It’s been a while since my last post, and although there are many things to write about and share of late, this seemed equally as worthy of sharing as anything else.  I haven’t yet written much about my artwork yet, but this customer experience just taught me a lot more about what to expect when selling it.

Dear Customer,

Now that your money has been refunded and you have had a chance to have your say more than once now in our dealings together, I would like a chance to have mine.

Let me be clear: I am an artist and craftsperson who, similar to you, works very hard for a living at a point in time when every dollar counts, and time is hard to come by. I put my artwork and crafts on Etsy, which is for people like me, because right now it is not possible to earn my living from my art alone. I make very little money doing this — if, indeed, I make any money at all. Most artists don’t either, unless they’ve found a way to circumnavigate the rules on the site and have their stuff produced at a cheaper cost.

Customers who are likely to say “then don’t do it” are the reason why most artists and artisans in this country have stopped working, selling/making their art, or continue to do it, but then have to have 1 or 2 other jobs to stay solvent: the labor to make things like your bracelet gets shipped overseas and is paid at a very low hourly wage. I have heard many people argue, with good reason, why buy “real art” or artisan made stuff if you can get something “just as good” at Target? Why indeed. In that case — then please just go to Target (or HomeGoods or Walmart) and buy what you want there to decorate your home, or wear on your body. PLEASE don’t purchase it from an artist, whose time, skill and materials are something we’ve all been conditioned not to value.

We don’t, as a society, value labor. It’s something to ship overseas where poor people (who I guess we believe should feel lucky to be employed?) can just do it for cheap wages. As consumers, we just want a good deal for our money so we can consume even more and have things exactly as we want for the precious life’s energy we’ve poured into earning a meager living. Believe me — I totally get it. I really do. I live in the same society and have been conditioned similarly. Let’s face it — you could easily purchase what you are looking for at half the cost if you were to buy it on amazon, target, etc.

If I were a big warehouse operation, getting you what you want for a good price would be my job, as would customer service. I would simply pick up another bracelet from the hundreds in stock and send you a new one and no additional cost and find it easy to be kind, friendly, quick, communicative, etc. — because I would have no part in the making of or production of the item I sent to you. I would not be out any money or time of my own in order to do it, either.

So my recommendation is to do that from now on, and please don’t order anything further from Etsy or another site with those behind it who are actually doing the labor themselves, and who take pride in their work. You aren’t in a position to appreciate it, and the result is a frustrated customer and many frustrated artisans.

Here’s why: It would appear that you must’ve purchased several items from Etsy in search of one that fit what you wanted. The reason I know this is that you emailed me, in advance of your bracelet actually arriving, to tell me how unsatisfactory everything else was that you had purchased, and expressing your disappointment to me, saying that they looked like “kids bracelets”. My only guess is that you were attempting to prepare me for what you thought would be an inevitable rejection.

Amazingly — you liked the bracelet I made for you, but it broke. Although I offered to repair it for free, you insisted not only to pay for the repair (which I didn’t require), but that I use a different type of thread that you believed to be stronger. In order to get what you wanted, you then had special fishing line sent to me at great expense rather than trusting me to know my own work and materials. I haven’t had a single other bracelet like that one break yet, so I can attest to it being a strange fluke. Several people I know wear theirs and have had them for some time — still perfectly in tact. The thread, clearly, is a large part of what made it beautiful, no? Yet despite not being able to use the thread you sent and still providing another solution for you, it is now “the ugliest bracelet you ever saw”, and you just want a refund. I have now provided that to you, which seems like the only reasonable solution — in this particular case.

Although I appreciate your honesty about hating the bracelet and thinking it’s ugly (I tend to value honesty more than hot air) — I also have to admit that it was insulting and not pleasant to hear. The bracelet was ugly because you would not take the advice or expertise I offered to you, and because of my efforts to make things right and closer to what you were asking for.

You have lost little in this transaction besides frustration, time, and a few bucks in shipping when you sent the bracelet back for repair. Since I returned your fishing line to you (which I could not use) and its shipping papers so that you could return it and get a refund, you will hopefully not have lost any money there, either. You also have an ugly bracelet of your very own.

On the OTHER side of this, I am now out cost of the bracelet and its components, which had to be special ordered to make for you since you were ordering a custom-made piece rather than the one shown, which was already made and ready to ship. That also meant purchasing more than the amount of components I would need, so I am out that amount as well. I am out the time that it took to make the bracelet TWICE, and answer all of your emails. I am out the shipping costs, too. In fact, I am easily out far more than the cost of this one “ugly” bracelet.

I have also decided to stop accepting custom requests and to change my shop’s information now, because I keep encountering customers who clearly have a different expectation of what they should be entitled to in their dealings with me than what I am actually able to offer them. You are not the first, just the tipping point for this decision.

I hope, at the very least, this rather lengthy discourse has made it clear why this arrangement between us didn’t go well, and may hopefully, in future, bring you closer to what you actually want. In all honesty, I also hope it opens your eyes a little wider to consider what and how you consume, but it’s actually not my place. I find it hard to keep my mouth shut about certain things these days, but seldom do I ever wish anyone anything but what makes them happy. Do what makes you happy, and at least try not to abuse the time and efforts of others through a lack of awareness. It will save a lot of time and energy for those concerned, including you.

Certainly you taught me a great deal, and opened my eyes to many aspects of dealing with people over the internet that I hadn’t put enough time and effort into. I will be changing my business practices accordingly. As far as that goes, I am at least genuinely grateful for the lesson.

Warmest regards,

Natalie