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"would You Be Willing To Accept Less For It?"


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I am open to haggling on my more expensive pieces, like those that are $200 or more. They really don't take much more effort to produce than the $150 pieces. I also give discounts to students, because I remember how frustrating it was to never have enough money to buy nice pots when I was in college. If someone buys 3 or more of something and they ask for a discount, then I will usually give it to them, but rarely for just one piece. If someone is paying cash and comes up a couple dollars short, then so be it. All of the prices we set are totally arbitrary and open to adjustment. We hope people think it's a fair price and are willing to pay it. It's not like buying wholesale and marking it up 30%. I'm always adjusting prices because the market is a mess right now and it's hard to know what people are willing to spend. I won't give a discount to someone just because they're cheap, but I'm open to the idea that my prices might not be set correctly for the current market.

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Guest JBaymore

Next time someone ask for a discount, just say, it took me X years to make this mug. (x = number of years you have been a potter). It is priced pretty reasonable.

 

"Sixty years and 15 seconds".  <<<<< Famous HAMADA Shoji quote

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  • 2 weeks later...

Customers don't care how many hours or how many years it took for us to make a mug or a bowl. They only need to love it. If you make things that people love, they buy your work. To say that someone should pay $30 for a mug because it took you a long time to make it is like asking for a raise because your kid needs new shoes.

You get a raise because your work warrants a raise and you get your price because someone falls in love with it.

If you know that people love your work and buy your you don't have to discount it unless you want to.

I agree whole heartedly. It's not about time or value. You have to capture people's interest in a unique way, so if they put a piece down and walk away, they feel they have lost something.

 

Also, it's been my experience doing a circuit of shows (with non-pottery craft work) that you need to recognize your most loyal customers. Giving a loyal customer a little extra now and then is good for that relationship. Discounting things to cheapskates encourages them to push for a bargain every time (and spread the word about their thrift!). Imagine how a loyal, full ticket customer will feel if they catch wind? Don't betray your patrons and yourself: value the people who love your work enough to buy it without haggling.

 

Giving discounts willy nilly might seem like a good idea short term, but it's a slippery slope. It's hard to say no to a sale when a buyer is ready to walk away but as any business owner should know, your goal is to make the customer, not the sale.

 

Also, I've had the same experience as Pugaboo: bargain hunters might turn up their nose and walk, but often times they fallen for an item and return to buy full price. You can't count on it, but it is another point in favor of being firm on price.

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I am not sure I agree. I could be crazy, but I value the time it took someone to learn to master their craft, and knowing it was made by a master of their craft is important to me. Knowing who made something and how long it took them and how many test and trails they went through to get to this beautiful little object I hold in my hand is of great value to me.

 

This is just my opinion, but when you look at a master painter, master wood worker, etc etc you know down in your heart how long they worked to make such a beautiful box, mug, or bowl. A part of that is why I believe people like hand made. If people didn't care about how long it took us to do it, and our struggles and our outcomes why would people buy handmade? I don't feel any connection to my dinnerware set that was made in china. But I do feel a connection to a wooden bowl that was made by hand that I bought at a craft fair. I talked to the maker, asked him how long he had been creating beautiful pieces, I asked what kind of wood he used and where he got it from, and I eventually bought a bowl and I love it. This was important to me, his creation and evolution to that point was important. 

 

The statement I made about stating how long it took to make it and that the price wasn't going down was to be taken lightly, but I was serious that people should care about that stuff. Anything of great value takes time.

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This question always frustrates me. I know we all want a good deal on thing we buy, but only another potter would really understand why the price is set like it is. It's time consuming. It's a process. And so, I don't say this, but, I am thinking it, when a customer is trying to get a lower price. Why don't you go get a nice meal for the same price as my pot and when you get home see with one you will get to use more, your sh8T or my pot. The pot will be in your use for a lifetime, if taken care of. And it will be a nice gift or a heirloom your family will long enjoy. Or flush your money away and have nothing to show. Well, nothing I'd want to see. I hope I haven't grossed out anyone. But you, I, are all a dying breed. Some of you will have your pottery up for action and making a killer price for the seller. And all you got was a hassle and a guilty feeling. Man, this is art, handmade, one of a kind, not made by a machine or sold for dirt cheap because it's made in a slave factory overseas for pennies on the dollar, so that some greedy person can get rich. Sickens me. Anyway, what was the question? Oh yea, sell price. Sometimes you just have to market in the right spot, to the people that can afford anything. If that's possible. Well that the advice I got from a chef. I guess too, it's like what Zig Ziglar once said, "people by what they want, when they want it more than the money it cost to buy it." Something like that. 

