I hope you meant unpleasant on the customer's part because the artisan was right on. Pleople who hand craft anything never get there money out of it. Most of us artisans love what we do and if we can also make some kind of living off it, that is a plus. I would rather pay an American craftsperson than some other country that makes cheap junk.Perhaps this customer enjoyed saving tons of money on chinese made items full of lead but did not want to think of that. I don't shop at Walmart. EVER. And though I make relatively little as a pre-school assistant, and even less as an artist, I generally buy from my fellow artisans and craftspeople, what I don't make myself. With a few exceptions for storebought...so I respectively disagree with that assumption, Sabrina. Sarah I didn't say everyone does, but I do know that most do. There are always exceptions to the rule. And let's not just crucify Walmart either, it's chain and department stores as a whole. There's nothing inherantly WRONG with shopping at department stores, I'm not knocking that either. The point I was trying to make was just to point out, was to not simply justify our pricing as artisans, but IN ADDITION put our money where our mouth is, so to speak. There are lots of things wrong with buying from department stores, chief among them the poorly paid laborers that make most things you'll find in a mall/dept. store, not to