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My sister said my hand-stitched spines are a waste of time when machines exist, and I'm still thinking about it.
She saw me spending 8 hours on a single Coptic stitch for a custom journal and asked why I don't just use my binder, which got me wondering if the extra hours truly add value for the client or just satisfy my own preference for traditional craft.
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daniel_martin1mo ago
Consider the person who buys it, not just the object itself. A machine-made book is a thing, but your hand-stitched one is a record of eight hours where someone chose care over speed. That time is the real product you're selling, a kind of patience they can hold, which a binder can't copy. Your sister sees the same end shape, but the client gets the proof that some things still get the slow, full attention they deserve. The value is in the story of how it was made, not just that it was made at all.
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michael_coleman101mo ago
Okay but "the story of how it was made" only matters if the buyer actually cares about that story. Most people just need a book that works. Daniel_martin is talking about a special kind of client who values that patience, but that's a pretty small group. For a lot of buyers, eight hours of someone's time just makes the thing too expensive for what it is. The end shape is what they use, not the story behind it.
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elizabeths511mo ago
Read an article once about this exact split in buyers.
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