L. P. Skeen on fri 31 dec 04
Dawn, the only explanation for this phenomenon is this: There's no
accounting for taste. I have no idea how many times over the years someone
has practically tackled me to keep me from hammering something I hated.
Once my best friend and I fired someone else's kiln. It was the first time
either of us had fired a downdraft, and even though I gave up and called mel
in the middle of it, we could NOT get the top to heat up past cone 6.
Eventually shut 'er down. We were unloading the kiln and boy was there a
bunch of nasty pots in there. Best friend's husband was plucking things I
had discarded faster than I could hammer 'em, and worse, he still has 'em!!
yech........
L
----- Original Message -----
From:
Today I had a customer come in and
> went over to my box of glaze tests and bought a plate dunked with a mix of
> glazes that I was testing! I don't get it.
Carol Ross on fri 31 dec 04
How did your displayed work sell? I'm wondering if your customers saw
something in the "seconds basket" that you don't let into your final
work... something to which they were attracted?
Then it could be they just though they were getting a good buy!
Happy New Year Clayarts!
Carol R.
On Dec 31, 2004, at 2:23 PM, Daraburn@aol.com wrote:
> I have had pretty good traffic in my studio over the holidays and did
> well
> with my first ever "Holiday Open Studio." I was quite nervous, but
> the response
> and sales good so it was a real confidence builder! However, I
> noticed a
> strange phenomenon. Even though I had a really attractive lighted
> display area,
> almost without exception, people "crawled" to an obscure unlighted
> corner to
> dig through a basket of mismatched, ugly seconds that I probably would
> have
> ended up breaking with a hammer. And what is more strange is that
> they bought
> that junk! It wasn't that the prices were cheaper either, because I
> had a good
> mix of all price ranges in my display. Today I had a customer come in
> and
> went over to my box of glaze tests and bought a plate dunked with a
> mix of
> glazes that I was testing! I don't get it.
>
> Dawn in Tennessee
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> _______
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
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>
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> melpots@pclink.com.
>
Paul Lewing on fri 31 dec 04
It is a strange phenomenon! I used to deal with a gallery that had three
rooms with work in them. One was the show area where they had their
featured monthly shows; one was a sales room with stuff attractively
displayed on shelves and pedestals; the other was a dark, crowded room with
stuff just piled any which way on shelves floor to ceiling. It was the same
stuff they showed in the sale room at the same prices, and some of it was
stuff they had shown in the show area. But they made 75% of their sales out
of that little crowded room. Go figure!
Paul Lewing, Seattle
Marcia Selsor on fri 31 dec 04
Think of it as the thrill of the hunt. When I was in Deruta, Italy I
dug around the showroom..not the seconds room of the premier
Majolica factory of Deruta. The owner was there and we had been
chatting about the difficulty of sticking to traditions in modern
times. (I had seen it in Spain.) This factory even does "pouncing" of
graphite through pinholes as described by Picolpasso (sp) in 1578.
Anyway, I found a beautiful cup ..unique from all the others. I took it
to him to buy it. he asked where I found. "on the shelf way in the
back". He said the person who painted it had been dead for ten years!
Oh, I asked..does that make the price go up? Most of the cups there
sold for 18-20 euros. He smiled and told his helper not to charge me
for it along with my other purchases. I think shopping for some people
is like a sport. The thrill of the hunt.
Happy new Year.
Marcia
On Dec 31, 2004, at 1:23 PM, Daraburn@AOL.COM wrote:
> I have had pretty good traffic in my studio over the holidays and did
> well
> with my first ever "Holiday Open Studio." I was quite nervous, but
> the response
> and sales good so it was a real confidence builder! However, I
> noticed a
> strange phenomenon. Even though I had a really attractive lighted
> display area,
> almost without exception, people "crawled" to an obscure unlighted
> corner to
> dig through a basket of mismatched, ugly seconds that I probably would
> have
> ended up breaking with a hammer. And what is more strange is that
> they bought
> that junk! It wasn't that the prices were cheaper either, because I
> had a good
> mix of all price ranges in my display. Today I had a customer come in
> and
> went over to my box of glaze tests and bought a plate dunked with a
> mix of
> glazes that I was testing! I don't get it.
