My wife, The Lovely Karen,  is an antique dealer (mostly glassware and art glass) and is always complaining that people will look at her stuff and tell her how nice it is then go and buy cheep chinese stuff or knock-offs.  It's too bad but there will always be people buying low quality at high prices because it's easy to get or they don't know any better.  You should hear the rants Karen goes into sometime. 

Ya know Robert if your stuff is much better then you should be encouraged to try and place some of your stuff in a gallery, not a craft shop.  Sometimes the horse we ride is pretty high and we need help getting down.

Larry Matchett wrote on 07/14/12 at 13:42:10:

I do feel guilty for getting on a high horse but it just drives me nuts when you see things that had so much potential and then someone does a half job of it, then sells it of as finished.

I'm not sure what this rant makes me but it is just so hard to not vent once in a while.

My son, bless his heart, if he sees stuff like this, he tries to steer me clear of it. He has a good eye and can tell from quite a ways away what is good and what is not. He fancies himself a potter so he does the same thing with pottery.

I think the reason you were irritated is the same for any of us here. You don't like to see shoddy work & have the rest of us given bad names. It's the difference between craftsmanship & JUST CHEAP PRODUCTION WORK.

Robert, the situation you described is rather common here in Colorado. Nearly every town on the west side of I-25 has a "touristy district" and some towns only exist as a result of that district. Ouray, Estes Park, Lyons, etc. In most of those districts, you will find at least one "art gallery" I put that in quotes because that term can be defined very loosely, ranging from the highest end, to a shop in which crafts made by children will be displayed for sale. Even most Ace Hardware stores have a section where handcrafted goods are sold. the competition for the tourist dollar is pretty fierce.
On the other side of the equation is the fact that Colorado is a haven for artists of all sorts. Little unassuming Loveland is home to the biggest sculpture invitational in the world, and has more per-capita sculptors than anywhere in Europe. Turners like David Nittman, Cindy Drozda, Stuart Batty, and a host of others all live in this area as well. Basically, if you were to throw a rock in any crowd in Colorado, chances are, you would hit an artist of some sort.
Those factors lead to a dynamic where you can walk into any gallery and find a wide range of quality in the work, and a wide range of what customers are looking for. Sometimes the owner is helping out a friend or family member, sometimes the owner is a bit shady, so they have had established artists pull their work, and are left to resort to carrying work of lesser quality.
One gallery I went to in the Denver area carried some bowls and hollow forms that were absolutely fantastic. The turner was a friend of the gallery owner, so he also carried the guy's smaller items (pens, stoppers, etc) Unless told, I would not have been able to tell that the pens were turned by the same guy who did the bowls. There was that much of a disparity in the quality, but because of the relationship between the turner and the owner, he is the one who got the space. 

I was at a gas station in a mountain town, and some turnings by 2 different artists were on display. One was more like you described (hollowed with a forstner bit, and very rough looking-could have even been the same guy for all I know), and the other was in my opinion much higher quality of workmanship. The prices were comparable. I overheard a lady say " I like this one better because it is more rustic looking"

Most of us here believe that quality craftsmanship is important, and should fetch a higher price, but I have come to grips with the notion that it will not always be the case. I have a set of standards that I have set for myself, and will continue to improve on those standards. If someone chooses an item of lesser quality over mine, I can still look myself in the mirror, and know that I did the best job I could do.

Part of the problem is people do not know what "hand made" is anymore. And some people have no pride nor principles and will try to sell anything to make a buck, and some people are convinced the more it costs the better is must be. Probably the biggest selling point I tell people about my pens are that they are hand made one of a kind, in fact I don't think I could make 2 exactly alike if I tried(I don't tell them that) But sanding marks, tool marks(obvious) in work you are trying to sell is just plain cheesy to me.

Robert, I think one of the reasons for the price of that vase was the rarity of the wood. I don't believe that I have ever seen an aspen burl. I bet it was gorgeous! I'm a huge fan of aspen, but since I am right now in the pen groove, I don't use a lot because the colorations that you get from standing dead don't translate well to pens. I have 4 huge aspens in my yard, and when they die, I hope to get a headboard, footboard, and a few vases and bowls out of them. Hopefully I can leave them standing long enough to get good colors from them.