2001-07-22 - 9:59 p.m.
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The next time that you decide to commission an item from a craftsman please consider the following questions.
Can I purchase this item exactly as I have envisioned it at a store?
Do I have the tools to create the item that I want in my backyard?
Do I have the skills to create said item?
Do I understand (or value) owning or using a custom, handcrafted item?
Do I have the time in my busy life to create the item?
I have just recently begun taking blacksmithing commissions. Now this in its self is very thrilling for me. Think about it, someone thinks highly enough of my skills as a craftsman to ask me to create an object from iron for them. This is very exciting! Unfortunately, though, it is also the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life. I am forced to put a price on my work, and then have the world frown at me. It is not like I am asking for hundreds of dollars for the things that I do, in fact I worry over these prices to the point that my wife is ready to encourage me to find a new hobby, like reading. I have tried the angle of only making things for my friends, and I have bartered with Ross and Shrew. They have worked out great, but before I knew it I had the rest of the world asking me to make them things as well. The trouble is when they ask you how much the item is you can see their heads explode when you give them a price. I totally understand why you don't make armor on commission now, Roland. Up until now, pricing items has been fairly easy for me, it has been either free or "ask Ross, he'll tell ya." But now I find that I have to defend the price that I ask to people who don't understand what is involved by stating material costs, the amount of time it took to make, and explaining the complexity of the item, and even then I get shocked and disgusted reactions from people. Why would a person do this to a craftsman when they know that they are getting a hand crafted, original work? People have no problem paying for art or jewelry (usually), why not custom iron?
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