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For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
How annoying is it when a customer orders a bear from you, sends a delighted email thanking you for their beautiful new bear when they receive it, THEN waits a few weeks until the edition sells out and Ebays your bear straightaway at a higher opening price than they originally paid you for it!! GRRRRRRR!!!!!
It so blatant it makes me cross and it takes a lot to make me cross!!!! 
DoodlebearsOh boy Paula that person needs and deserves a big kick in the butt. I know just how I would feel if that happened to me. 
:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
Hugs Jane. :hug:
I have had that done too Paula and felt sad for my bear as well as a bit ****ed off at the customer.Aside from the money it is all the hours of work seen purely as cash that hurts.I am not one of those insane types that thinks the bears are alive but I do get fond of them.I am sad for you but then the bear may get a more appreciative owner now.
Diane xxx
It's so annoying. Blatant profiteering. It really annoys me. This seller is selling about 18 other bears aside from mine ... I wonder if they are all being sold for more than she's paid the artists?
Whilst I accept that any customer has the right to do whatever they like with their goods (and fair enough, if they aren't delighted with their new purchase, Ebay does offer a great opportunity to find a good new home for the bear), it really annoys me to receive a throughly complimentary thank you email and then see the sales pitch words 'this bear is sold out at at ALL BEAR' on her auction listing, within a couple days of me closing the edition on my website! To then see the bear priced at more than I retailed it for is infuriating, particularly when I go to great lengths to ensure that I don't overprice my work, so that it is as accessible as possible for people to purchase.
Still I guess I made a bear, I got paid for it. The rest is out of my hands. 
Pandy Potter BearsWhich ever way you look at this, its stinks!!!! At least your integrity is intact. :hug:
Laurie Lou BearsI don't blame you for being annoyed.When we spend all the time and a lot of effort and love in making our bears we would like to think that whoever buys them loves them and appreciates them and are not just buying them to make money out of them.We all like to think our bears go to nice people and not those who never really wanted them in the first place.Hopefully the next person who buys your bear deserves to have one of your creations and they will be a better owner than the last one.
Laurie :hug: :hug: :hug:
Apple Dumpling DesignsPerhaps you should "reopen the edition"...just to be a stinker!!!
I don't blame you...I'd be annoyed too!!
Posts: 8,574
[size=20]Awwww Paula[/size] :hug: :hug: :hug:
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[size=20] BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR THIS E-BAY BUYER[/size]
Grrrrr..... ..... from me, on your behalf. What a stinker!
Bears-a-Bruin!Paula, I saw your lovely bear on eBay while I was browsing this morning... and then noticed all the other bears from that seller so realised what was happening. I can understand why you're upset and I would feel that way too. It's annoying and it doesn't make sense to me (except for the profit motive, but even that wouldn't be enough of a motive for me to do such a thing).
Sorry, no solutions, just some friendly support.... :hug:
Bine-TeddiesPaula, I completely understand your feeling and I would feel the same if it happened to me. However, if we think of bears as art then we have to accept that they will be handled as other art is also. Some people buy art as an investment and they may resell at much higher prices than what the artist got. I have no knowledge of the art world, but I imagine this kind of thing raises the value of an artist's work and it may actually be good for you as you yourself should be able to get higher prices. Wait and see if anyone actually buys the bear for that higher price and then think about raising your prices. I know, its kind of against our ideals, but you make bears for profit, don't you? You should be proud that your bears are so desirable that they are turning into investments. Hope you feel better! :hug:
Wild Thyme OriginalsOh Paula, I completely feel for you! I'm never one to begrudge when a collector comes up against hard times or simply decides to sell some of their bears because their tastes have changed, or what not... I know that a few of my bears have been "rehomed" for those types of reasons.... But obviously when the turn around is that fast, etc... as you've described and can TOTALLY understand why it smarts a bit.
On the upside... at least the pictures accompanying the eBay listing aren't that bad! They aren't as lovely as yours, certainly.... but your little guy is looking pretty good! I know that I always just feel so awful for artists when their good name is attached to a terrible photo. I mean, I'm no photography guru at all, but I do know that the shots I take of my bears present them no better & no worse than they are in the fur. I do my very best to make sure that they are completely respresentative of what the collector will receive in their hands when their bear comes home. Quite some time ago, someone tried to resell one of my faeries using a photo that was simply atrocious... and it bothered the heck out of me that someone might actually think that is what my creations REALLY look like. I e Mailed the seller the original photos and thank goddness she relisted my baby with some actually representative photos..... :pray: :dance:
So, at least you're not in THAT boat. 
:hug: :hug: :hug:
Kim Basta
Wild Thyme Originals
Oh Paula, I can understand your frustration and anger, you are the one who spent all the time and effort creating the bear, It must be very upsetting but on a positive note, if it does sell for more than you sold it for it shows just how popular your bear are, and they are 
All I can say Paula is HOW RUDE!!!!!
