I don't have time for rude people
I popped by my daughter's and on the way home I saw an estate sale sign. I knew the address on Meigs St in Athens, GA, from the realty listings and decided to go. I walked away with this three footed lidded jar for $10, a $2 Probot CD for Reed's boyfriend, and a set of stamps priced at $5.
The sale was at the home of a woman who dabbles in running estate sales locally. I had crossed paths with her before and nearly turned around recalling her strange behavior, prurient curiosity, and weird comments. Yet the house beckoned so I went inside to gander at the architecture, a gutted historical home with vaulted ceilings, built in lofts, and an open floor plan defying accepted classical layouts for its period. The Frankenhouse reminded me of the PBS Antiques Roadshow episode where the appraiser says that if it hadn't been fixed it would be worth a lot more.
Inside I found the front "great room" divided into three areas: books, jewelry, and silver. The groupings stood in for the rooms that had been destroyed when they created an open floor plan. (Save us from modern home trends of minimalist, gray, open, farmhouse!) Walking the room I realized I had seen several things at previous sales she had hosted. The price tags were identical. I had noted the prices as outrageous even on half off days. The silver was a mishmash of styles so disordered it cheapened the overall effect. The rest of the house was sparse and reflected a motley collection of styles. I suspect it was either down to bad taste or the remains of prior estate sales or, more likely, a combination of both. For a house with a manicured, well designed lawn, the house's contents looked like a charity jumble sale.
On the way out I asked after an untagged painting's price. Its large size and color had caught my attention. I thought it nice enough and was curious, professionally curious. It was $5,000. After giving the price the seller was a really rude bitch and said, "What? Did you think it was $40.00?" Unbelievably rude and stupid considering I was going to forward a set of pictures to someone once I'd done my research. I would have gotten 15% of the sale price at auction IF it had worked out. But the harpy was such a cow, I walked away. Fuck her, I thought.
While on a personal shopping trip it's something I usually enjoy even if it is a bit of a busman's holiday for someone like me. At home I reviewed my purchases as usual. I like bargains and delight in furnishing my house on a budget. The little $10 three legged pot will stay at my home instead of being sold off for 6-15 times** the purchase price. It fits in with my personal style. The $5 set of stamps was ten $1.00 stamps worth $10 so that's a 100% return. The $2 CD for my daughter's boyfriend, a self professed metal head, is good karma you can't put a price to.
As for that $5,000.00 painting, well I noted the signature, the painting's enormous size, and style and guess what, it's not genuine when compared to signatures and descriptions from sold at auction paintings by the same middling artist (1-20K average), a twentieth century artist for Francophiles. So glad I didn't waste my time on that.
At home I shot a text to someone who might be interested in the books for sale and his response was nearly as rude. He criticised the homeowner, claiming to have dealt with her, having found her equally impossible. Then he proceeded to claim some connection to the home (if true would have been well before its restoration). His response was self aggrandizing, name dropping for no reason, and not even a thank you for my trouble. (The irony was that his conversation with me mirrored the woman earlier.) It was the final strike for me having previously dealt with his self centered, overinflated ego. I decided that some people aren't worth keeping in your life and deleted his name from my phone.
You can't put a price on courtesy and good manners. Everything else seems to be for sale, even it's undervalued, overvalued, fraudulent, or overlooked.
**Always remember either buy it for yourself or as a gift because if it's a future sale you're looking for, it's only worth what you can get for it. Unless you know your market, the trends, and have the connections, you are risking your hard earned money. Besides, the market is ever changing. What was collectable in your day probably isn't collectable these days. Further, collectables vary widely in value over time, many losing all value and desirability, (Hey Grandma, think Thomas Kinkaid, Beanie Babies, McDonald's placeware, Franklin Mint anything!...) Basing an item's value on a brand name tag often does not reflect the fact it is passé, undesirable, and probably isn't collectable either.
