It's not so much about making a suggestion as it seems to be about telling someone to do something because you would do it, or wish you could. It's not so much offensive as bothersome.
I've been told on a couple of occasions, 'You should make terrariums and sell them at craft shows.' Ugh.
To the people who have suggested it, it sounds like a great idea. Just start churning something out, assembly line style, and boom, start making a profit. Except that the people who have suggested this to me seem to have no idea that it's not just something I pull out of my butt. I had to assemble all of the supplies and to make a terrarium properly, it DOES in fact cost money. If you find things cheaply, such as at garage sales, where I like to find things, you're lucky if you can make a handful of things with the supplies you find. To go into business selling something you need a lot of product... and either your product needs to be consistent, so that you can create a viable pricing system and a production schedule, or your product needs to be individual enough that you can charge whatever you want for each individual item. Once you create a bunch of things, you have to transport them to where you're going to sell them for all this profit people assume you will make. And you probably have to pay for space at your sales venue - so hopefully a couple of sales will make up for that cost, otherwise it's just a big exercise in futility.
So, now you've got something that's a fun, creative craft project that has morphed into an expense for the proper supplies, time to create a decent amount of stock, store them until you're ready to sell them, transport them and pay for space. Now you're selling these items and people who buy them will have questions - can you answer all those questions?
How long will the plants live? I don't know.
What kind of plant is it? I'm not really sure.
How much light does it need? Some, I'm not sure.
How much water does it need? Water it once a week? Or more. Or less. I don't know. It's an experiment.
What if my cat eats it? What if my kid eats it? Don't let them do this.
Why not? Is it poisonous? I guess it could be.
How can you sell something that's poisonous? I'm selling it because someone who thinks they know better than me told me I SHOULD.
Can you customize it for me? Not really, because I don't feel like it.
Can I return it if it dies? Not really.
And on and on. Maybe I over think things. But I didn't start making terrariums because I was looking for a new cottage industry. I've already got one business that's more trouble than it's worth [writing]. I really don't need another. What I need is a hobby that I enjoy, that's fun, that's isn't going to create stress in my life.
So, NO. I shouldn't make these and sell them. What I should do is what I want to do, not what other people tell me I should do.
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