Things that make me sad. . .

When artists and handmade makers undervalue their time and products it makes me sad and sometimes frustrated, because I spend hours on my items and cannot sell them for five bucks. 

I have seen a lot of this on etsy over the years and I'm not sure why sellers do this really.  I think it is partly because they know people like "cheap" things and partly because they do not bother to do the math and realize they are making Zero money/profits. 😕

I have seen someone selling rubber stretchmaille bracelets for less than half of my price with free shipping. 😯

Let me break that down for you $9.99 with free shipping, which may look great to bargain shoppers looking for walmart pricing but in my mind is not a viable business decision. 

$9.99 price

- .60 payment processing

- .50 etsy commission

-3.00 first class shipping (unless they sent it in an envelope with stamps)

$5.89 and that's without counting the cost of packaging and supplies, so basically that seller gave the item away and was paid virtually nothing for the time they spent making it. 😟 

Sadly that's not even the worst example, I found someone from Germany selling earrings for .65 cents with free shipping. 😨  That's just insane they are loosing money, etsy's payment processing fee includes a .25 cent fixed portion along with it's 3.5% then the 5% then postage, never mind the materials/supplies. 😵

It's like the person selling a $2.99 bracelet that says in the title it's a half Persian 4 in 1 and then the description calls it a European 4 in 1, seriously if the person selling it doesn't even know the name of the pattern you should not buy from them, it doesn't even say what materials it's made of. 😔

For informational purposes : "Persian" and "European" patterns are from completely different families of chainmaille (yes chainmaille patterns have "families").  Historically speaking they were developed at different times in different parts of the world, they are not the same, the names are Not interchangeable. ~sigh~  I know this may seem like a nit-picky thing but I am much better with European patterns than Persian patterns.  I can make European 4 in 1 in my sleep and I cannot make Persian 4 in 1 at all. I have made Half Persian 3 in 1 but I think my rings are wrong ratio wise for other Persian patterns or maybe my Celtic based brain just doesn't like Persian patterns. ~LOL~  😇😄