Spring Quilt Crazies

[Kanalah]

BG: I make and sell quilts and have an online store

Normally this time of year is well kinda dead for me. I just buy fabric and sew to my heart's delight, occasionally I'll sell a quilt and ship it off, no biggie.

This year I think I'm living in some kind of stupid vortex. I was actually completely booked over the holidays and even now I am running with at least 1 custom order at all times, right now I have 3.

But I'm getting all kinds of emails from "customers" ranging from the stupid and absurd to just downright ludicris.

"Hi I love your quilts, can I have one for free?"
Lots of variations on this one. Sometimes they'll tell me I'm a bad businessperson by charging too much, sometimes they'll try to tell me that they're a huge fan. Sorry, right now I only have 2 quilt groupies, more if you count the kidlets/hubby.

"Hi I have a blog and if you send me x item for free I'll tell everyone how awesome you are!"
Yeah, sorry sweetcheeks. No way. I'm not raking in the dough enough to pay for advertising yet, and besides word of mouth is the best. Also they always seem to want the most expensive/popular/time consuming to make things.

"I heard if I asked, that I could have something half off/free!"
Whoever you asked, they're a filthy liar. Even my friends don't get stuff for free. Even my mom doesn't get stuff for free. She trades quilts for more fabric for me.

"Do you have (insert whatever popular thing is hot right now) quilt/fabric?"
While it is true that I have not-quite-a-TARDIS-load of fabric to work with, I really don't have everything. And even with my google-fu sometimes there just isn't fabric. Invariably, when/if I do find the fabric they're lusting after it's wrong color/wrong scale. And of course they don't understand the concept of 'limited-run' fabric.

"What's a quilt? Why do they cost so much? You're ripping people off!"
A quilt represents a lot of time and energy. Most take me at least a week to make. Some of the fabric is old and out-of-print, sometimes the pieces are very very small and took me forever to get to fit just right.

And now in edited email form, my latest frustration

SC = you all know by now
me = quilter of awesome

SC: Hi I like (quilt), but I want it in a larger size, can you do that?

( this is a perfectly valid question. The only problem I have is that most of the fabric I buy has a limited run, so often by the time I've finished the quilt and put it up for sale, it may be difficult or even impossible to get the same fabric again. )

me: I would be happy to make you a quilt in a larger size. Let me see if I can locate the fabric again and I will contact you again.

( After this I call/email all my local fabric stores and find out that they are all out of the fabric. Then because I am super nice, I even break out the google-fu and find it online, at a fabric reseller's website. In the meantime, she's sent me another email. )

SC: Alright that's fine. It's so frustrating to have to email everyone and ask if they make their advertised quilts in larger sizes.

Me: Great news, I was able to locate enough fabric to make your quilt. It'll take me about a month to complete a quilt of that size.

SC: That's just fine, I'm in no hurry. How much will it cost?

Me: $xxx, with free shipping. Normally with custom orders, I ask for 50% up front and the other 50% upon completion, however I can split it up into smaller payments if you'd like.

SC: Why is it $xxx, when the other quilt is $xx?

Me: The original quilt is (small size) and the quilt you'd like is (larger size) also the fabric is out of print and somewhat difficult to locate.

SC: Fine, let me think about it. (I can hear the grumbling through the computer.)

So now that's where I am, she's musing over the fact that I have offered her exactly what she wanted, for actually a really good price considering the work that's involved. Plus I threw in free shipping. And the fabric I need to make her quilt is only on-hold with the reseller, so if she drags her feet on this, they'll sell it to someone else.

Also her "why don't people make larger sizes?!" whine : Personally all of my quilts are OOAK. I don't buy enough to make multiple sizes of each pattern. Some patterns don't even translate well to other sizes. Plus also, I'm not a department store.

Thank god it's a friday and tomorrow I can go grab superman and dragon fabrics my very very nice dealers....err fabric ladies said that they just got in.

[spark]

"Hi I love your quilts, can I have one for free?"

I could not believe it the first time somebody asked me this! And it was a REALLY moronic one too, because they wanted a kitten plush. "Any kind of kitten plush you could make my, my BF is so sick and he loves cats and this would just cheer him up so much."

W. T. F. Here's how you get your kitten plush: Go to Wal Mart. Find the toy section. Look around until you find a kitten. It will be about $5. Ta-da. Mine are about $100 and NO I will not make you one for free, I don't care about your boyfriend! *rantravegrowl* I seriously could not believe they'd actually asked that! It's been like two years and the thought of it STILL pisses me off!

And I've gotten it again since then! Just a few weeks ago I posted a plush I'd just finished, and some twit said "Can I have it? I really want it!" Sorry no. The customer who PAID me for it really wants it too. Probably more than you want it, since they were willing to put their money where their mouth is.

People are just so incredibly entitled I have no words for it!

[bainsidhe]

"Hi I have a blog and if you send me x item for free I'll tell everyone how awesome you are!" Yeah, sorry sweetcheeks. No way. I'm not raking in the dough enough to pay for advertising yet, and besides word of mouth is the best. Also they always seem to want the most expensive/popular/time consuming to make things..

I can't even begin to appreciate how frustrating the "give me a freebie/huge discount" people are in the craft world. I work for a company and we get the above question a LOT. But even though I find the question laughable, at least it's not my own blood, sweat, tears and CASH involved in producing the damn thing.

