The customer is sometimes wrong: the trouble with globalized markets

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By CATHERINE SALTER BAYAR

“I don’t care where the doll is made. I want a cheaper price,” the young American woman drawled.

She and her mother had spent half an hour agonizing over selecting pairs of Turkmen dolls we sell in our Sultanahmet shop. I explained these figures are locally handmade by the women of a family we partner with, not made in China.

“I collect dolls and know what they’re worth,” she’d replied. “Why, I bought a large doll in Mexico last year for $100.”

I recognized that bit of twisted logic: the economies of all emerging countries (or anywhere outside the US or Europe) should be alike.

“Fine, try your luck at Wal-Mart,” I wanted to say, but sarcasm isn’t the best sales tactic.

“Mom, I’m sure Mehmet at the hotel will know where to take us for good dolls.”

He will. Vendors perpetually sell at cost or below to move their goods, a squeeze that eventually puts them out of business. I’d rather wait to sell mine to someone who cares about supporting the local makers.

Buy locally, think globally is a concept still tough to grasp. In my clothing industry career, I learned the true cost of sending jobs offshore so consumers could buy for rock-bottom prices. Decades later, Americans are realizing the backbone of the middle class — manufacturing — barely exists in their country.

How have your consumption habits changed, based on where you live — or the products you create?

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California native Catherine Salter Bayar creates fiber arts workshops, seeks textile treasure, and has left her house on Ayasuluk Hill for a room in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet. She writes about it all in her upcoming book, Weaving Our Way Home.
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Tagged as: act locally, at-cost, bargain, buy locally, Catherine Salter Bayar, China, clothing industry, consumption, doll, expat+HAREM series, fashion industry, globalization, hand-made, handmade, Istanbul, low price, manufacturing, mass-produced, Mexico, Newly Industrialized, Sultanahmet, think globally, Turkmen, Wal-Mart

  • Rita_orkin

    Catherine, you mentioned a new website for your new venture, is it up yet?
    will be visiting Turkiye / Istanbul in November, will you be at the shop in Sultanahmet, near 4 seasons?
    Rita

  • http://www.bazaarbayar.blogspot.com Catherine Bayar

    Those slow-paced relationships nurtured for years over tea and tobacco still exist here, and some Westerners (like me!) do notice and value that. Maybe because I had an old world father like yours, a cardiologist who always made house calls because it was the relationship that mattered. But perhaps that's for another post as well?

  • dutchessabroad

    Catherine, A dear friend in Amsterdam has a special relationship with his carpet dealer. That is, he loves going in for tea and sitting and chatting for hours. He is a customer, and a good one, and he appreciates the “ways” of the foreign merchant. But you know what? It reminds me of the relationships my father (1898-1969) had with business associates, with bankers and jewelers but also with the blacksmith who took care of our horses' feet. They chatted, smoked a cigar, talked about life, and that was all part of business. Those were the old times. People in the west have become too hurried, too accustomed to easy come, easy go, too worried about being taken for a ride, when all they have time for is rushing in and out.
    But oops, perhaps I ought to save this comment for your next post?

  • http://www.bazaarbayar.etsy.com Catherine Bayar

    Judith, we do have a sign in our shop window. I began to tell you about it here, then realized what I was writing would be an excellent follow up post for me at expat-HAREM…so I shall save it for later.

    But for now, you're right – the customary Turkish welcome has morphed into reason for customers to run. Vendors use “hospitality” to hold a guest nearly hostage until they buy. Little wonder it's such a challenge to do business here. But the vendors (or those before them) have created this negative environment themselves.

  • dutchessabroad

    lol (softly) The way I read your response to my comment you may actually be recommended for not being as friendly as others. It's ironical that “customer friendly” in the eyes of (Western) tourists actually means not to be overwhelming the potential customers with the customary welcome.
    Perhaps the Prague slogan mentioned by Sezin, as a sign, would actually draw people in. The way we attract children and pets who would not come if we were trying to make them come, but always climb on top of those who don't want them or are allergic to them, or just very smart and patient (for wanting them to approach, yes, yes).
    I'm looking forward to your “The Carpet Sellers Exposé”.

  • http://www.bazaarbayar.blogspot.com Catherine Bayar

    Thanks Judith – yes, I do vary my approach based on someone's demeanor. I understand why shoppers here are so defensive, why it's tough to even get them in the door. So that takes talking (or not) for them to relax before we even discuss what we sell.

    Compared with all the aggressive sellers, I doubt I'd ever be considered not “customer friendly” – in fact, people often 'unload' about those sellers when they realize I'm a foreign woman. (I could write quite the carpet business expose.)

    I'm better at giving lots of information and opinions than I am at actually selling. ;-D But I've learned to save my breath with some people – I can sense when nothing I say will reach them.

  • dutchessabroad

    Dear Catherine, Grrrrh, didn't you want to wring her neck? I just wish she'd come back so you could say the price went up to American standards. I know sarcasm isn't the best sales tactic, but knowing that they're going to walk off, you ought to at least get some gratification out of the encounter. Your lovingly created dolls are too good for those Bs. Shame on them. I'm almost glad those sweet faced dolls won't have to live in a home of ignorance.
    Scripting your responses for certain customers might not be a bad idea, or do you think the word would spread among tourists that you're not customer friendly enough?
    To have totally different approach for those who deserve your smile and those who don't ads a certain intrigue and attraction too, don't you think?

