I posted a thread on my Facebook wall yesterday and it struck a nerve. Here's a link to the post so you can read the comments. There is some great stuff in this thread, so be sure to read it. Then come back so we can chat further. (Just FYI I can't approve anymore FB friends because of a Facebook imposed limit and I'm sorry about that. You can 'like' my 'fan page', but I surely don't expect that!)
"I would rather not make a sale than undervalue my work. I'm tired of endless requests for discounts, freebies and favors. This is how I feed my family. I can't afford to give my work away and we can't eat glitter." Margot Potter
Someone contacted me about making a commissioned design for them recently. Though I generally don't sell my work at retail or do production work, I said yes and offered them a significant discount as a professional courtesy. I actually struggled with what to charge and ended up quoting little more than the wholesale cost of materials, which is significantly less than even a wholesale rate when you factor in my time. The piece they'd selected was created with fine materials and the cost reflected that. I don't really know this person, but we're connected through a professional situation and I guess I felt weird about charging them retail. I was trying to do them a favor, which was my first mistake. The piece had several strands of chunky gemstone and sterling beads and it was one of a kind. They balked at the price in a most diplomatic fashion, I countered by asking them what they had envisioned paying and they responded with a thanks, but no thanks. This isn't the first time something like this has happened.
It wasn't a big deal on one level, but on another level it was. It was a big deal because this person is a professional designer. They get paid to design. If I approached them about designing something for me, I imagine they'd charge me full price or offer me a slight discount, I would never expect them to design for me and just charge me the wholesale cost of materials. They'd probably be insulted if I balked at their rate. So what gives? Is being a craft industry designer less important, less valuable and therefore unworthy of charging full price for your work?
No. My work has value. My work is worthy. I am not going to give discounts anymore. If you want it, you pay for it. You're getting not just the materials, you are getting my time, my vision and designer's eye. I have worked hard for a number of years to get to where I am and I am no longer going to feel the least bit weird about pricing my work at fair value. I get a lot of requests for discounts, freebies, donations and I'm quite frankly tapped out.
I decided last year that I'm not working for free stuff. Unless there is a palpable and significant cross marketing benefit to it, I need to get paid in money. My family can't eat glitter. If you can't pay me for my services, I can't do the job. If some other sucker is willing to work for glitter, I feel sorry for them. Unfortunately it is the preponderence of people willing to work for glitter that has created a seriously sticky situation. When other people undervalue themselves, it undervalues all of us. That includes folks on Etsy who sell their work without factoring in cost of materials, cost of doing business, cost of labor and design. They're losing money and they're making it hard for people who take it seriously enough to price their work so they make a profit to survive. It's a lose/lose.
What baffles me is how often creative people compromise. Perhaps it's because there is such a lack of value placed on creativity. What's fascinating to me is how much we take for granted. Without creatives, we'd have generic packages, no magazines, no music, no movies, no tv shows, no cars, houses, artwork, home decor items, clothing and accessories, no websites or blog templates... Creativity makes the world technicolor instead of beige. Excellent creative output requires immense amounts of experience, thought, trial and error, planning and awareness.
The gal who answers the phones shouldn't be your 'in-house' designer unless she can actually design. Yet many, many craft companies are relying on cheap or free design sources. There are magazines and book publishers that don't pay designers who have managed to convince them that it's such an honor to be within their pages, it's worth doing it for free. Really? Do the editors work for free? Do the graphic designers in house work for free? What kind of a magazine or book would it be without the work of the designers who submit?
It's up to all of us creatives to stop feeling guilty about asking to be paid fairly for our work. It's up to those who work for free glitter to accept that they're making it hard for those who have to put food on the table to do so. It's time we all stopped undervaluing our work because until we do, the manufacturers, publishers, retailers and magazines are going to keep expecting people to work for free glitter.
It starts with each of us taking a good hard look in the mirror and telling ourselves we are worthy. Because we are.
Here's a video shared in that thread by the multi-talented Kathy Peterson that sums it up brilliantly.
Love
Madge
No comments:
Post a Comment