And because we're a manufacturer, we get a lot of people asking for free samples to look at/test before they decide to place an actual order. Thing is, most people serious about buying will actually buy a sample. So telling me it just has to be free doesn't fly. I'll be as nice as possible when I gentley tell you no.

[Kanalah]

And the funny thing is, usually the freebie/discount hounds are on the last day of multiple day shows.

Usually I hear. "Hey I'll give you (pennies on the dollar) for (Item)." When I politely decline, they usually start up with the "But if you sell it to me now for (ridicually low price), You don't have to pack it up and take it home, hurrr hurrr.

Last year when they tried that I was already upset because of the way my family had been treating me throughout the whole show, so I stopped packing, because it's always during packup time that I'm approached my these mental giants and looked up at them and said. "You do know that I make all of my items by hand? And (laughably low offer) doesn't even cover to cost of the materials, let alone my time. Besides (Item) is really popular, I've already sold 2 of them and I have another show next weekend, plus an online store. If you can't live without it, the price is (price)." And then I kept on packing.

Later my mom came up and asked me what was going on. I told her it was some artard proving how stupid he was.

[MoonCat]

How can anyone be so stupid as to ask why a BIGGER ITEM costs more than the smaller one?

[teh_blumchenkinder]

People who ask for freebies in cases like the above posters' have something going on:
1) they've never made anything they felt was worth anything-- or more likely, they've never made anything
2) they have their heads so far up their asses they now are Asshats in upright form.
3) they don't understand their own economy (which I am assuming is capitalism, as most countries are capitalistic/you pay someone and are paid based on the perceived value of the good or service provided.)
Or a combination.
EDIT: Kanalah, isn't being busy a good thing?

[Kanalah]

Teh,

I'm not complaining about being busy, per se, because technically I'm always busy. I have about a year's worth of fabric backlog I'd like to clean out, and I hate sitting around doing nothing. When I get a custom order, I drop whatever personal project I'm working on and work on the custom order. I'd just rather not have to have the same stupid questions over and over.

Remind me sometimes and I'll post pics of my huge backlog of fabric. I'm the child of a hoarder, so I don't like having so much "stuff" laying around.

[ShootMePlease]

I love quilts, particularly the beautiful ones the Amish make. I would be happy to purchase one from you. The nerve some people have to expect you to put your time and effort into something and not make any money from it.

Nowadays, it seems a lot of people are looking for something for nothing. Tragic.

[TheSnakeLady]

My mom designs craft kits, and once upon a time she actually had a storefront (that sold supplies -- but also her kits). Some SC brought one of my mom's kits to the counter and asked my mom if she could open the kit and photocopy the instructions for her, because she didn't want to pay for it.

[Kogarashi]

I consider myself lucky that I haven't yet gotten people asking for steep discounts or freebies from me. Maybe painted fans aren't as "hot" as quilts and plushes?

At the moment, the only people who get discounts from me are friends and first-time Etsy customers (an that they usually get a coupon with their first purchase to use if they buy from me again), and the only person to get a freebie at all was a friend going through a very rough time who'd expressed interest in one I'd done and been unable to sell at the con I attended that year.

The ones claiming to advertise you on their blog in exchange for a freebie are going about it the wrong way. Generally, if you want the advertising, you're the one who contacts them about it, not the other way around. These other idiots are just preying on crafters who are new enough and desperate enough to jump on any possible advertising they might get.

[Teefies2]

How can anyone be so stupid as to ask why a BIGGER ITEM costs more than the smaller one?

Umm really??

Re-read what you just wrote. And then think about what site you're on

[Mytical]

First, I wish I could afford the awesomeness that some people on the forum make. Second, I am bright enough to realize that I can't afford such quality. Third, expecting a 'discount/free' makes one sucky . You want cheap that will fall apart if you look at it wrong, go to wally world. You want something that will last probably generations, AND look better then anything Wally World will EVER have..you go to people like the ones on this forum who are awesome

[Miss Fatale]

My mother was a wonderful knitter, and loved making afghans, hats, shawls, etc as gifts. People would tell her, "You should sell this!" Of course, most people don't realize that besides the materials, there's labor, and that makes many hand-made things prohibitively expensive.

More people should experience crafting. 1. They could make their own stuff! 2. They would appreciate other crafters and artists who make stuff.

[Marmalady]

Of course, most people don't realize that besides the materials, there's labor, and that makes many hand-made things prohibitively expensive.

Makes you want to ask them if they'd be happy to work and not get paid for their time.......

But yes, people that don't do crafts very rarely have any idea of just what it takes to produce something beautiful and well made.

[Dreamstalker]

One 'friend' had the gall to ask (after 'accidentally' underpaying me for dogsitting to the tune of about $100--did you really think I wouldn't notice?) if she could have a pricey necklace/earrings for free. I politely declined, for a few reasons:

1. You are not offering anything in trade and do you really think I'd happily agree to further lose money after you have already stiffed me once? (I know for a fact this woman is nowhere near as poor as she claims--she just bought a damn chocolate diamond)

2. I ask why I should give this to you free/greatly reduced for a reason. The correct answer would be something like a guarantee of word-of-mouth business (I know you have no actual interest in wearing this). The wrong answer is "because I like those" while you choose one of the most expensive pieces I made. No matter how hard I wish that I could, I am not able to pull dichroic glass out of thin air.