It’s called self entitlement, many people feel like they are entitled to special treatment or discounts simply for being interested in your work to begin with. They think absolutely nothing about telling you that “YOU” should feel privileged just to have their business at all.
I personally hate people like this no matter who they are or where. My husband has to deal with these kinds of people every day at his work. He’s a maintenance man for an apartment complex, and it still surprises me just how many tenants seem to think that equates to personal slave.
He has to go above and beyond his job description on a daily basis, (and do so with a smile I might add) because if he ticks off a tenant and they move out it’s his fault.
So if someone wants their furniture moved, or wants a new carpet just because they want one they know that they can pitch a fit and the management will make my husband move their stuff or put in a new carpet.
Even though he has other work that’s important he has to drop everything to be the personal whipping boy of some self entitled a-hole or they will complain and he will get in trouble for losing a renter.
I can’t even count how many times he has had to go to an apartment to unclog a toilet and been brow beaten into cleaning up the mess the renter made because it’s not their fault that “the plumbing is faulty so they shouldn’t have to clean it up”.
Even though they tell him that they just kept flushing in the hopes that the clog would clear itself instead of getting a plunger and trying to unclog the toilet before flushing again.
It bothers me when I do caricatures at conventions and this sort of thing happens, but it’s nowhere near as bad as when I was a theme park caricaturist. Those customers really felt like they should be entitled to as much free work for little or nothing.
These days if they don’t want it I can just blow a raspberry and move on to the next customer (actually I did that back in the theme park days, too…don’t tell my old boss).
Someone asking for a deal is a ready-to-close customer looking to buy but just needing a little social reassurance to do so.
Spill could have enthusiastically talked up the art’s creativity, design and quality, also known as value, without going on a tirade and insulting a patron.
Everyone wants to feel good about themselves and their actions. Randie and the customer guy, both. Spill made for a lousy go-between.
I dunno, Brig. I find myself on the fence with Spill’s position. On the one hand an artist’s integrity is important. But not all that is created is necessarily for integrity. In the writing world, some stories/novels are called pot-boilers, meaning they’re written quickly and with the sole purpose of making quick cash. (So you can buy food to boil in the pot for meals; hence the phrase.) Does that equivalent exist in the painty/drawy world, too?
Sometimes you give a discount because a) You need the money; b) You priced your work with some “give” for just such an opportunity; or c) You want to get more of your work out there for people to own and appreciate. Of course, TOO much of a discount can also include a reduction in integrity, so you need to be careful. But I think it is possible to work out something with a potential buyer, so long as respect is the medium of the transaction.
My point of view is there is no harm in asking she could just as easily said no Im sorry I don’t give discount when you buy more than one item as I have priced my items what I feel they are worth.
As long as the person isnt rude about it I don’t see why the artist or any other seller should be insulted by the asking. Really bargaining is common in most places.
Someone asking for a discount in a polite way there is no reason to be rude or go on a tirade. Our work precious as it is to us is not the same for others, so getting an attitude or getting snotty with a customer isnt the way to go about it. Firmly sticking to your prices however is your choice.
Ah… I love the discussion here. Thank you all for weighing in on this topic.
You have all made good points. Pricing art is a funny part of being an artist. Most artists just enjoy the process of making art and the pricing of it be d@#med. As I well know, if you are particularly fond of a work that you’ve created, you price it higher because you don’t wanna see it go. The converse would also be true. If you create something that took you HOURS to complete, and someone wants you to part with it for less than you feel it is worth, there’s a problem.
Potboiling Art, Pete? I’m sure it exists. If you have a particular subject matter people seem to like and will buy, you will make more of them for certain…
Spill flew off the handle, yes. And she definitely could have handled that better! But she is probably used to people asking her for discounts and what not on her staturary. I don’t begrudge her for the tirade though. If you deal with folks who CAN AFFORD paying full price… and yet haggle (as she has experienced, I’m sure), you do get irritated.
Hmm… Friends not helping so much. A friend of mine who thought of himself as a super salesman tried to help me with a yard sale. Hard-selled a neighbor on a bicycle so long the neighbor lost patience and said “If you like this bike so much, YOU buy it” and stomped off. Not my friend any more, btw.
Just a tip from someone in a different industry … please keep this discussion in mind next time you argue with your cable/satellite/phone provider about your rates?
You wouldn’t believe the grief we go through when we have to raise our rates – people just don’t get it that the only reason we raise them is because the networks we buy the content from (that’s right, it ain’t free for us either!) raised their rates, so if we don’t raise as well then that cuts into our revenue, which means less money to buy new equipment, maintain distribution lines, etc.
Really gives me a headache some days the way people expect 4-star service while only paying the 1-star price. Unbelievable.
Kona… yah… not the best way to do business… hard-nosing a neighbor. Yer probably better off without said friend.
Wolf… Noted and tucked into my brain somewhere (an over-stuffed and bulging file… which, for some reason is fun to imagine). I’m glad I don’t pay the cable bill at my house. THanks for the insight.
She never mentioned the price of the second. She could have just asked something extra for it, in order to then discount it and make everyone happy.
Too many people try to get a discount on something they could afford!
This person should pay full price!!!!
