Not at any apparent price
Selling stuff is an art. Especially when you are selling stuff that is art. Or antiques. Often the two are confused. Anyhow, I’m not a big hunter of other people’s old stuff, so my main contact with the industry comes from watching certain specific TV programs. I’ve learned that the price is rarely right.
But, what about when things don’t have a price? Or when the seller seems to actively discourage the buyer? That was our situation, this afternoon. We nipped in to a nearby shop (at least, that’s what the sign said), to see if there was something that might better be seen in our house and garden. There was lots of little things, odds and ends; a few larger pieces of furniture; a nasty dog (not for sale, at any price, we were told).
As for the rest of it… I’d pick up an object, and the owner would announce that it wasn’t genuine, or as old as it looked. We’d ask about a particular piece, and be told that there were others like it in the storage area, and the price wasn’t yet decided. I quickly realized that not only was bargaining not part of the custom; neither was telling us a price. We wandered around for a bit, politely bought something that we didn’t particularly need at a low price, bid farewell (rather than an amount) and vowed to seek better wares, the next time around.
In passing, we made the first trip to “near the beach” for the summer; the breezes didn’t encourage exposure to swirling sands. Another day.
