Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Lean Van der Merwe | Episode 571
Lean Van der Merwe has been obsessed with pottery his whole life, and instantly fell in love with wheel throwing after his first class. Lean is ecstatic to share his creations. Each piece is thoughtfully made and glazed individually, and every single one is absolutely unique.
SPONSORS
You can help support the show!
GRPotteryForms.com
Number 1 brand in America for a reason. Skutt.com
For all your ceramic needs go to Georgies.com
Is there a down side to talking about price too early in the game?
I wouldn’t say that because usually when customers approach me to do commissions they would in there first message to me say, I want dinner plates in this size and that glaze of yours, how much are they? So that makes it rather easy. What makes it difficult for me is when I am at a market, which I really don’t like doing because is South Africa hand crafted items aren’t as appreciated as in the rest of the world. A bowl that I would probably sell for 200 dollars I would sell it locally at a market for 80 dollars and people would still haggle me for the price on that.
When is the right time to bring up pricing?
I would like to have that out of the way as soon as possible. Just because it is an uncomfortable thing to discuss so rather get that uncomfort out of the way right at the start. Obviously if someone asks you for a set of dinner plates you aren’t going to say, Okay a set of dinner plates is going to cost you 500 dollars. Just find out more, so don’t be too overeager about it if there isn’t a proper item established yet. So I would say discuss it up to a point to where they say, Okay, I want t platter this size and this glaze. Then start taking about the price. At least get what they actually want first before you give a price.
Does the competition of the market or how your peers are pricing, does that come in to play for you for what you will say to the customer?
You know, it has never been something I have been too worried about, just because I feel like each of us create such unique things that you can buy twenty mugs and tell all of the potters that you are ordering from that you want them in matte black and you will get something from each potter that you can see, Oh, this potter made it. Obviously if you would normally pay forty dollars for a mug you can’t charge 400 dollars for something similar. But I would say price point is such a personal thing. Obviously there is a global average or so, it is more about the value that you put in to something. Rahter than the person buying it.
How important is having the power of confidence come into play?
That is the most important thing. You must believe that your piece is worth that much.
Where do you get your information on that value you bring?
I always think to myself I might be an odd person out in that way because I do have expensive taste and I like expensive things. So I always ask myself, What would I pay for this if I were the customer? And I would price it in that way. So that would obviously not work for people that don’t like spending money. But for me that works pretty well. Also, I am very attached to everything that I make, so I also think, Okay, what would justify me handing this piece to someone else to use in their house. It must be worth it to me to give it to you.
Are you ever afraid of customer just saying, No, that is too much?
You know what, I am not afraid of it. It does happen. And then I just say, Okay, cool. Cheers! I am not going to say, Oh wait, I am going to give you 30 percent off. Or something like that. If you don’t want to pay it, you don’t want to pay it. I am not going to fight with you on it because I know from experience when one says that they are fishing for a bit of discount and I am always thinking to myself, You know what, you want ten dinner plates and then you say the price is too much and you want a discount on it, just the fact that you are ordering more doesn’t make my work less. It is still the same amount of work per plate. You are just ordering ten of them. So to me I would never offer a discount unless it is for a store or a wholesaler or something like that and then I have a minimum order quantity as well.
Is there ever a point where you will offer a discount?
The set of ten pieces that I mentioned is a silly example. Because I would, if people wanted to order big sets I would offer a discount on it. But then, it has to be quite a substantial set.
How do you communicate to your customer the value, not just of your work, but of your creativity and how that plays into the overall value of your work?
So that is a very good question because people always think, Oh you take a piece of clay and you make something and throw it in the kiln and it’s done. So especially to newer people who do not watch the videos and things and doesn’t know the actual technicalities that go into the work, for them I would explain the process. The piece gets thrown, it stands around for two days, you need space for the thing to stand around for a few days before you can trim it, and then while it’s drying you need space for it. You know, they don’t think that far. They don’t think, If I order a 26 piece dinner set from you, why are you charging this much. Because a 36 piece dinner set takes away the space of me creating something, 36 pieces of something else, for the time that I am busy with that order. And also the fact that they look similar is also a good point because it takes work to get dinner plates to look similar. I mean, obviously you don’t want them to look identical because you could just walk into a store and buy them. To throw bowl that have a similar width takes work and technique and know how to do. And in glazing as well. They think you just slap a bit of glaze on it and it is so far beyond that. It is actually surprising how little people know and I was the same before I started doing ceramics. I appreciate the process and I will happily explain the process to anyone asking why my prices are this or that.
Book
Contact
Instagram: @argilebylean