I have been spending the last few weeks planning the next year's activities. Being a crafter is not a simple business. Finding the correct venue for your products, matching your creations to the correct customers and ending up in the plus column at the end of the year is not easy. For all those people who respond to my new venture with the words “Well of course you do that, you have always made things...Must be easy to sell your stuff”, I would like to say: "Hold on a minute." So much about this journey is difficult. And the most difficult thing is the subject of my time.
I have heard customers walking by the booth discussing crafters. “They all love what they do so of course their prices have to be low. They don’t charge for their time”. Wait a minute. Seriously? Time is the most precious commodity in anyone’s life. Yes, I love what I do but I am trying to earn a living. Each piece in my display is literally a piece of me because it is a piece of time out of my life as well as a piece of my creativity.
I have a request for all of you. This year when you walk through your local craft fair and view what people have made, take a moment to think differently. Concept, design, gathering materials, crafting, setting prices, marketing and selling. That’s what you are looking at. And those things all take more time than you think. The price tag includes all of the above plus that magical spark of the person who created it. Just smile at the artist and appreciate. And of course open your wallet.
I have heard customers walking by the booth discussing crafters. “They all love what they do so of course their prices have to be low. They don’t charge for their time”. Wait a minute. Seriously? Time is the most precious commodity in anyone’s life. Yes, I love what I do but I am trying to earn a living. Each piece in my display is literally a piece of me because it is a piece of time out of my life as well as a piece of my creativity.
I have a request for all of you. This year when you walk through your local craft fair and view what people have made, take a moment to think differently. Concept, design, gathering materials, crafting, setting prices, marketing and selling. That’s what you are looking at. And those things all take more time than you think. The price tag includes all of the above plus that magical spark of the person who created it. Just smile at the artist and appreciate. And of course open your wallet.
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