Chutzpah

Chutzpah is Yiddish for nerve. As in you got some... Last night when I read my email, one note prompted me to yell out, "Ayzeh Chutzpah." (Ayzeh meaning 'what' in Hebrew). A buyer on Etsy emailed asking if I would be willing to sell an item listed at $65 for $35. Honestly, at first I was so flabbergasted that I posted to the forums section and asked if this was a common occurrence. After being reassured that this kind of haggling was rare and not appropriate for Etsy, I started to think about how I would reply to this request.

Dearest Buyer,
Having just received your request to purchase one of my handcrafted items at practically half the listed price I feel compelled to clarify some facts and pose a few questions.
1. Each and every one of my products is unique, made exclusively by me and requires hours of work. I alone dye, design, sew, quilt, and photograph my work . If I were to honestly pay myself an hourly wage based on the time put into each creation, this item would cost substantially more.
2. Making art or artisan pieces is a risk. An artist puts him or herself out there and sometimes what they create illicits compliments and other times not so much. That is as it should be. However, when someone expresses an interest in my art and then follows up that interest by trying to get a "good deal" at my expense, I can only read that as an insult.
3. Out of curiosity, would you go into Target and haggle with the sales clerk about the price of an item? I'm not a multi-million dollar corporation. I'm one artist making work that I love with love.
4. If the situation was reversed, could I get the good or service you make your living from at half price?