise. Etsy is our second full time job that starts the minute we get home at night. Don't get me wrong, we love doing it, but it's not always an easy balance to maintain, especially when Joey's in school full time too.

"I'd never pay that much" applies to sales too. Let me state for the record that as a business owner, I enjoy holding sales. As a shopper, I love taking advantage of sales. Who doesn't? I think we are all very well aware of the state of the economy, and sales make it possible for you to enjoy the little luxuries in life while still keeping a close eye on your budget. Sales also make it possible for a small business like mine to raise much-needed operating funds quickly. And, being that I'm not just a Purchasing Officer but a Staff Accountant in my day job, I've done the number crunching to know that holding a short term online sale in my business is better use of my money and time than going to an in-person show in my area has been. Sales are a win-win.

BUT - if I could afford to always offer my items at the sale price, that's the price I would have set originally. For a business like mine, especially operating in the very saturated market of jewelry sellers on Etsy, the sales mix has to have a certain amount of full-price sales, otherwise, I'll quickly be out of business. It's not really fair to expect a seller to give you a sales price all the time, and if you really want the business to thrive and continue to sell you items you love, you shouldn't expect it.

It's a sad fact that with so many businesses trying to keep some cash flow - ANY cash flow coming in, expecting a constant sale price has become the new normal. If Store Chain can offer luxury items on one-day deep discount, why can't Little Etsy Seller? Why should I pay that price? the thinking goes. Well, because Store Chain has deeper pockets, basically. Store Chain can afford to budget in losses on what's known as "Loss Leader" items to get you in the store in the hopes you'll purchase something else too. If you don't, well, they've gotten a little cash from you anyway, and written off the Loss Leader item's cost as an advertising expense.

Store Chain can also purchase items at a far greater discount than Little Etsy Seller. Even Established Business Etsy Seller, with a formal business plan, an operating capital fund and positive cash flow doesn't have the kind of purchasing clout that Store Chain does. Yes, most sellers who have been around a while buy in bulk, at the best wholesale rates they can get. But depending on the item and base costs of the supplies, it can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to stock just one item at a price break quantity. That's hard to take out of an operating budget, and many sellers are dependent on loans and credit cards to fund their activities, just like you may be.

By only wanting to purchase goods when someone is holding a sale, you're telling the creator of those goods that you don't really value their time, materials costs, or efforts. If you want the business to succeed and continue being able to provide you with items you love (and we sellers hope you love our products, we really do!), then please be willing to consider what it really takes to create something, and what it's worth to you that the seller continue to stay in business.

I'm not saying that you should be willing to pay the most expensive price for everything you buy. But be willing to entertain the thought of what goes on behind the creation of that item, the people involved, and whether or not you want to support the idea of livable wages in your community and beyond. It may cost more money, but the benefits are priceless.

A Buyer's Guide to Handmade

I'm going to try to start updating this blog more often. I've never told you about Joey's surgery (which went perfectly fine), or talked about our new Gauge Gem line, or our new design challenge days, or even what we're doing these days.

For now, though, I'm going to post a link about a subject near and dear to my heart - the true costs of something handmade. A Buyer's Guide to Handmade, as posted to the Handmadeology Blog, a great resource for anyone creating handmade goods and selling them, either in person or online. I read Handmadeology every day, and I'm so thankful for the contributions of other sellers to help the online handmade community be more successful.

Say WHAT?!

The lovely Grey recently had an Etsy/Heartsy experience that is still leaving me baffled.. She was told in a convo by a seller that she would have to "wait for her order until after she'd [the seller] completed her paying customer’s first."

Say what? (imagine me saying that in the Tenth Doctor's "Don't mess with me" voice - though I could never hope to sound anything like David Tennant.)