Hugs,
Krista
That is so awful and unfair ... how could this person do this?
All I can say Paula, is your Bears are beautiful and you would not be wanting to sell
them to this person again.
Hugs
Carolyn
bears by beesley TMPaula! Stinker for sure but what a huge pat on the back for you! Obviously she knows your bear is worth more than she paid!
Many Hugs Louise
ToadBriarI agree with what Renae said - for me, the bears tell me who they are once
they've been stuffed, faces put on, etc. I am finding that this discovery is a big
part of the fun of bearmaking, & it is why I only do one-of-a-kinds. I could be
wrong but I think to make good bears maybe you have to be a little silly about
personifying them - mixing them up with real creatures. Maybe not out loud but
in our heads? or am I just embarrassing myself :redface: lol
& I agree with others who say we gotta accept that they are art, & will be treated
as such. It is a bummer to see it get more money for someone else. But I was at
a bear show talking to a really amazing artist, & there was a bear store there as well -
& the bear store was selling some of this artist's bears for cheaper - undercutting the
original artist. So it can go wrong in the other direction, too. Once we let our bears go
we lose control of what happens to them.
Take comfort in this & think of the goose who laid golden eggs - your lovely work may
have been sold, but ultimately no one can take the greatest treasure of all, which is your
talent.
Kiprie BearsThat is so terrible !!! I don blame you for bee in annoying.
I am so sorry...
Paula...this has happened to me to...and while I had a bear on ebay!!! Imagine that scenario!!
I do think though that every cloud has a silver lining and that maybe it means you can put your prices up a bit....to beat the profiteer at her own game!!!
I have to make a profit on my bears...and I do look upon it as a business...albeit one that gives me pleasure and challenges me...but though I love doing it I can't do it just for feeding some kind of hankering in my emotional side...so I try hard not to get so attached..and realise that once you sell something it probably means that at some point, if it's sought by collectors, soemone is going to see it as an opportunity to make money themselves. I don't see that as a bad thing actually...it just means that you're getting it right!!!
Thanks for your kind words everyone and Krista ... you hit the nail spot on the head!! HOW RUDE indeed!!! 
I believe in making good quality bears at fair prices, so no, I won't be putting up my prices, nor will I be reopening closed editions to beat this lady at her own game.
I'm not one for artistic temperament .. my bears are teddy bears, no more, no less and they certainly have no pretentions to art. In view of that, I'm going to bear in mind that 99% of my customers over the years have been super new moms and dads for my bears and it is very, very rarely that I am disappointed in a customer. I don't mind anyone selling on their purchased bears if they want to, but I do mind having my reputation used to achieve a profit on them in this way.
Onwards and upwards ladies! Thank you so much for all your support. I really value it.
Oh Goodness Lisa...that's a nightmare. You are quite right that what folks do subsequent to the purchase is up to them..and short of making them sign a contract saying that they will never resell..which is ridiculous it's in the lap of the gods. I do think some folks are serila collectors and it's almost a drug..the need to buy more and more bears. I have seen bears on ebay go for huge prices..only to reappear a few months later at a fraction of the original price...so if they resell at a profit it has to be good news!!!
I always wince at the pictures of my bears that people post on ebay when they resell....they are not at always complimentary and very often a I feel do me a disservice..by reflecting my bears in a bad light.
Incidentally, did she, after doctoring them state they were your bears, or did she claim the work for herself?
I had a funny conversation in the salon yesterday with a client who thinks she'll have a go at bear-making...(she thinks I am making a fortune..LOL)..she said her mother went and bought a bear from a shop and they unpicked it and traced the pattern and that it was really hard work. I aked her what she meant by 'hard work'..and she said that the seams were hard to unpick!!! I mean , why bother!! I told her that that was technically copying..and she got quite stroppy!!
Pandy Potter BearsJenny I know someone years ago who at a fair bought a well known artist bear and was not even embaressed to say she was going to unpick it to copy the pattern! 
Mind you I always found the lady in question a little lacking in the morals department, there was other stuff too that she did. The less 'nice' side to bear making and selling.
The people that do this sort of thing..either buying a bear only to try to resell it at a profit...or making a pattern from a bear that they bought...or doctoring a bear have no artistry, credibility or integrity really..and you can't build a business on that sort of a foundation.
So in the end they aren't a threat to anyone as they all fizzle out sooner or later...and people will soon realise their lack of business sense and creativity and they fade away as fast as they appeared...
It's not nice though!!!
JeannieB BearsWow, I am shocked! I guess that proves bear owners can be like pet owners....some are part of the family; some are treated like "animals". Hopefully the new family will treat them with more love and respect than their current owner!!!
Sorry that happened!
JeannieB
