craftsmen/artisans vs Cheap goods

[KiltedSurveyor]

I have a similar problem.
When I get asked to play pipes I charge a pretty good fee around $300
I tell them I charge my price because i have gone on tour with the chieftains and have played at carnagie hall.
They usually say well the other guy is cheaper and I tell them that he will not sound as good as i do.
People pay hundreds for a dj to put cd's in a machine but don't want to pay the piper why is that?
bagpiping is an art form that's just as memorable if not more than the thousands they pay for flowers.
why do you guys think that is?

As a musician also, when people complain to me about prices, I tell them that I don't charge for the hour or whatever I'm playing for, but for all the time I spent practicing for that performance time to be worth hearing. You don't pay the doctor for the 10-15 minutes they take examining you, but for all the years of medical schooling, training and experience they acquired so they can diagnose you in that time!

[Sir William]

I'm one of those who likes buying unique and often one-of-a-kind handcrafted items, many times from a custom order. I've often watched craftsmen work on these and fully appreciate the time, skill and labor that go into making them, so I don't object to the price asked. Yet, I am asked all the time why I would spend so much for a custom hand-made item instead of getting a "similar" mass-produced item, though almost everyone admits the hand-made item is superior to the mass-produced.

I would say that one reason many object to the "high" price is because they have little, if any, experience in making anything - whether it is working with metal, wood, leather, beads, quills, cloth, or even food. They are used to just going into a store and buying something off the shelf. They don't note the poor quality - only the price and how quickly they can get it into their hands. Its a sad commentary on our society.

[bear]

I have a similar problem.
When I get asked to play pipes I charge a pretty good fee around $300
I tell them I charge my price because i have gone on tour with the chieftains and have played at carnagie hall.
They usually say well the other guy is cheaper and I tell them that he will not sound as good as i do.
People pay hundreds for a dj to put cd's in a machine but don't want to pay the piper why is that?
bagpiping is an art form that's just as memorable if not more than the thousands they pay for flowers.
why do you guys think that is?

I think it's because most people are not artists and don't understand that what they get is the product of years of learning and sacrifice. They think, "He has talent," and that you were born with a gift to play the pipes.
And most people can't appreciate the difference between a competent artist and a gifted artist.

[Shanntarra]

Some one once told me you can get things 2 of these 3 ways. Cheap, Good Quality, and Fast. Never all 3.

Cheap and Good quality = takes a long time
Good Quality and Fast = cost a fortune
Cheap and Fast = very poor quality

Yes I agree, people who are in the reenactor/ renfaire state of mind have a better concept of what craftsmen/artisans do, and there for are willing to pay a fortune for them.

You charge a fair price for your piping if you ask me. The string quarlet I knew charged 300 EACH to play for a ceramony. And they only guarenteed 3 hours. If you got a collage student to pay you could do it for $100 but then you are not getting the award winning, concert quality performance that someone of your caliber would give either.
Are you paying for a picasso or someone who paints like picasso. That is my line of thought.

[Howard Clark]

I have developed a thick skin, a sense of humour, and some pointed comments for folk like that after depending on selling hand crafted blades and finished knives for twenty one years now.

It is sort of like being given grief about wearing the kilt. Start with humour, if you can, then progress to more drastic measures if required. Reason and logic is seldom to your profit with such folks, though sometimes they can be brought into the light of knowledge. It is worth a try sometimes. Many people nowadays have no idea how anything is made, or what goes into the making of it.

My stopper for one of the most common questions: "Why does that knife cost so much"?

"Because I made it and I said so". There is normally no more discussion after that one, and it is saved until I can't take it any more.

I prefer to buy things of high quality whenever I can. If I can buy it directly from the maker, I am even more pleased. Kilts, belts, knives, moccasins, and other such craft items make me happy when they are made with hands and minds that care. I prefer to eat tomatoes and beef grown by individuals, that I can talk to, and consider friends.

Our world was a better place spiritually and emotionally when we needed each other as a community. Instead now we ship things halfway 'round the world where the producer is distant, nameless, and impersonal, and the same can be said for the consumer at the other end.

I encourage everyone to buy from craft people who make things one at a time, meat from the livestock producer, and vegetables from the grower, whenever you can.

[JRB]

Unfortunately, our modern society with it's beer budget expectations make it all but impossible to succeed in some previously lucrative businesses. I am a traditional boatbuilder who built custom fantail launches until last year when the economy went bust. My boat shop struggled to sell our $100,000+ boats to discerning clients but those type of people came around less and less as priorities forced them to pare down to more needful things. Eventually we had to close our doors entirely. This was a company that started in the late 1800s! In the end, the rising cost of wood and the dwindling customer base did us in.

[jgcunningham]

My late sister was a ceramic artist. She would charge typically 5 times what the materials for a project cost her. So some imported clay and a special tool for a commissioned piece would easily end up costing the patron close to a $1000. She never let anyone say, "Oh, I don't care what it costs. Just make it." Ninety-nine percent of those who said that would freak out when Sis would say, "Okay, but I insist on half up front. That will be $500." She felt she had to be up-front about the cost. Otherwise they would balk at the cost or scream, "But I can't afford that!" and then try to bargain with her or just not pay her. They wanted her to put her skills and artistry to use but didn't realize that she would actually charge enough to make a living from it.

It's like that story about the old engineer who charged a company $805 to replace a part. When asked why that amount, he replied that it was $5 for the part and $800 to know which one to replace.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

It's all about aesthetics-- frankly most people can't tell the difference between quality and consumer grade products. Moreover, they really don't care because they've been conditioned not to care. Art appreciation is no longer taught in school, neither is music appreciation. In a society where functional literacy is the considered the achievable "gold standard" of public eduction can anyone really be surprised at the vast number of adults out there who, after leaving school, never read a book, go to a play, or listen to music when not behind the wheel of their three-year old pickup truck they are itching to trade in for a new one? This vast, voting populace are the same people who can't tell the difference between a Rab Gordon sgian dubh and one fresh off the boat from Shanghai. They can tell the difference between new and old, or cheap and expensive, but they can't tell you why one is "better" than the other. Because, frankly, they don't know. They are like Mrs. Joyboy looking for a spoon. Wood or silver, it doesn't matter; she wants to eat her ice cream, and if she can't find a spoon, she'll use her fingers.

"They can", as Oscar Wilde said, "tell you the price of everything and the value of nothing."

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Many here know that my wife is an avid knitter and one of the pet peeves of the knitting community is the hobby knitter who occassionally sells a piece at a ridiculously low cost. They are not relying on sales of their hand knits as a source of income, they enjoy it as a hobby, and so they just charge enough to cover the cost of the yarns and are happy.

The problem with this is that there are hand knitters who rely on their sales for their income, and those knitters who undervalue their own work actually end up hurting those who have to charge a fair price, because people think that hand knits ought to be cheaper.

My wife has had to deal with people who didn't even want to pay her enough to cover the cost of the yarn used in a project!

Oddly enough I have not had a single person ever question the amount of money I charge for making kilts, yet some of the projects I have seen my wife knit have taken her so much more time and effort, and she's only charging a fraction of what I do. And she's the one that gets people complaining about the cost.

[Donnie]

Pay me now-or pay me later! True craftsmanship is worth paying for. Most people don't have a clue what it is to actually work with their hands, much less have any artistic talent. Therefore they don't appreciate quality when they see it.