>
> Dawn in Tennessee
John Rodgers on fri 31 dec 04
Dawn, I learned a long time ago not to try and second guess the public.
There is absolutely no accounting for taste. I've friends who won't have
anything but the finest Edwardian and Elizabethan furniture in their
home. And I have professional friends who, except for their mattresses
on their beds, have furnished and decorated their home with stuff from
the junk yard, yard sales and thrift stores. Their house is very cute.
My shop right now is completely empty. I take that back......I have one
small bowl left. That is it. Not a piece of pottery left in the place
except the one bowl I forgot to get out from a re-fire.
You can't out guess them, so just make it and put it out there. Someone
will buy it.
Regards,
John Rodgers
Chelsea, AL
Daraburn@aol.com wrote:
>I have had pretty good traffic in my studio over the holidays and did well
>with my first ever "Holiday Open Studio." I was quite nervous, but the response
>and sales good so it was a real confidence builder! However, I noticed a
>strange phenomenon. Even though I had a really attractive lighted display area,
>almost without exception, people "crawled" to an obscure unlighted corner to
>dig through a basket of mismatched, ugly seconds that I probably would have
>ended up breaking with a hammer. And what is more strange is that they bought
>that junk! It wasn't that the prices were cheaper either, because I had a good
>mix of all price ranges in my display. Today I had a customer come in and
>went over to my box of glaze tests and bought a plate dunked with a mix of
>glazes that I was testing! I don't get it.
>
>Dawn in Tennessee
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
>
>
>
>
Snail Scott on fri 31 dec 04
At 03:23 PM 12/31/2004 EST, you wrote:
>Even though I had a really attractive lighted display area,
>almost without exception, people "crawled" to an obscure unlighted corner to
>dig through a basket of mismatched, ugly seconds...
It's the 'thrill of the hunt'! Everyone wants to
find that special, overlooked wonder. The stuff
on open display - that's nice, but anyone could
have it for the price. The stuff in the corners
and bins - that's a real challenge! (The 'haggle'
impulse comes from a similar place, I think -
not mere skinflintness (most times), but a sense
of hoped-for possibility.)
I had a friend who did craft fairs, and had a
seconds box in one corner. The first time he did
this, it was bought out immediately. And the
second time. And so on. One day he moved a few
pieces of back stock into the empty box, still
with their original price tags. They sold
immediately, and were replaced with more full-
price pieces until he had to start pulling work
off the display to fill the 'seconds' box. After
that, he started regarding the 'seconds' box as
a primary selling tool, and the nice display as
window dressing and 'backstock' for the box.
Ironic, but that's human psychology for you -
we're weird little monkeys for sure.
I once patronized a hole-in-the-wall secondhand
bookstore - dusty, unsorted books in piles on
the floor, things fallen out of sight. I'd spend
hours there, certain that some gem might be found
amongst the miscellany. Eventually, the shop
lost its lease, and had to move to new premises.
All the books got dusted, sorted, and neatly
shelved, with a choice selection in the big new
display windows. I shopped there afterward, but
I recall rarely finding a real 'lost gem' there
again. Maybe anything of real cash value was now
identified and priced according to booksellers'
price guides, and no longer within my limited
means. (possibly) It could be that with the new
organization, other less dedicated hunters
could find any good stuff easily, so it never
stayed around for long (my preferred theory).
Or, (quite likely) the stuff I'd scavenged from
those dusty piles wasn't half as wonderful as
I'd thought at the time, but was made precious
by the search. (-end analogy-)
Sure, many of those folks are hoping for things at
below-standard prices, but as you observed, many
of them are paying market rates for their finds.
