The Jewelry Artist Diaries 3:
The Customer Who Knew What She Wanted

by Rena Klingenberg.

I was discreetly eating lunch in my booth during a slow spell at an art show one Saturday.

I took a small bite of my homemade sandwich, and then set the rest of the sandwich down in an inconspicuous place behind my checkout stand while I chewed.

Meanwhile, a couple of customers came and went.

Then an elegantly dressed lady strode determinedly into my booth and began browsing through my jewelry.

She didn’t want to talk. She was on a mission to see my wares.

So she spent several minutes progressing around my displays, examining every piece of jewelry intently.

She even put on her glasses so she wouldn’t miss any details.

I silently tried to guess which piece of jewelry she was going to purchase.

The turquoise teardrop earrings? An opalite wire pendant?

Finally she finished examining all of my jewelry and walked briskly up to me.

Since she didn’t have any of my jewelry items with her, I thought, “She’s going to request a custom piece of jewelry!”

However, she peered at me over the top of her glasses and asked determinedly, “Where did you get that sandwich?”

She didn’t place a custom jewelry order – but if I’d had an extra sandwich, she would have bought it on the spot.

Older Comments

Nancy says:

I once did a small show where nobody sold anything. NOBODY. Except a bake sale, they sold out. I have seriously considered doing that show again and selling brownies for $50 each with free earrings included. Think it would work?
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Alicia says:

LOL!
What kind of sandwich was it?
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Rena Klingenberg says:

Nancy, brownies and earrings sound like a good combination to me – especially around Valentine’s Day! (Unless the show has a food-vendor license requirement.)

Alicia, it was mesquite-smoked turkey and swiss cheese on whole-grain bread, with lettuce, etc. 😀
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Keith@ Vintage Crab Jewelry says:

Your story made me chuckle. Isn’t that just how it goes!
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Alicia says:

Sounds yummilicous. I would have wanted that sandwich too. LOL
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Cat says:

Too funny…you could have sold her half, Rena, for the cost of a pair of earrings! If she was hungry enough, she may have gone for it…lol.
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Lisa Kewish says:

LOL love that story… and love the illustration too!
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CoraNation says:

Oh…so that’s the trick. Lure them in with mesquite-smoked turkey and Swiss and then drop a net over them until they buy jewelry. Nice move, Rena!
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Dita Basu says:

Great writing Rena!
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