I was reading another blogger's post about a bag that looked great in the photos online but arrived smelling like smoke and mildew and had marks all over it. I don't care how good the flash made the item look. What did the seller think would happen when the package arrived and the buyer found out the truth?
I had a similar bad experience on Craigslist the other day. A seller listed a set of chairs and said, "Four Beautiful mid-century dining chairs. May be later reproductions, so we priced them low. In near mint condition." I decided to check them out, because if they were heavy and well-made enough for her not to be sure, they might be worth buying.
The minute I walked into the seller's house, she started a rehearsed spiel about how pretty the chairs were, what good condition they were in and what a good price she had listed them for. I put my hand on the back of one of the chairs, and it wobbled. I picked it up, and it was incredibly lightweight and flimsy. I looked under the chair, and the seller was still talking non-stop, pointing out that "someone evidently replaced the vintage bolts with newer ones," saying they looked like more 1970s bolts to her than ones from the 1950s. Huh?
The last straw was when she said, "You know, these could be genuine Danish Modern chairs, and if they are, they're worth a fortune"...as I was reading "Made in Malaysia" on the bottom of the seat.
Some sellers are misinformed. Others walk a fine line between telling the truth and exaggerating a bit to sell an item. This seller had crossed that line long ago. She knew exactly what she had and either considered me gullible or stupid or both.
Of course, I left without buying the chairs. Perhaps I should have confronted her, but I have a feeling someone who can rationalize telling that many untruths in less than five minutes doesn't have a very high setting on her Shame-On-Me meter.
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| Made in Malaysia, not Denmark |
