Supply and demand. No matter what industry you’re in and what products and services you sell, selling boils down to supply and demand. As a seller myself, when a buyer walks into my shop and requests a navy blue desk, I find and paint a desk navy blue for them. That’s exactly what happened this past weekend.
A very nice couple from a neighboring town stopped by to purchase this tall navy blue dresser for their son.
While they were here, they saw this navy blue and white abstract desk I also had in stock.
You can find similar style desks on Amazon HERE and HERE.
This was a desk with which I took a bit of a creative risk when I added the abstract blue and white design. I absolutely loved the design but knew I had narrowed my market because the abstract design wouldn’t appeal to everyone.
This couple was so kind with their words and not wanting to insult my design. But you know… I wasn’t insulted at all. As a matter of fact, I was thrilled that they, like me, could look past the colors, and see this wood desk for what it was – a great piece of furniture in a size that would fit perfectly in their son’s bedroom.
If it was just painted in the exact same Abyss Blue as the tall dresser…
If the feminine silver pull were changed out for a more masculine one…
They were so kind that of course I could make that happen for them! I gladly offered to repaint the desk in the same Abyss Blue color as the dresser. And I happened to have a spare satin nickel knob that matched those on the tall dresser.
You can find the same satin nickel pulls on Amazon HERE:
Some of you creatives out there may be wondering if the change to my original design made me feel like I was sacrificing for the sake of a buyer. My answer to that is… Not at all!
You see, when I start working on a piece of furniture, I have a hundred different scenarios in my head as to how the finished design could end up. Every one of those would be a right choice. And just because I chose a blue and white abstract design from that pool of one hundred ideas floating around in my brain, doesn’t mean that a solid navy blue design wasn’t my second or third choice.
I also realized when I painted the desk the first time around that there may not be a high demand for furniture with a blue and white abstract design. So a change to the color is not sacrificing. It’s just a change to the color to coordinate with a buyer’s color scheme.
What would have been a sacrfice is if they asked me to use a paint or a finish I knew wouldn’t hold up or wouldn’t pair well with the furniture. I would never sacrafice supplying quality for the sake of a sale and would never let a piece of furniture leave my shop if I was not happy with my work.
This desk is still beautiful painted one solid navy blue color. It’s just beautiful with a different paint finish. And, this high gloss enamel paint is actually much more durable and easier to maintain than the original design. If the paint needs touching up in the future, it’s an easy fix now to just brush on a coat of that same solid blue color.
As sellers, we have to listen to our buyers and deliver to them the produts that make them happy. And seeing them happy, makes me happy. It’s all about supply and demand (and delivering a quality product).
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to product I love and use myself.
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