I can't imagine ever treating a visitor to my shop that way. Note I didn't say "customer", because that implies that I'll only be nice if I think you're going to buy something, which is not true. Every person who visits the Whimsy Beading shop is worthy of my full attention, prompt answers to questions and the best customer service I can possibly give. It's how I would want to be treated, and it's how I do business. I don't always uphold my end of things to my own standards, but I do my best, every time. Sometimes, my best is simply keeping my mouth shut when someone makes a nasty comment about my work, but that's another story for another day. Believe me, it's not easy for me to keep my mouth shut at the best of times!

The only defense I can give the seller who was so rude to Grey is that she was simply overwhelmed at the prospect of the Heartsy deal's response, and said something in the heat of the moment that she wishes she could take back. I really hope that's what it is. Because if you're going to treat your shop's visitors and potential customers like crap, then you're really in the wrong business.

Some words on Heartsy

After a discussion last weekend on Twitter with some friends and seeing Grey's post on Heartsy, I thought it was time to share my experience with them.

If you don't know what Heartsy is, it's best described like Groupon for handmade items. Sellers of handmade goods submit their deal to Heartsy and if the deal is approved, then it goes live for a certain amount of time. Customers can buy vouchers for your deal and redeem them in your Etsy shop or elsewhere, like an Artfire shop.

I was first alerted to Heartsy in March after reading an article in the Handmadeology blog. After doing some thinking about it, and calculating how much money I could stand to lose, I signed up and submitted some items for consideration, such as my Ophelia's Sea Urchin Necklace, one of my personal favorites.

I also submitted the kind of deal I'd be willing to offer. I was pretty conservative, I think, keeping in mind that it takes a while to make every necklace I sell, and how much I could reasonably produce in a short time. I work a very full time day job, and Joey goes to school full time and works a full time job. Etsy is my second full time job that usually starts right after I get home and have dinner, plus most of every weekend. I knew I couldn't offer a huge amount of vouchers because I could never fill them all within a reasonable turnaround time. But still, I thought my deal was pretty good and I sent it off for judging, and we'll get back to that after this short digression.

You'll notice I said I was going to lose money on the Heartsy deal. It's true. I was offering a deal that would mean for every necklace I "sold," money was going to come out of my pocket. How is that, and why would I do it? The how is pretty easy. I try to keep my pricing reasonable for the customer but still high enough that I will make money even if I put items on a deep discount, like the recent 40% off one-day sale. There's this expectation of handcrafts that you shouldn't sell it for much more than your materials costs, because you're not a "real" business. Well, bollocks to that. None of the items used in the creation of my necklaces and earrings are cheap to buy. With the price of silver nudging $50 per ounce some days, the prices for sterling silver chain and findings has doubled and sometimes tripled from what they were. I'd instituted a slight price increase to account for it in January, but I'm also eating some of the costs because I won't sell something that I wouldn't wear. That means no silver plated wear items (unless plated/filled is all that's commonly available for the materials I need, such as memory wire), and good quality beads and findings. But, bottom line, I must still make money on each piece I sell. If I don't make money on what I sell, there's no reason for me to be selling it, unless I decide, which I did in the case of the Heartsy deal, that the monetary loss would have another benefit.

I was looking at the Heartsy deal in the same light as the blog ads and showcases I've purchased in the past - a way to get eyes on my shop and widen my customer base for future, profitable sales.

Now here's the part that's a little embarrassing. You see, in my day job I'm a Purchasing Officer. It's my job to read the fine print on things. Sometimes it's my job to write the fine print. So, you'd think I'd do a good job of reading the fine print on Heartsy, yeah? Not so much. I read the part where you submit your items for review. I read the part where your items will be judged by Heartsy members and if you got enough votes, you'd move on to the next step. I did not read that the next step was another judging panel made up of Heartsy staff and "trusted frequent buyers." I thought the next step was discussing your deal and ironing out the terms. So, when I got the news that we'd gotten the requisite "Yes, definitely" votes in the three-day time limit, I was expecting to hear back from Heartsy pretty soon with discussions of the actual deal.

