Some Folks Just Have Too Much Money

Vaughn McMillan

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We were hanging artwork and mirrors today in a house that's being newly remodeled and decorated. In a casual conversation with the designers working on the project, they mentioned that the new queen size mattress on the bed in the room we were in cost $25,000. It was a nice mattress and all, but twenty five grand for a dang mattress? :eek:

On the plus side, we're likely to end up back at that house Friday, and Perry (my boss) told me I should bring along a few of my turned pieces to show these designers. They really like Perry because he's referred a few good clients to them, and he figured they should know about my stuff. ;) (He's one of my best customers.)
 
Good luck with the spinny sales. Be sure to double, or triple, the prices to make them look good. ;)

GREAT IDEA!! I think Frank is on to something there. Seriously! If you are a great artist they will expect you to command high prices.

I just wonder if you would sleep better and more comfortably on a $25,000 matress vs something less... or would you just wake up with a $25,000 back ache.

I wouldn't be able to sleep for the pain in my rear end, left side where I keep my wallet!
 
Vaughn

You are looking at it the wrong way. Its "Great" that there are people that can afford 25K mattresses!

If there wasn't who would we sell our stuff to?

Seriously. At one time I may have resented people with money, but after years of working for them I have come to realize that many of them are extremely sharp, work insanely hard long hours, and they have a crushing amount of responsability. Not all, but many.

Then you have the old money, but they don't hire me anyway so I don't worry about them. I get the self made man/woman types who can appreciate my special sense of humor.:D

They say if you distributed all of the money evenly, in ten years all the same people would be wealthy. I believe it, I am good at what I do, but even though I have been in business a very long time, I am not a businessman. I get by, but I'm certianly not rich.

The other Larry
 
Thanks for the comments and well wishes, all. :) Just to be clear, I don't resent the wealthy folks...I'm just kind of amazed at seeing the kinds of things they spend their money on. (And some of it is really cool, too.)

As far as raising my prices to fit the market, that's a given, within certain limits. ;) Keep in mind that designers and interior decorators tend to buy at wholesale (or at least less than retail), then they mark up the prices before giving the bill to the client. Still, my wholesale price to a designer might well be higher than my retail price at a street fair. I'm also learning that in these types of circles, referrals and recommendations are golden, and as a result, they are usually compensated. For example, if a designer recommends us to install a client's artwork, they may be getting a small commission, or at least a favor somewhere down the road from us. Likewise, if we refer a designer to one of our good clients, that designer will make it a point to suggest our services to his clients. So if I get any good clients through my connections with Perry (my boss), I would expect to give him a small commission in return. It's just how the game is played. A lot of reputations are built on word-of-mouth, so when I showed a group designers some of my pieces today, I was only planting some seeds, not trying to harvest a crop. :thumb:

Had a busy day today. Started at a nearly new loft condo in Santa Monica (1,000+ sf that sold for about $800,000), went to a nice beachfront house in Malibu Colony (you could step off the patio onto the beach, and the waves were about 25 yards from the living room window), then back down to Beverly Hills to go straighten out a few crooked pictures, then back to the remodel job to hang a few mirrors and pictures on Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills, overlooking the city.
 
Way to go Vaughn...

I can only imagine the kinds of things I would spend money on if it was available in a virtually unlimited quantitiy.. :D
 
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