But ... But ... It's Not Like It's Work! (Craft Freebies)

[Hijinks]

When I first started soapmaking, I gave away all of my soap to friends, family, homeless shelters, etc, because otherwise I would have had soap coming out of my ears.  Now that it's a business and my stuff is actually quite good, and I've moved up to lotions, perfumes, etc, everyone still wants the freebies   Hard to say no when you gave it away before, even if your ingredients now cost 3x as much.

[cwm]

When I first started soapmaking, I gave away all of my soap to friends, family, homeless shelters, etc, because otherwise I would have had soap coming out of my ears.  Now that it's a business and my stuff is actually quite good, and I've moved up to lotions, perfumes, etc, everyone still wants the freebies   Hard to say no when you gave it away before, even if your ingredients now cost 3x as much.

I don't know what it's like to be in your position, but you could always try explaining to them that before it was a hobby and you were happy helping people out or giving it away. Now it's actually a business, and if you give away things for free, you're actually taking money out of your budget for supplies or dinner.

Not that I think they'll necessarily understand, but it might be worth a talk with some of the worst offenders.

[Jocelyn]

When I first started soapmaking, I gave away all of my soap to friends, family, homeless shelters, etc, because otherwise I would have had soap coming out of my ears.  Now that it's a business and my stuff is actually quite good, and I've moved up to lotions, perfumes, etc, everyone still wants the freebies   Hard to say no when you gave it away before, even if your ingredients now cost 3x as much.

'Before, you were a product tester. Now, I'm finished with product testing, and I've moved on into sales.'

[wheeitsme]

When I first started soapmaking, I gave away all of my soap to friends, family, homeless shelters, etc, because otherwise I would have had soap coming out of my ears.  Now that it's a business and my stuff is actually quite good, and I've moved up to lotions, perfumes, etc, everyone still wants the freebies   Hard to say no when you gave it away before, even if your ingredients now cost 3x as much.

'Before, you were a product tester. Now, I'm finished with product testing, and I've moved on into sales.'

I think this is a great response!

[geekette]

Its not craft, but a part of the reason I ended up distancing myself from most of my non-computer geeky friends was because so many people asked me to fix their computer. Like rescuing their data from a harddrive that had suddenly stopped working, at five in the morning, over the phone, on an OS that I know nothing about. One 'friend' asked if I would pay the fee, when I told him he'd have to take it to a shop!
My uncle once asked me if I could make some software for him; what he wanted would take a decent team a year to make, and would require at least one professional linguist. That was the only personal email I ever got from him (every other time, emails addressed to me were sent to my dad's email account)

[BarensMom]

Its not craft, but a part of the reason I ended up distancing myself from most of my non-computer geeky friends was because so many people asked me to fix their computer. Like rescuing their data from a harddrive that had suddenly stopped working, at five in the morning, over the phone, on an OS that I know nothing about. One 'friend' asked if I would pay the fee, when I told him he'd have to take it to a shop!
My uncle once asked me if I could make some software for him; what he wanted would take a decent team a year to make, and would require at least one professional linguist. That was the only personal email I ever got from him (every other time, emails addressed to me were sent to my dad's email account)

I feel your pain, geekette.  I transferred out of computer support in the late 90's, because everyone and his brother was bothering me to fix their computer problems.  No one, not even my family, was calling me to just talk - it was all "can you fix this for me?"

The kicker was when DH's coworkers from another unit would call at 2-3 a.m. to ask me to type/fix their PC files, fix their PCs, etc.  That was especially egregious because (1) I worked for the competition; (2) they woke me up, dangnammit! DH put a stop to that.

The above is a sure-fire way to burn out a resource and make them hate you for life.

[Shalamar]

Somewhat related ... when I was 17 and looking for a summer job, my dad found out that a coworker needed a bunch of data entry done.  (This was a personal project for the coworker himself, not for the company).   Knowing that I was good with computers, the coworker asked my dad if I'd do it.  When my dad passed the request on to me, I said "Sure - tell him I'll do it for $x.xx per hour" (which was slightly below minimum wage at the time).   Coworker apparently went green and said "HOW much?   Forget it; I'll do it myself!"  It took him ages. I could have gotten it done in a few hours and it would have cost him fifty bucks, tops.

[weeblewobble]

^Somehow, I think you have managed quite nicely without "friend".

