Why I Don't Sell What I Make

In the past I have--I have sold many things. Jewelry, hand bound books, art dolls, assemblage, collage, stamped cards, clothes, art quilts. As I've mentioned before, one year I made $10,000 selling the stuff I made. That seems amazing to me today--it's been a lot of years.

But I don't even try any more. My Etsy shop has been empty (if it still even exists) for years now. People are always--always--telling me I should sell the clothes I alter. "People would pay for that!" they tell me, and I just smile.

Yes, indeed. People would pay for it. Just recently, when I posted this jacket,

someone contacted me and said they'd like to buy it. I pretty much knew where this would go, having been there before, but I asked them, just out of curiosity, to make an offer. They suggested $25. I said no, I wouldn't sell it for that amount, but if they'd send a SASE, I'd put it in the mail to them as a gift. They did. I did. I hope they received it--I haven't heard, and it's been a couple weeks, so it may have gone astray, which would be sad.

[The good news is that just the other day--Monday--I boxed up a carton of things I'd altered and was hanging onto but realized I probably am not going to wear, given the bulging state of all the closets, and sent them to Nan Spring, a fabulous photographer in San Antonio. They've arrived safely, and Nan says she'll have photos to post on Facebook soon. You may remember the last time I did this and Nan shared the photos. This is why I send things to her: they fit her, she wears them, she enjoys them, I get to see how they look on someone else. She came to the book signing we did in San Antonio last month and had on one of the dresses I dyed and stitched, and it was SO much fun to see her in it.

 She looked fabulous (she's wearing a pair of tights that exactly matches the darker fuchsia in this dress), and seeing her + the dress was like seeing two friends I hadn't seen in a while. In fact, it was so cool of her to wear it that I gave her a jacket I bought at Quilt Festival last year and embroidered--I hadn't know I was going to do that, but I was compelled to hand it to her. She's just one of those people who make you feel great about sending something their way, you know? Even if it might not be the coolest thing she's ever seen, she has so much fun with styling it that you have fun, too.]

Anyway: so why would I rather give something away then sell it for $25? Let's look at it.

I bought the jacket for a couple of dollars. Let's say $3. I brought it home and washed it and dyed it. Let's say the dye and salt and soda ash cost $2. I switched out the buttons--that was probably about $4, given the ridiculous cost of even plain plastic buttons. Let's say I spent $1 on the floss. That's $10.

Let's say that all this took me three hours. It probably took longer than that, of course, but let's say it took three. That comes out to $5 an hour for altering the jacket. I don't know about y'all, but I'm not willing to do something--even something I love--for $5 an hour. Oh, sure--if I were starving and had to have the money to buy food, I'd do it. But you know what? I'd rather do something else for $5 an hour, something physical. Shoveling out kennels, for instance. Nasty, dirty, disgusting work, but hard physical work for which you don't expect to make much money. I've done it, and I could do it again (think tall rubber boots, gloves, a mask). What I'm not willing to do is something I've been doing since 1973 and, if I say so myself, do fairly well, for far less than minimum wage.

If I sell something, I have to copy the check and make sure it's included for taxes. I have to pay Etsy fees and shipping. I have to have boxes and tissue on hand, and I have to keep track of stuff. I have to take it to the post office or UPS. By that time, that $5 an hour I made has dwindled down to nothing.

I understand that people aren't willing to pay for the time I--we!--put into things we make by hand. You know that. You've heard people say, over and over, in that dismissive tone, "I could do that." Well, yes. Yes, indeed: they *could* do that. The question is, though: would they? Are they really going to spend hours and hours learning to do what you do? Mastering the techniques and then still loving it enough to sit down and do it?

You know the answer to that one. They're not. They're not willing to do it, but because they can imagine themselves doing it, they don't value it nearly as much as if it were something they couldn't do. Brain surgery. Tax law. Architecture.

Or some art, like gem cutting or glass blowing, that they have no idea how to do and that, therefore, seems mysterious and valuable.

I have sold some artwear for quite a bit of money. A couple hundred dollars, say. Does that sound good? The truth is that didn't even begin to cover the amount of time I spent working on them.

Here's the thing: you have to value the things you do. This is why I'm always harping about work, about buckling down and learning to do things well, about practicing and learning and expanding your skills. You do it, and you do it well, and you value it. If you want to give it away as a gift, that's your business. But if you sell what you do for pennies, what are you saying? Remember how I say, periodically, that people treat you the way you teach them to treat you? Well, people value your work the way you teach them to value your work. If you don't value what you do, they won't, either. If you're willing to sell it for way less than it's worth, then that's what it actually *is* worth. You're the one who put that price on it.

So while I used to think it would be marvelous to make a living selling what I make, I realized that would never happen. I don't make high-end artwear. I don't have A Name that makes people want to spend lots of money on what I make, and the stuff I make is quirky enough that only maybe a handful of people would wear it. And that's OK. I don't make it to sell it; I make it for me, to wear it. And if I don't wear it? I give it away. There are wonderful people out there who give marvelous homes to the things I pass along. They wear them and have fun with them, and that makes me happy.

That's why I don't sell what I make. I make it for me and for the joy of making something. I have way, way too much. But I'd rather give it away than undervalue what I do by selling it for less than what my time is worth. Packing up a box of stuff I've altered and sending it to a friend and then waiting to see photos? Now that's fun~~almost as much fun as wearing it myself, which, as you know, I love to do.

Thanks, Nan! XO