  • http://www.bazaarbayar.blogspot.com Catherine Bayar

    Very true Elmira, when “those people” become empowered to help themselves, that should not mean they must take a hit on their incomes to keep providing the US and European consumers with low, low prices. Trouble is that most of the Chinese goods now flooding the Turkish market are not aimed at tourists, but local consumers, who want THEIR turn at cheap disposable goods.

    However, when we lived in Selcuk, a shoe shop opened in our lane, stocking only Chinese made goods. There were already several shoe shops in town with locally made shoes, not fashionable perhaps, but well made. The local residents loved the cheap prices on the trendy Chinese merch at first…until they tried to return the shoes that fell apart after only a few months' wear. So many people got fed up with the poor quality that they organized a boycott. The shop moved to port town Kusadasi, where the cruise ship crowd is more accustomed to disposable merchandise. It will be interesting to see what happens here as Turkey's middle class grows.

  • http://www.bazaarbayar.blogspot.com Catherine Bayar

    That network is a lifeline; otherwise our business has to rely solely on customers walking in off the street. They do, but it's tough because they are constantly accosted by the touts on commission, so are wary of even pausing to take a look, suspicious when we merely say hello. It's overwhelming enough shopping here with the abundance of merchandise, but I wish I knew how to make the experience more pleasant and less frustrating – for visitors and for us vendors!

  • http://www.expatharem.com/identity-messages/ Anastasia

    (For those who missed a corollary post about poor customer service and its cultural/political origins, see Nasty ex Machina by Jennifer Eremeeva.)

  • http://twitter.com/endeavoringE Elmira Bayrasli

    Well put! As someone who works in development, I constantly hear how we should help “those” people – not through charity but entrepreneurship. “Help them help themselves.” And when they do, all we do is sit back in our colonial mentality. *sigh* Thanks for sharing this Catherine – and standing up for local entrepreneurs.

  • Catherine Bayar

    Thanks Jocelyn! Inshallah, the site will be up in about a week, and we'll be very busy crafting all sorts of great things.

  • Catherine Bayar

    Well more than half – I'd venture nearly all. 'Mehmet' gets a commission for everything he recommends. That's how it works here – few people are collecting a regular wage. Traditional Turkish hospitality gets exploited into uber-helpfulness because tourism service jobs pay very little.

  • http://twitter.com/turkishtravel Turkish Travel

    Ha ha. I always laugh when the say Mehmet or Ahmet at the restaurant or hotel knows where to buy things. Do they not realise that half these lads are on the take themselves.

  • http://www.speakingofchina.com Jocelyn

    Catherine, what a great topic to write about — and I so agree with Figen and Sezin, and will echo them in saying how gorgeous the dolls are, and how wonderful that you stand up for the integrity of the craftsmanship. Wishing you have a smooth launch for your new website!

  • Catherine Bayar

    Figen, dealing with the general public is tough! Since I'd rather be off creating, I make a point of doing my handwork outside in front of the shop, an interesting way to start conversations with passersby.

    I just love the “Oh, I can make that” comment – I'll say “great, then you know how much work goes into something handmade.” When I ask questioning customers if they'd weave a kilim or make a doll, then let it be sold for cheap, of course they say no.

    And I agree, having a item that tells a story is so much inviting – people, culture and tradition add so much more than anonymous factory origins ever could.

  • Catherine Bayar

    Sezin, thanks for your comments. I want one of those t-shirts!! ;-D

    “The dolls are so loving crafted” – that's exactly why handmade goods are important, when compared to their soulless mass-production counterparts. Something handmade carries along part of the artisan's spirit – you only have to look at the doll's faces and their diverse costumes to see that.

    Unfortunately, having integrity about keeping our products handmade and local is an uphill battle against the avalanche of cheap goods here and tourists looking for a deal. But my conscience won't let me go the easy route, and slowly, there are buyers who understand.

  • http://www.google.com/profiles/knitbox Figen

    Firstly, the dolls are gorgeous! Secondly, I think it was a rude but typical comment by the woman, however the daughter deserved strangling for her totally inappropriate comment. Grrr, that made me mad! If it's not 'such and such a country has it cheaper' then it's the second boring refrain of 'Oh, I can make that/I made something similar myself'. Tara and I came pretty close to throttling a few people at the fair we participated in London, and I think it's universally true that customers will drone on and on about what they bought from other, completely different countries.

    In my own work, as a designer/producer, I have learned to respect the labour, talents and crafting that goes into making things specific to a certain culture. I have also been humbled by the stories behind it all. If only that awful woman and her sprog had cared to learn further, she may well have been told a 'story' to pass down generations back home. Yes, just by buying a single, little doll.

  • http://www.Sezin.org/ Sezin

    Catherine, the title of your piece is the trademark of Czech customer service with the slight amendment that the customer is *always* wrong. In fact, one of our favourite haunts even printed that slogan on their T-Shirts. :-)

    I think it's wonderful that you bring your personal integrity into the marketplace. There is no need for your business to go under just because someone wants an item for nothing. The dolls are so lovingly crafted, they should be in homes that value them and the artist who created them.

    Lovely post, my dear!

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