Sadly, I'd have to agree.  I spent ten years thinking that this middle-aged man (then in his 30s but now in his 40s) was going to grow up, but I realized, about six years ago, that that wasn't going to happen (he is the epitome of Special Snowflake).  Oh, well!

I don't want to drag up old pain, but I'm curious as to why/how he thought you should hold him up as more important than your own fiance.

[LadyJaneinMD]

I just had one yesterday, in church.

As y'all know by now, I sew.  I sew A LOT, and apparently I have become the go-to person at my church for anything needing alteration or mending.  I'm fine with that. I call it my 'bread and butter' money.  It's a rare day that I can get out of church without a bag of someone else's clothes.
Well, one lady, who is generally a very nice lady, had gone past the 'can you do this for me?' and into the 'you MUST do this for me!' kind of 'asking'.    Just yesterday, she asked me why I couldn't just make her simple pencil skirts and blouses from scratch, instead of altering what she finds.   I told her 'because I'm not Walmart.  It's NOT cheaper to sew clothes from scratch.'  And she just doesn't understand it.  At least her friend does, so she might try to get her to stop.

Sometimes I'm tempted to just tell her that I'm burned out and won't do it anymore, but the rest of the folks are very nice about it. 

[ladyknight1]

DH made a new batch of bacon, smoked it Saturday morning, then packaged it up in the cooler while we went to pick up DS. We went by our friends BBQ restaurant, let them slice some of the bacon off the two chunks and cook it so they could try it. After getting the seal of approval, including a staffer that had been a bacon-hater prior, DH has decided to take orders for bacon, to be processed twice a month. All the people who had been clamoring for free bacon? Not one peep.

[PastryGoddess]

DH made a new batch of bacon, smoked it Saturday morning, then packaged it up in the cooler while we went to pick up DS. We went by our friends BBQ restaurant, let them slice some of the bacon off the two chunks and cook it so they could try it. After getting the seal of approval, including a staffer that had been a bacon-hater prior, DH has decided to take orders for bacon, to be processed twice a month. All the people who had been clamoring for free bacon? Not one peep.

hehe funny how that works huh

[esteban]

DH made a new batch of bacon, smoked it Saturday morning, then packaged it up in the cooler while we went to pick up DS. We went by our friends BBQ restaurant, let them slice some of the bacon off the two chunks and cook it so they could try it. After getting the seal of approval, including a staffer that had been a bacon-hater prior, DH has decided to take orders for bacon, to be processed twice a month. All the people who had been clamoring for free bacon? Not one peep.

How much and when can you ship it?

[ladyknight1]

$10 per pound. I would wait until the cooler months. Shipping will be more, with ice packs and such.

[pierrotlunaire0]

The irony is that even the most beautiful paintings in the world require far more of what these people would call "craft" than "art." The Mona Lisa wouldn't be nearly as beautiful if Davinci hadn't mastered the craft of painting. Someone can have the most wonderful ideas, full of meaning, but if they lack the craft, those ideas will never see the light of day.

Last year, the Detroit Institute of Art had a Faberge exhibit, and I read an article in the local paper about it.  Towards the end of the article, the writer made a comment that all of this is not Great Art, like the Sistine Chapel.  They are just pretty things.

I was so angry, and convinced that the writer new nothing about art.  If I pick up my tea pot, which is a beautifully painted and glazed sky blue, and the handle curves just right in my hand, and it makes me smile every time I look at it: that is art.

Getting back to the thread topic, I had a friend who was constantly volunteering me to help people with their projects.  I was smarter than most people he knew, and that translates into expertise, doesn't it?  The last time he tried to volunteer me was for someone who wanted to create an app that would take your life experiences and write them out in such a way that you could get course credit at the school this person was attending.

Only problem was, this person knew next to nothing about computers.  Guess what?  Neither do I!  And I already have a job which eats up all my time and energy, so I don't care what kind of dollar signs you see at the end of your path, because I am not going down that path.

[FauxFoodist]

^Somehow, I think you have managed quite nicely without "friend".

Sadly, I'd have to agree.  I spent ten years thinking that this middle-aged man (then in his 30s but now in his 40s) was going to grow up, but I realized, about six years ago, that that wasn't going to happen (he is the epitome of Special Snowflake).  Oh, well!

I don't want to drag up old pain, but I'm curious as to why/how he thought you should hold him up as more important than your own fiance.

Oh, no worries -- no old-pain-dragging here.  I sent you a PM so I don't derail the thread.