[Jewelry making - Article 00749] - Re: [Orchid] Worst thing you've ever heard from a buyer

[Beth Rosengard]

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    I'm changing the subject slightly to "Worst thing you've ever seen a
    customer do," but I can't resist telling this story. 

    I was exhibiting at the Contemporary Crafts Market in Santa Monica. 
    I had just finished a pin that I really loved which featured, among
    other things, a dentalium shell (thank you Andy Cooperman :-)). 

    A woman came up to my booth, admired the pin, wanted to buy it but
    only if I would discount it.  I think I had it priced around $800. 
    We had quite a conversation about this as you can imagine.  At one
    point, right in the middle of a sentence, the woman's front tooth
    fell out onto my table!  She picked it up, put it back in her mouth
    and kept on talking.  I was aghast ... and then utterly flabbergasted
    when it happened a second time!  This woman was the last person in
    the world I wanted to own that wonderful pin. 

    She finally gave up and walked away.  The friend who was helping me
    in my booth said, "Don't be a jerk, Beth.  If you sell the pin
    through a gallery, you'll only get $400 anyway, so why not give her
    10% off?"  I had to admit that she had a good point but the woman had
    already walked away and I wasn't sorry. 

    So, of course, the woman came back for one more try and I gave in
    and agreed to the 10% discount.  I also explained to her that while
    the dentalium shell had been filled with epoxy to strengthen it, it
    was still relatively fragile and might not survive a drop onto a hard
    floor.  This concerned her a little (but not enough!). 

    A year later, at the same show, this very same woman came up to my
    booth wearing the pin ... and the dentalium shell was broken in
    half!!  She had stopped by to complain, not about the broken shell,
    but that all of the stones in the pin had faded since they weren't as
    bright as they looked on my postcard mailer.  I explained that it
    would be impossible for all the stones to fade equally and that the
    discrepancy was due to the colors of the postcard being
    over-saturated.  I showed her another of the pieces I had used on the
    postcard and compared it to the printed image.  She somewhat
    reluctantly accepted my explanation. 

    She didn't say a word about the broken shell and neither did I. 
    I've never seen her since. 

Beth



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