| sprice@hsc.vcu.edu
Dear Friends, At ACOR-Chicago there was a wonderful Yomud bokche at the
Dealer Fair. It had full pile, all the pompoms, and excellent colors.
While haggling with the dealer over the price, I left it on a table.
Another collector picked it up, looked at the tag, and told the dealer he
would take it. The dealer said that if I would wrestle it out of the guy's
hands, he'd sell it to me at the listed price. Otherwise, it was gone. I
let it go. The buyer semi-apologized (he knew that the piece was under
negotiation and had some guilt pangs, I guess). I told him that I got the
better of it. He now owned the piece, and would see it as it really is -
which, of course, was pretty neat. I, on the other hand, would have it
only in my imagination, where it could grow better every year. And, it
taught me to keep anything about which I am negotiating firmly in my
possession until some outcome is reached. A few years later the buyer
approached me and offered to sell the piece to me at a 50% profit over
what he paid. I declined. I sort of vaguely recollect telling this story
on a web board, perhaps Turkotek, once before. On the other hand, among my
people it is generally agreed that anything worth saying is worth
repeating a hundred times. Steve Price |