Fall is one of the busiest times of year for us makers! With the approaching holiday season, September through December is the time where we have the most interactions with our customers.

For me, these interactions happen mostly in person at my fall and winter markets. I love selling in person and meeting new people! There are so many who appreciate what we do as crocheters and knitters and it’s so nice to receive compliments .

But, if you’ve ever sold your handmade goods, then you’ve probably had at least one super difficult customer that really made you consider why you were doing this.

Since it’s the season of markets, I recently asked for your personal customer stories on Instagram and you all came through! I’m both amused and horrified by these and hope that we can all read these together to laugh, roll our eyes, and give each other sympathies.

I’ll start with my favorite customer story!

I had a customer who was interested in my owls. She immediately asked for a discount, calling them the “fat ass owls.” I said that I do not give discounts and she eventually leaves.

Hours later, she is back. She picks up my display sign that I purchased at Michael’s that has my owl pricing on it. She turns it around and sees the Michael’s price tag with the bar code and proceeds to tell me that the price for the owls is THIS tag. Not the written “Owls $X” written in chalk on the front side of the sign but, the sticker tag on the back of it.

Excuse me, what?

I resisted my urge to be snarky and hoped she would just leave again.

But, the “fat ass owl” she has originally wanted was now sold and she wanted a custom order. This was one of my early markets and I did hesitate but decided to give her my information anyway.

To my surprise, she actually reached out to me on Etsy asking me to call her. So, I did.

And, she was the most pleasant person and we chatted for about 30 minutes about random things. She paid for 3 custom owls in the color she had wanted and agreed to the price and shipping costs. No grumbling about it!

This was one instance that proves that the expression “kill them with kindness” is true. I couldn’t believe that this was the same person.

Now, it’s time for your stories!

Thanks for sharing! Remember to smile and nod this market season and keep some cookies handy to eat when you’ve having a hard time keeping your mouth shut.

For more posts relating to markets and fall, check out my post 10 Patterns Perfect for Handmade Craft Markets , 10 Yarn Color Palettes That Scream Fall Vibes Only , and my guest post Ultimate Craft Festival Guide on the A Crafty Concept Blog.

Be sure to follow me on Instagram and share your customer stories in the comments below!