Picker's Paradise??

I have taken my "Stuff for Sale" enterprise to nearby Liberty, NC for the Liberty Antiques Festival. The original Liberty Antiques Festival is set on a farm on the outskirts of town. I am at a lot near the center of town where you can sell anything and not worry about the "Antique Police" checking for faux antiques. Not to mention that space rentals costs are dramatically lower in town. Don't worry, the "high falutin" come down the road looking for bargains after sticker shock at the Original Antiques Festival.

Thursday was setup day at the event, and I unloaded my 2500 pounds of fine goods and setup and organized my merchandise. Often on setup day we are visited by dealers from the expensive show down the road looking for merchandise on the cheap. I had a few on Thursday. 

This is one of the reasons that I hate American Pickers on the History Channel. If I had a dollar for every schmuck that tells me "I'm a picker," my wife and I would be dining at the Angus Barn on Sunday evening. People watch that crap on television and think that this is how the real world operates. When someone tells me "I'm a picker," my response is usually "Good for you!"

You can spot an American Pickers devotee easily. When you give them a price that they feel is too high, they respond with something like "That doesn't leave any meat on the bone for me." I then explain that I am a retailer and not a wholesaler. If that puzzles them, I follow that explanation with "I don't give a rat's ass about how much you make on anything." If you find that rude, a friend who is also a vendor, told an American Picker wannabee, "I've got your meat on the bone hanging right here!" And you thought that I was rude?

It's a two-day event. On this Friday morning, we had an abundance of "wannabee pickers". I first thought that it was just me, but conversations with other vendors revealed it to be a common problem today. The problem people were all asking for large discounts on the first morning of a two-day show. I told almost all of those folks the same thing. If you are looking for a bargain, come back on Saturday afternoon. I am not discounting anything on the first morning. I am waiting to see how sales go before cutting prices. Somewhere in school, they need to take a class in negotiating. Of course, given how the government negotiates, they may have taken that class. 

Here's my favorite story of the day. I had a metal model of a British Ferret (light armored wheeled reconnaissance vehicle) from the 1960's available at the marked price of $8. Some guy looked at it and said, "Will you take $5 for this?" I just looked at him and half yelled, "Hell No!!". He appeared stunned and said, "That's only $3 off." I responded, "Three dollars is 37.5% of the eight dollars. Nobody out here is working on that kind of margin." He replied, "Three dollars isn't that big a percentage."  Feeling the veins on my forehead about to explode, I told him, "You have a smartphone. Open the calculator. Do that math. If it's not 37.5%, I will give you the son of a bitch free!" About 15 seconds later, he was walking away quietly. The Ferret was still on the table. Whew! Another lesson in stroke prevention management.

What will today bring?