Worth and Consequences

Knowing your worth is important…very important. I’ve actually written about it before, and it’s worth reading again so be sure you do. I recently had an experience of knowing my worth and standing by it that I’d like to share.

The “worth” I mean isn’t limited to a financial term, but in this instance, it ends up being all about the price of my artwork. I’ve had to defend my printing only once this year. I was at a local event where the vendors were not “the main thing”, the food was. A shopper approached my tent and when I greeted him, he quickly explained that he was a “salesman” so I was going to have to “haggle” with him. Before I could decline, he blurted out a price 20% lower for the art piece he was interested in.

Now that the conversation was back in my control, with him waiting for me to jump at the chance to make the sale, I calmly told him what the price of the art actually was. Again he told me I had to negotiate with him because he was “in sales” and knew this is how it worked. I replied back that he wasn’t at a flea market, and that I knew the time and effort that went into the piece, and knew the worth of it and myself. He told me that wasn’t how this works, and walked away to eat more food. I figured that was the end of it.

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About 20 minutes later he came back and immediately fired off with a price 10% lower than the advertised price. I could have sold it, but at this point, that shopper’s attitude and disrespect just shut me down. It was now the principle of the matter. He made it confrontational, and I wasn’t going to let him win. Upon reflection after the whole thing, I hated how easily I let myself feel that way because up until that point, I was having an enjoyable time talking with fellow vendors and customers, listening to live music and enjoying the overall vibe of the event. I explained that the price was $50, and that my pricing wasn’t negotiable, but that I did offer discounts for people who bought more than one, and pointed to the sign explaining those discounts. I also added a shallow quip about not being under any obligation to offer discounts or negotiate my prices like my booth was a bargain bin.

I wanted to give this person the benefit of the doubt, and in the end, they paid the full price for the art. That meant that my confidence in my worth was validated and someone was getting a piece of art that they truly did like and want displayed in their home or office. In the end, that doubt was erased because just a few days later, they left a negative review on Square over the transaction. They didn’t enter a comment, they just gave me a frowny face. Not surprisingly, the one time a boorish “salesman” tried to haggle my prices with all the grace and tact of a schoolyard bully, is the same time I get my first negative review on Square ever.

Despite this experience, I generally believe that when most people try to haggle, dicker, or treat your booth like a flea market when that’s clearly not appropriate, they’re not being rude on purpose. However, when you make contact with a person like the one I’ve described above, who views shopping like combat, and they don’t feel like they “won”, they’re going to retaliate. They don’t do it because they dislike your art, but because your confidence shines a light on their behavior. They end up feeling like they “lost” not because they paid full price, but because, if you were still genuinely pleasant at the end of the transaction, you were witness to their actions and they’re embarrassed. Since shopping is combat, the only option they see in response is petty retaliation.