I am a bit cranky today and I have another headache so I am going to vent a pet peeve of mine…I cannot tell you how many times a person has contacted me about buying or ordering an amigurumi from me and then, after I have given them the price and thanked them for their interest in my work, they just never write back. OK, so I am well aware that my work it out of many people’s price range and I completely sympathize and respect that. Heck, I am on the budget too. But it seems to me that common courtesy demands a response. Even if the response is “What the hell are you thinking charging that much?!” I mean, at least that would be some sort of reply and not just leave me hanging, waiting to see if I need to find space in my schedule for a special order.
There, now I am done venting.
1:04 am on December 18th, 2009
6:40 am on December 18th, 2009
Beth, I know how you feel, but there’s no way of stopping people from doing this , it happens to all of us , and we just grin and bare it. I guess it’s just human nature. Sorry you’re having another pesky head ache.
7:02 am on December 18th, 2009
El anonimato de la red y la distancia que -en apariencia- acorta el correo electrónico hace que algunas personas olviden sus modales y la cortesía que, seguramente, tienen en la vida.
Saludos!
8:17 am on December 18th, 2009
I completely agree with you, torrebabel!
1:31 pm on December 18th, 2009
i deal a lot with this in my professional, non-crafting life, and the best suggestion i can offer is this: put a call to action in your email… after you’ve described pricing and what-not, add a line like, ‘if you’re interested in ordering, please contact me so i can create a schedule for your project. If I don’t hear from you by such-and-such, I will assume you are not interested.’ it sounds crass, but sometimes people need a little kick to remind them that they need to do something. also, it doesn’t leave you hanging for ages.
2:58 pm on December 18th, 2009
Ditto on what “torredebable” said – the internet has a built in anonymity – sad, but true. On the other hand, I have made what I consider some truly great friends via the internet which I wouldn’t have met without it – double-edged sword, eh? Hope your headaches – both literally and figuratively disappear soon, Beth! (^_~)
6:28 pm on December 18th, 2009
These are common to everyone who makes custom artwork, I think. They are *very* irritating. You could try putting something in your signature that asks for a reply (whether they want the work or not). Don’t know if it will work for you, but generally I try not to invest much expectation in the quote, so that the few “yes, let’s do it
” responses are nice surprises.
6:29 pm on December 18th, 2009
It is not just you!
I make custom ambigrams (drawing a name so that it reads the same upside down, or reads as a 2nd name), and people will ask me if certain names will work, in a certain font. (They already know the price from the website, and it’s pretty cheap) So, I write them back to tell them that yes, the names work well in the font they wanted, and I still have more than 1/3 of them that never write me back. I guess they were just curious to see if it was possible?
I’ve also learned that some people are just very forgetful about that sort of thing. I’ve had people email me a year later, as if no time had passed.
6:42 pm on December 19th, 2009
I agree! That really sucks, it’s like you were having a conversation in real life and after responding, they just walked away…
…
Mine is improper apostrophe use *twitch*.
3:34 am on December 24th, 2009
That’s too bad! Sometimes people are just forgetful, and sometimes they don’t want to face you disappointment when they say “no, thanks”.
Calling for action is a good idea.
I saw the prices of your works at Lala gallery, and I don’t think they’re that high, considering how much time and energy consuming they are (I should sort of know – I finished your awsome book, and now I’m working on the Strawbeary).
4:30 pm on December 28th, 2009
I sympathize with both sides. I’ve been the requester of many artists, especially for tattoo designs, and it’s rather uncomfortable for me to find the right words to politely say “Thank you for your quote, it’s out of my price range at the moment.” Because then sometimes they ask: “Well, what IS in your price range?” And honestly, I never can tell if I should be honest and say: “I just wanna pay $10 for a small design,” or what I should say!
And I agree, being the artist and giving a commission price and not getting a response is very annoying, especially if you have a full schedule and you’re unsure if they are REALLY interested or not!
8:37 am on January 1st, 2010
Wow! I really enjoyed reading everyone’s comments on this.
I’d have to agree with…a bit of everyone’s opinion. For me, it wasn’t on-line but at art and craft shows when I was the seller. They wouldn’t say anything after I told them how much item(s) cost and would just walk away or sometimes say “thank you”…and then walk away. A small percentage of the time, a customer would come back with a list of which she (usually she) wanted. Not to stereotype, but men that came to my booth would make a purchase very quickly unless they were there with a significant other.
AND, sometimes when I priced my items higher because they weren’t selling, they would sell! It was as though people didn’t think I was serious or cared about my work until I raised the price.
OH, and I get tons of headaches so sympathies there.
- Jen
creationsbyjdb
8:47 am on January 1st, 2010
When you work with art- at least I feel like this – you have great expectations on selling your pieces, specially if your living depends on that (which used to be my case). Getting a feedback on your price is great, but most of the time people don’t do that. Maybe they don’t want to hurt your feelings by saying your amis are too expensive, who knows?? People have different reactions to different actions…