Recently, at a show in Florida, I had an unbelievable encounter that is still bugging me. It was a BAD Saturday and Sunday was shaping up to be even worse. At about 3PM I had a promising couple come in and tell me how much they ‘loved my work’! So much so that they were talking about which wall to put it on and whether they needed ‘a bigger size because that wall has huge ceilings’! They even “discussed” getting two pieces, one huge and one large for their home. Toward the end of the conversation the husband asked if he could ‘possibly get a deal’ for two pieces. They left to ‘think about which piece would go where’ in their house and told me to ‘think about what kind of deal’ I could give them...

  By 4:30, a half hour before the show ends, I start thinking they are typical Be-Backers who never return or even a couple who like to ‘talk a good game’ but never follow through with a purchase. Suddenly, at 4:50 PM, they swoop back in and he asks what kind of deal he can get. I said if he gets two large pieces that I would pay the tax and also take care of the shipping. This would be a savings of about $150 on an $1100 purchase. He seemed shocked by that so he settled on one large piece of mine priced at $450. He was doing all of the talking at this point and says “I don’t really love the piece but she does” and points to his wife, and so on and so on. I said the best I could do is $400 (including tax) on that piece. That was a savings of $80! He countered with just $300 (!). I could not believe it. He was asking me to take a THIRD off of my price! I said there is NO way I could to that, $300 was close to my costs for that size. He would not budge and neither would I.

  They left the show empty handed and I left with (nearly) empty pockets. A few minutes after they left I kept thinking about better responses. Isn’t that usually how it goes? I should have showed them a medium piece priced at $325 and said “here is something more in your budget” or “maybe you should go to Hobby Lobby because you are looking for DECORATIONS for your home and NOT ART”, or the classic, “Sir, would you try this at a Target or grocery store?” It made me even madder later on. This couple tried to play me for a sucker! They thought I was a “starving artist”, that they could get my hopes up, swoop in at the close of the show, and drop the hammer, thinking I would be so desperate that I would just take it. I know they are PROS at this, that they practice this haggling ‘schtick’ at a lot of places. The more I thought about it, I knew it was too perfect, something wasn’t right; their spiel was way too rehearsed to be legitimately interested in my work. THERE HAS TO BE A NAME FOR THESE PEOPLE!

  It took a LOT of pride and strength for me to not give in! I needed the money so much that week. I didn’t have a place to stay the next few days and not much food to eat because of a series of bad shows in FL that month. (I was far from the only artist to suffer this weird streak; let’s hope that’s all it was, weird.) So I chose to sleep in my car and eat peanut butter sandwiches for 2 days rather than accept his insulting offer. As an artist that sells via a sometimes unpredictable show circuit, I certainly have struggled but I don’t abandon my self-respect, honor, and worth when I’m at a low point.

            I’m still unsure what lesson I was supposed to learn from this. Either way, I still think I was right for not accepting his woefully insufficient offer. Yeah, it would have been nice to have a bed and decent food for those few days but I am happy I stood my ground. I choose to not focus on being upset that I was in that kind of situation, where I could have really used the money. But how’s this for reaffirming my decision?! Only one week after this encounter I sold that EXACT SAME PIECE in Naples to a nice couple who did not ask for 1 penny off my price! Ha!

               
           THERE HAS TO BE A NAME FOR THESE PEOPLE: These people who, usually a team of two, who try to prey on desperate artists are the end of art shows.