When small business is not friendly to small business

please allow me to rant today....I need to.

So as you all know, I sell lots and lots (sometimes) of reproduction prints in my shop, some day I do pretty well. Now, I don't even own a printer, so I have my prints done at a local printing shop, this way I can get the highest quality images...now I get them done locally even though it is WAY cheaper to get them printed from larger "art house" type printers.

But....I go for the mom and pop places, I like to know my money is going back into my city, where I live, the place I want to flourish. There is something great about the personal relationships that you can build, I love calling my print place and having them know who I am, I like having direct connection to the owner, the person who is printing my work.

It makes me feel good to know that the hundreds and many more hundreds of dollars I spend are going directly to help keep a place open, to put food on the table.

Now, I don't spend thousands of dollars all at once, no, I spend hundreds and I do it it often. I sell limited editions and soon, one of a kind pieces that need printing. I print a lot, on a weekly basis at times.

So that being said I was pretty shocked when I was talking to my printing company about my latest prints (that are so beautiful it hurts me...so pretty), when mr print shop owner informed me that it was not really "worth their time" to have me as a customer anymore, that they preferred it if I printed at least 100 prints of each design.

well, that's just not me, I don't want to offer hundreds of each piece, I want limited quantities, I want them to be really special.

Now, I was shocked, it was not like I was paying next to nothing for the work I got there, they quoted me a price and I paid it...no questions asked.

Did I know I could get them cheaper from a bigger place, hell yeah...did it matter...no.

So here I am "dumped" by my printer for not being "big enough".

SO I spent yesterday calling and contacting all the local print shops in my town, again, wanting to support local.

You know what I found out....small places don't want to deal with small places. No one was even willing to give me a price quote on anything...not caring that I had 20 different designs that I wanted 10 prints each of...no, again I heard I had to do at least 100 of each design or they did not want my business.

I felt like I was going to throw up, I really did.

You know, it must be nice, to be able to turn down hundreds of dollars on a regular basis saying it is not worth their time.

Now....I am not suffering from delusions of grandeur, I know I am small potatoes, but I am potatoes nonetheless.

(oh, I like that...I am potatoes)

So...yesterday ended with me placing a preliminary order with a large print company with a "no minimum" requirement.

Did it make me feel dirty inside that I had gone totally mass market...a little bit, but that quickly changed when about an hour after I placed my order I got a personal email from a customer rep at said "big box" company, thanking me for my order, telling me I would have it by Friday and to contact them should I have any questions or concerns.

So anyway...hopefully things will go well with the new company, I will let you know Friday about how the pieces look...

wish me luck.

xxoo

(piece today is a new one, it's not listed yet, and I am not sure when I will list it...but I love it, it's a combination of digital and regular collage)