A week or so later, I get the email from Heartsy. Only instead of a discussion of the deal, it was a "thanks but no thanks" email that stated that yes, my items had gotten through the first judging, but that the super secret judging panel had voted "no." The reasoning given was that my items were not unique enough to offer on Heartsy and they were looking for something else. Still, here was a five-dollar credit I could use for the shops they did approve, and I could submit my deal any old time I liked.

I think you've probably figured out by now that the email did not leave a good impression on me. No one likes to be told "no" and the tone of the email struck me as very high school clique, which is not the kind of tone I'd want for my business. You can also infer from this that I have not resubmitted my items to Heartsy again, and I won't be doing so in the future.

So, when all is said and done, what do I think of Heartsy? Well, I don't think it's for me, obviously. I have never purchased a Heartsy deal, and I probably won't. I can definitely see the point anti-Heartsy sellers are making that Heartsy is doing more harm to the handmade selling movement than good, turning it into a race to the bottom in terms of pricing, and leading the public into the thought that handmade shouldn't cost as much or more than something you'd buy at Wal-Mart. Handmade sellers fight against that mindset already.

On the other hand, as a seller submitting a deal to Heartsy, you should know what you're getting into before you do it and if you decide that it's something of benefit to your shop in either sales volume or exposure, then by all means, go for it. Here's a very handy article on calculating your benefit versus loss from Fine Heart Boutique.

Why I Didn't Sell To You

This is one of those "serious business" posts, where I'm going to talk about how I do business and why I sometimes do things that don't seem to make sense to customers.

Sometimes, I will refuse to sell you what you've asked me to make. It doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? I'm in the business of selling you pretty sparkly things you can wear, and you've just asked me to make you that. So why won't I sell it to you?

There's a few reasons:

1. You've asked for something I can't do well.

I'm not going to sell something unless I'm happy with the work. I won't be happy with the work until it's as perfect as I can make it. So if you've asked me to make you something that requires a skill I haven't developed, or a technique I haven't learned, then I'm going to tell you so and offer you alternate options. If the alternate options don't work for you, I'd rather send you to someone who does have the skills to make what you'd need than to sell you something that won't be its very best. Supporting handmade is not just about supporting me, I love sending people to other awesome handcrafters who make fabulous things.

2. You've asked me for something I know won't work well.

There are some beads that look pretty, but they just don't work for jewelry making. They bleed color, they're too fragile, they tend to cut beading thread no matter what you use. As an example, for a long time I made bracelets using bugle beads. They looked amazing, but after too many instances of threads being cut by the beads, I made the hard decision to stop offering these items for sale. I have had people since then ask me to make them items using bugle beads, and I explain to them why I have decided to no longer offer beadweaving items with bugle beads, and offer alternatives that have a better track record for wear. It may mean that I lose that person's business if they really had their hearts set on bugle beads, but I just don't think it's right to make something that I'm pretty sure will break.

3. You've asked for something that violates CPSIA.

If I know you're asking for an item made with Swarovski crystals for someone under the age of 13, I will refuse to sell it to you. Swarovski crystal is lead crystal (hence the brilliant, diamondlike shine), and it is not suitable for use in jewelry for children. By that same token, the items I make aren't suitable for children due to their nature. Beadweaving is strong and suitable for everyday wear, but there's very little that can stand up to a typical boisterous toddler.

4. Sometimes, you have to fire a customer.

This is something that NO seller of anything likes to talk about. And let me state that 99.9% of customers are truly great folks. But just as not every person you meet is going to like you and get along with you, so it is with sellers and customers. Sometimes, there just isn't a good fit, and sometimes, the fit is so bad that it's better if you just walk away than continue to try to make something work out. I pride myself on giving good customer service and treating my customers the way I want to be treated, but if a customer tries to cheat me, or makes it clear that they don't value my work or my time, then I think it's better for both of us to walk away.

I promise my next post will be on more lighthearted topics, such as the idea I've got for those great chili pepper beads we got at our last bead show.