I raised my prices and lost half my regular customers and I think that's actually fine?

Okay so I finally did the thing everyone says to do and raised my prices, like a real jump, not just $5, and I instantly lost three of my regulars who'd been buying from me since I started selling online. One of them literally said "I'll wait til you come back down" which honestly stung more than I expected it to.

But here's the part I wasn't ready for, the people who are buying at the new price are asking different questions? They're not haggling or asking about shipping times, they're asking about process, about what I was thinking with the composition, about whether I have more in that series. The conversations are just... better. And I'm making the same amount per month with half the sales and way less time packing things up.

I don't know if this is a fluke or if it's actually how it goes but I keep waiting to feel bad about losing those regulars and I just... don't? I feel guilty for not feeling guilty lol. Has anyone else had this happen or did I just get lucky?

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Camille Laurent·11h

This doesn't surprise me at all. The clients who buy your work for what it actually is, not just a nice thing to hang on a wall, they're the ones who understand why a piece costs what it costs. The others were buying a decoration. Not the same transaction.

The woman who said she'll wait til you come back down, she won't. You won't, and she'll find someone else to sell her something cheap. That's fine. You're running a different kind of business now, one with space for the people who ask about composition. That's worth losing the other half for, I think.

Dani OkaforOP·10h

thank you 😭 honestly that's exactly what I needed to hear. the "decoration vs. art" thing hit because I think that's been nagging at me more than I wanted to admit, like yeah these regulars were nice and they showed up but were they actually seeing what I was doing? and the answer is probably not, which sucks to sit with but also frees something up.

the woman who said she'll wait... yeah you're right. I had this little knot of panic thinking what if I cave and lower them again but I genuinely can't, my materials cost more than it used to and I'm trying to actually pay myself?? so she'll wait and I'll just... keep painting.

the composition question person though, they asked about why I put the light source where I did and I nearly cried. that's the whole game right there. thank you for this

Gloria Mae Jackson·10h

Baby, I had to smile reading this. I been making quilts going on fifty years now, and I remember when I first started trying to sell 'em, folks would balk at the price like I was asking for something shameful. Didn't understand the hours, didn't understand the cloth, didn't understand that my grandmother's hands were in every stitch along with mine.

But the ones who stayed, and the new ones that came after... they'd run their fingers along the seam work and ask what made me choose that strip of fabric right there. They wanted to know the story. Those are the people who'll still have your piece on their wall forty years from now.

The three that left? They weren't your people, honey. They were just folks who wanted something cheap. Let 'em go on with a blessing. The door's narrow for a reason.🙏

Dani OkaforOP·9h

oh this absolutely wrecked me in the best way, thank you for sharing this. "my grandmother's hands were in every stitch along with mine", I had to put my phone down for a sec after reading that because that's exactly it, that's the thing I couldn't put words to. the work carries everything that came before it, and the people who can feel that, who want to know about it, they're not just buying a thing, they're buying into that whole chain of hands and history. fifty years of quilting, I can't even imagine the stories you've sewn into all that fabric. what got you started? was it your grandmother who taught you?