How do you handle this?

[RonB]

I made a pair of boots, and gave them to a freind who is a Line Dancer, ( for the excercise she says) The base say's " Line Dancers do it with their Boots on". She has shown the carving to most of her freinds, and now I am being asked if I will make each of them a set. No one has asked what the price would be to carve them, ( I made myself a promise to never sell anything when I started carving, to keep it from becoming a JOB) I am sure they all think I ought to make them, and give it to them. If you change the curcumstances slightly, I am sure most of you have been put in the same situation, whether you sell or not. How do you handle this?

[gene-messer]

great looking boots Ron ..

Gene

The idea is Ron .. do you really want ot do it ? .. If not .. dont .. save yourself the headache and say you dont have the time for that many pair of boots ..

People want something they see at first .. but ask a big price for them will probably discourage most of them

Gene

[susieq]

Folks really have no idea how much time and effort goes into a carving.....they tend to think wood is free or at least pretty cheap. They really don't mean to be thoughtless but I would nip this in the bud now before it gets out of hand if it was me... You could just say...sorry, that was one of a kind, or you could come right out and say that one set was fun but doing anymore would be a job and not any fun for you.

If you wind up doing them, charge for it. I was in a similar situation a few years ago when my family sort of did the same thing to me. The only difference is that I do sell my work. I tried to make someone a good price on something and they either took advantage and ordered one for each of their kids or they didn't want it if they had to pay for it. Anyone will take almost anything if it's free. If they really value it, they won't mind paying for it....

[squbrigg]

I'm sure they don't expect to get them for nothing. They aren't family, and even if they were, I'd still charge them a nominal fee. As they are asking, I'd set a fair price and offer them, if they don't want to pay your price, then they really don't want them.

Bob

[SeaLeveler]

Good job on boots.I was in the same situation after making and giving away some name plaques.I just figured how much coffee and my sat radio bill and set a price and asked if they wanted the plaques for $$$.I figured I made about $2.50 an hour.Tony

[Paul_Guraedy]

Ron, I came to woodcarving via leatther carving. If I were faced with your situation, I would resort to a tactic I used back then. I sold a few pieces on commission; but, was interested in doing things of interest to me.

I was aked to do a large piece of "basket weave" and the buyer would not take no for an answer. Finally, I gave in and named a very high price. The buyer asked me if I was doing that because he was irritated that he was insisting on the piece. I told him that he was paying that high a price for the "boredom factor". When I explained that basket weave took care; but, was boring and I did not want to sit there and do it for hours on end.......well, dad burn it, he understood and even though the money was nice......I was bored!!

Seems to me carving a bunch of boots, or any of the same carving, would be boring and I would expect to get paid well for it.

[Kate]

I think that all of the above is very good advice.
When I was making jewelery often times people would ask about making a piece like something they had seen.

The simplest solution was to tell them that the piece was one of a kind and that to duplicate it would diminish the value of the original I had made for the other person.
Most folks understood. When they didn't a simple "I'd rather not, and that's really my final answer - BUT - maybe we could design something JUST FOR YOU" worked very well. Kept the boredom factor at bay and folks got something that they could treasure as their own one of a kind.

K.

[RonB]

Thanks for the great advise, considering I never intend to get into selling, the "One of a Kind" tactic, is what I'll use, after I made the post, I was told none of them had any intention of paying for the work. From now on whenever I give someone something, it will be with the admonition, "This is one of a kind, I do not take orders" RonB

[Kate]

Atta Boy Ron!

On a side note - LOVE your rig! It's a dream of mine to travel the states. Tow my Jeep behind a small traveling hotel and just enjoy this country.
Unfortunately, my husband (affectionately known as OBM - On Board Mechanic) is one of those "roots" kinda guys. He sets roots down and you can't hardly budge him. So, I make him go for threee day wheelin' weekends.

[Mottles]

Hi Ron, looks like you got your solution and gave me one too. Everyone has given you good food for thought and helped me too.
Love your boots carving too!
Thanks everyone,
Kathy