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Guest JBaymore

 I guess too, it's like what Zig Ziggler once said, "people by what they want, when they want it more than the money it cost to buy it." Something like that. 

 

Ah.... someone else with some sales/business training. 

 

Another one of my favorites.......

 

"Sell on quality, not on price"  Tom Peters

 

best,

 

................john

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 I guess too, it's like what Zig Ziggler once said, "people by what they want, when they want it more than the money it cost to buy it." Something like that. 

 

Ah.... someone else with some sales/business training. 

 

Another one of my favorites.......

 

"Sell on quality, not on price"  Tom Peters

 

best,

 

................john

 

Well not a business major, but a insurance salesman for Combine Insurance Co. A supplemental policy. Sold it door to door. The company was founded by W. Clement Stone. Heard of him? He was the inspiration that help me overcome my alcohol addiction. Yup, finish his book in one day, Quit drinking, smoking and enrolled in College after 17 years. The book was called: The Success System That Never Fails.

 

It had lots of motivators. Like, "Thinking will not overcome fear but action will."

"Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman - not the attitude of the prospect." 

"Success is achieved by those that try and keep trying with a Positive Mental Attitude(PMA)."

"Big doors swing on little hinges."

And, "Just Do It"

I could go on about this all day, believe me. It really changed my life. 

 

While, I'm not familiar with Tom Peters, W. Clement Stone will forever be a positive point in my life. As was Zig Ziglar. 

 

Are you a business major?

 

Thanks for the memories.

 

Best, indeed,

Mark

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Guest JBaymore

Mark,

 

Nope... not a formal business education (as in major or study in college)....... but as a professional artist that mainly wants to work in the studio (that's one reason I have always been adjunct professor.... do not WANT the full time/tenure track stuff) early on I realized that I needed to seek out BUSINESS knowledge if I wanted to be here when I am as old as I am now.  So I'm self taught and seminars and workshops.

 

Tom Peters >>>>>> http://tompeters.com/about/toms-bio/

 

Loved his books "In Search of Excellence", "Thriving on Chaos", and "The Pursuit of Wow".

 

best,

 

................john

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Mark,

 

Nope... not a formal business education (as in major or study in college)....... but as a professional artist that mainly wants to work in the studio (that's one reason I have always been adjunct professor.... do not WANT the full time/tenure track stuff) early on I realized that I needed to seek out BUSINESS knowledge if I wanted to be here when I am as old as I am now.  So I'm self taught and seminars and workshops.

 

Tom Peters >>>>>> http://tompeters.com/about/toms-bio/

 

Loved his books "In Search of Excellence", "Thriving on Chaos", and "The Pursuit of Wow".

 

best,

 

................john

John, Thanks for the link.  Hey, why are we limited to how many "Like This," in a day?

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Guest JBaymore

 

Hey, why are we limited to how many "Like This," in a day?

 

 

Haven't got a clue... I'll ask the Admins.

 

best,

 

................john

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  • 4 weeks later...

I have had more than my share of potential customers who wanted a discount because they have 50 friends they will adress, who in tern will buy your artwork like crazy somewhere in the future.

 

My thoughts...If you want a discount based on who you know...You better bring 5 paying customers with you.

 

In my experence 100 business cards at a Craft fair has about a 10% return. About 1% of those 10% are good buying customers within the same month. The "who you know refferal discount" is often linked to a zero 0% new customer return.

 

 

Often My price is my price, However there is a point where a loyal customer or a person who makes a larger purchase should get a perk. If wholesale is 30% to 50% there is a little built in cushion. Overall, I dont ususally discount because my ware is priced fairly and they will not find what I sell elsewhere. If you don't like it, I dont want you to buy it.

 

I love and admire the customer that comes back after saving for a while to make a purchase.

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Guest JBaymore

 

 

Hey, why are we limited to how many "Like This," in a day?

 

 

Haven't got a clue... I'll ask the Admins.

 

best,

 

................john

 

 

The answer was to prevent a single user from "dominating" the forums.

 

best,

 

.....................john

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To my mind, given that there are seven discussion forums and on a daily basis a good handful of posters per multiple topics in most forums, could the cap on "likes" be increased to maybe 10 instead of the (measly!) five? The ratio is just unbalanced given the volume of posts...and it is frustrating to want to post a "like" to show attention and appreciation and then be blocked from doing so.   

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Early on in the forum, you could "like" and "unlike" -- leading poster to having both positive and negative ratings. I suspect the limit of 5 was also intended to prevent massive "unlike" efforts at posters. Now, we are just one big happy positive family. But it could be fun watching your rating go up and down depending on the advice given.

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