It’s called self entitlement, many people feel like they are entitled to special treatment or discounts simply for being interested in your work to begin with. They think absolutely nothing about telling you that “YOU” should feel privileged just to have their business at all.
I personally hate people like this no matter who they are or where. My husband has to deal with these kinds of people every day at his work. He’s a maintenance man for an apartment complex, and it still surprises me just how many tenants seem to think that equates to personal slave.
He has to go above and beyond his job description on a daily basis, (and do so with a smile I might add) because if he ticks off a tenant and they move out it’s his fault.
So if someone wants their furniture moved, or wants a new carpet just because they want one they know that they can pitch a fit and the management will make my husband move their stuff or put in a new carpet.
Even though he has other work that’s important he has to drop everything to be the personal whipping boy of some self entitled a-hole or they will complain and he will get in trouble for losing a renter.
I can’t even count how many times he has had to go to an apartment to unclog a toilet and been brow beaten into cleaning up the mess the renter made because it’s not their fault that “the plumbing is faulty so they shouldn’t have to clean it up”.
Even though they tell him that they just kept flushing in the hopes that the clog would clear itself instead of getting a plunger and trying to unclog the toilet before flushing again.
It bothers me when I do caricatures at conventions and this sort of thing happens, but it’s nowhere near as bad as when I was a theme park caricaturist. Those customers really felt like they should be entitled to as much free work for little or nothing.
These days if they don’t want it I can just blow a raspberry and move on to the next customer (actually I did that back in the theme park days, too…don’t tell my old boss).
Ain’t it the truth.
Someone asking for a deal is a ready-to-close customer looking to buy but just needing a little social reassurance to do so.
Spill could have enthusiastically talked up the art’s creativity, design and quality, also known as value, without going on a tirade and insulting a patron.
Everyone wants to feel good about themselves and their actions. Randie and the customer guy, both. Spill made for a lousy go-between.
I dunno, Brig. I find myself on the fence with Spill’s position. On the one hand an artist’s integrity is important. But not all that is created is necessarily for integrity. In the writing world, some stories/novels are called pot-boilers, meaning they’re written quickly and with the sole purpose of making quick cash. (So you can buy food to boil in the pot for meals; hence the phrase.) Does that equivalent exist in the painty/drawy world, too?
Sometimes you give a discount because a) You need the money; b) You priced your work with some “give” for just such an opportunity; or c) You want to get more of your work out there for people to own and appreciate. Of course, TOO much of a discount can also include a reduction in integrity, so you need to be careful. But I think it is possible to work out something with a potential buyer, so long as respect is the medium of the transaction.
My point of view is there is no harm in asking she could just as easily said no Im sorry I don’t give discount when you buy more than one item as I have priced my items what I feel they are worth.
As long as the person isnt rude about it I don’t see why the artist or any other seller should be insulted by the asking. Really bargaining is common in most places.
Someone asking for a discount in a polite way there is no reason to be rude or go on a tirade. Our work precious as it is to us is not the same for others, so getting an attitude or getting snotty with a customer isnt the way to go about it. Firmly sticking to your prices however is your choice.
Ah… I love the discussion here. Thank you all for weighing in on this topic.
You have all made good points. Pricing art is a funny part of being an artist. Most artists just enjoy the process of making art and the pricing of it be d@#med. As I well know, if you are particularly fond of a work that you’ve created, you price it higher because you don’t wanna see it go. The converse would also be true. If you create something that took you HOURS to complete, and someone wants you to part with it for less than you feel it is worth, there’s a problem.
Potboiling Art, Pete? I’m sure it exists. If you have a particular subject matter people seem to like and will buy, you will make more of them for certain…
Spill flew off the handle, yes. And she definitely could have handled that better! But she is probably used to people asking her for discounts and what not on her staturary. I don’t begrudge her for the tirade though. If you deal with folks who CAN AFFORD paying full price… and yet haggle (as she has experienced, I’m sure), you do get irritated.
And welcome, VWolfe!
Hmm… Friends not helping so much. A friend of mine who thought of himself as a super salesman tried to help me with a yard sale. Hard-selled a neighbor on a bicycle so long the neighbor lost patience and said “If you like this bike so much, YOU buy it” and stomped off. Not my friend any more, btw.
Just a tip from someone in a different industry … please keep this discussion in mind next time you argue with your cable/satellite/phone provider about your rates?
You wouldn’t believe the grief we go through when we have to raise our rates – people just don’t get it that the only reason we raise them is because the networks we buy the content from (that’s right, it ain’t free for us either!) raised their rates, so if we don’t raise as well then that cuts into our revenue, which means less money to buy new equipment, maintain distribution lines, etc.
Really gives me a headache some days the way people expect 4-star service while only paying the 1-star price. Unbelievable.
Kona… yah… not the best way to do business… hard-nosing a neighbor. Yer probably better off without said friend.
Wolf… Noted and tucked into my brain somewhere (an over-stuffed and bulging file… which, for some reason is fun to imagine). I’m glad I don’t pay the cable bill at my house. THanks for the insight.
Part of the problem is a lot of people don’t see much value in art, unfortunately.
Bink… agreed. It’s something I like about Paris & France… where the arts are valued & revered… and Comics are considered the 9th art.