They're there for the sport. Watch people leaving
a flea market with their new treasures - how many
of them would have bought the same item at the
same price (or cheaper) if there were dozens just
like it any time they went looking? Flea market
vendors often know this psychology, and stash any
duplicate items out of sight. (Unique, today only,
etc...)
Your regular stock may be fairly priced (or even
a bargain) and wonderful work to boot, but it
is, literally, _stock_. For the true hunter's
instinct, that's just no challenge at all! ;(
-Snail
Daraburn@AOL.COM on fri 31 dec 04
I have had pretty good traffic in my studio over the holidays and did well
with my first ever "Holiday Open Studio." I was quite nervous, but the response
and sales good so it was a real confidence builder! However, I noticed a
strange phenomenon. Even though I had a really attractive lighted display area,
almost without exception, people "crawled" to an obscure unlighted corner to
dig through a basket of mismatched, ugly seconds that I probably would have
ended up breaking with a hammer. And what is more strange is that they bought
that junk! It wasn't that the prices were cheaper either, because I had a good
mix of all price ranges in my display. Today I had a customer come in and
went over to my box of glaze tests and bought a plate dunked with a mix of
glazes that I was testing! I don't get it.
Dawn in Tennessee
Laurie Kneppel on sat 1 jan 05
Our local potters group has an annual Seconds sale every January
(coming up the weekend we are in Mendocino). The people start lining up
a couple hours before the sale opens and by the time it starts are
around the other side of the building. The first one I did I was so
busy that all I did was take money and wrap pots for the first 45
minutes non-stop. It was wild!
I think people like to get a "bargain". And it is amazing to see them
so serious about it!
Another thing I have found is when I do a sale I usually have about
half a dozen unmatched mugs that don't "go" with any of the others. I
set these on a shelf and people are drawn to them like magnets and I
usually sell all of them if I tell them they are "mismatched".
Sometimes those sell and nobody even touches the matched ones.
My next show, I am going to try an experiment and not group any of the
matching mugs together. Scatter them in little "mismatched" groups all
over the booth and see what happens.
I don't normally take seconds to shows because we have that annual sale
so I save them for that. But maybe people think the mismatches are
seconds?
And that is SO true about things you think are so incredibly ugly that
you want to smash them, and then somebody comes along who just LOVES
that glaze.
You just never know.
Laurie
Sacramento, CA
http://rockyraku.com
Potters Council, charter member
Sacramento Potters Group, member
Ivor and Olive Lewis on sat 1 jan 05
Dear Dawn,
There is every chance your customers are looking for something unique.
They may even truthfully boast "I have the only one in the whole wide
world" What is more to the point, they realise (possibly
subconsciously) that you would never be able to reproduce their proud
acquisition. Nor do you know after they have gone wherein the magic
lay in those pieces.
So, it would seem, you have a number of questions to think out ready
for the next occasion this happens.
Enjoy your New Year in Tennessee
Best regards,
Ivor Lewis.
Redhill,
S. Australia.
Kathy McDonald on sat 1 jan 05
At 03:23 PM 12/31/2004 EST, you wrote:
>Even though I had a really attractive lighted display area,
>almost without exception, people "crawled" to an obscure unlighted corner
to
>dig through a basket of mismatched, ugly seconds...
I routinely place a number of large handmade cane baskets
in my display when I do farmer's markets or craft sales.
I put the bread and butter type items like mugs and dip dishes in them.
They are not much different from what's on the shelves.........nor are they
prices any
differently......I think people just like to *root*.
Kathy
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wjskw@BELLSOUTH.NET on sat 1 jan 05
It's true, it's true! We DO love to root around, searching for=20
all of those "hidden treasures". That also explains the throngs of=20
people rooting through piles of stuff at flea markets and antique
stores. It also explains why piles of trash left curbside in front
of a house seem to "disappear" overnight, even quicker if there is
no big sign saying "FREE!!".
I for one, always get a big smile on my face stepping into a crowded
shop...stuff everywhere, almost no room to move. It must be royal
bi**h to do inventory in a place like that, but oh, what a wondrous
shopping experience. A new "treasure" everywhere you look, above,
below, behind, around every corner, in every nook and cranny.
A local "junk dealer" here told me that one of the secrets to his
success was to place items priced progressively higher the further
down into the container one goes. He said you would be amazed at
people who just "have" to find something in the bottom, something
"no one else has discovered"; and he showed me the same exact things
sitting on shelves easily accessible, untouched. He said it's human
nature.
Wayne Seidl
still digging
I routinely place a number of large handmade cane baskets
in my display when I do farmer's markets or craft sales.
I put the bread and butter type items like mugs and dip dishes in
them.
They are not much different from what's on the shelves.........nor
are they
prices any
differently......I think people just like to *root*.
Kathy
Carl D Cravens on sat 1 jan 05
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004, Paul Lewing wrote:
> stuff just piled any which way on shelves floor to ceiling. It was the same
> stuff they showed in the sale room at the same prices, and some of it was
> stuff they had shown in the show area. But they made 75% of their sales out
> of that little crowded room. Go figure!
Are people intimidated by "artful" displays? I'm more comfortable buying
pots at a renaissance faire, where pots are displayed on weathered boards
and pegs, than I am a showroom/gallery, where pots are displayed on
velvet-covered pedestals with carefully arranged lighting. I'm a lot more
likely to pick up and handle a pot at the faire than I am a gallery, and
I'm more likely to buy something I've handled.
What kind of pots are involved in this passing over the displayed work and
picking stuff out of the "junk" or "storage" area? I tend to favor
functional pots (don't need more junk to dust, no matter how pretty), and
functional pots, no matter how pretty, somehow seem out of place on velvet
under lights.
(Hi! I'm Carl, and I used to read clayart a few year ago when I was
taking throwing classes and dreaming of having my own equipment. Prices
of classes got too high, and I've not been able to afford my own wheel and
kiln. For Christmas, my mother-in-law gave me her old Paragon A-66B
(which has low usage and is in good shape despite its age), and my wife
bought me a new electric wheel. I've been reading clayart again and I'm
anxious to get my stuff set up and get back to throwing. Wheel should
arrive Tuesday, but I've got to finish getting the basement cleaned out!)
--
Carl D Cravens (raven@phoenyx.net)
Press any key to continue or any other key to quit.
Alisa Liskin Clausen on sat 1 jan 05
On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 18:13:33 -0700, Marcia Selsor wrote:
Another part of selling seconds or experimental pots, or last of series,
etc, is because of our curious nature.
I used to exhibit everything neatly lined up on shelves. Then I started to
put things that I make a lot of, mugs, candle holders, etc. into pails and
baskets. People do like to hunt and dig because apparently, getting to the
bottom of bucket sooths their curiosity. I fired every one off bisqued mug
I had on my shelves this season, and glazed them with a round robin in my
glaze buckets. There were no two the same and people really enjoyed buying
a set of four, one for me, one for you, one for guest and one for if the
other ones get broken.
Where I work, I have my studio and a shop side by side. The curious also
love to come into my studio. Usually I am throwing, and the public can
watch from a polite but strong half wall between myself and them. Some ask
if they can come into the studio. Most of the times it is all right.
Anything I have on my shelves, dusty and unturned for months, become
targets of admiration and sales. Like said, the lust for unique. I like
this as well, because these people are usually ones who take interest in
experimental pots that I think are pretty interesting, but they do not sell
like warm bread on an average day.
My favorite visitor was one who asked me what I used the Listerine for on
my shelf over my sink. I could tell that she wanted to hear a trade secret
and I am sure curiosity almost killed the cat when I admitted it was for
sore throats on the job.
best regards from Alisa in Denmark
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