Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Give it a try...

Ha. Victory is mine.
I may have mentioned that I have a slightly fraught relationship with Art Volunteer who prices the store's donated art?
While generous in his intention to help, he's finicky and rigid, with a bit of sandpaper to him.

Last week he reached to grab a sterling silver cream-and-sugar set out of my hands---though he quickly caught himself and pulled back
saying, "I wouldn't do that, but it's your call."

The 'wrong' thing I was doing was pricing the set to put in the glass display case.
What he wanted to do was add the pieces to his precious-metal stash that he takes to a buyer who pays $/pound. Every so often he gets several hundred dollars for the store that way. Which is generally a good thing.

BUT, those buyers melt the precious metals down, and, as I told Art, it'd be a shame to destroy this attractive and unusual set. (I wish I'd photographed it.)

"But they'd give us $100," Art said. "We'll never get that here."

"You never know," I said. "Just give me a month. If it hasn't sold by February, I'll give it back to you."

The silver set sold yesterday.
The cashier said the buyer was in antiques. It's possible they judged that they could earn more re-selling it to a melter (we don't have a scale to weigh sterling)---but maybe not. It was a unique set.
At any rate, we got the hundred.
And I had the satisfaction (petty, but satisfying) of telling Art.

"It's good it won't be melted down," he said--as if he'd cared about that.

In fact, he probably did care--he likes fine things--but he gets locked into his plans. You may know the type. He never seems to see that he is creating resistance--he always think The Other Person is refusing to see reason.
But he does grant that I know what I'm doing--usually.

And, honestly, I like him. He's just--like all of us--at the mercy of his personality.
It helps so much if a person (if I!) can stand outside personality and SEE what we're doing. Sometimes there's a work-around.
And Art had backed off,  even if implying that I was crazy, and acknowledged I had a right to try selling it.

Which is my Thrift Store philosophy:
TRY selling the good stuff in the store first, before re-selling it.
It's not just about money but about making the store a fun place to visit, even if you don't buy.
And often nice, expensive stuff does sell. To resellers sometimes, but also to regular people who happen love it.

(I used to resent resellers, but now I see them as part of a healthy ecosystem, like worms turning garden soil. I mean, shoppers enjoy seeing unique stuff even if they don't buy it.)

I'd mentioned finding a 1930s Mexican blanket, with the maker's tag, that my predecessor had stashed to buy cheap and resell himself.
It was tattered and holey, but with beautiful muted colors, not the bright synthetics of modern weavings.
I'd priced it $52 and it sold on a sale day for $39.

So, I'd say things are going well.
(I'm curious to see sales figures. Big Boss sometimes shares them--I must ask.)

Yesterday I set up a Valentine's Day section, with the predictable red-heart donations we save through the year.
I asked Amina to add romantic books in the coming days, and volunteer Jeff who sorts our media to add old phono-albums with cheesey covers, like those 1960s "Music for Lovers" string compilations.

I hope that will be fun and corny. Stand by for an AFTER photo.
This is the boring BEFORE section:


We got a box of old 'Better Homes & Gardens' magazines yesterday--I saved a few for a friend, Z, who uses them in collages. He won't care that one is Christmas.

I used to work with Z at the art college library. He is a Vietnam Vet who makes amazing collages that I believe he just stores away, sometimes showing friends. He certainly isn't part of any Art Scene.
I know several people like that---I guess I am one too.
Makers-of-visual-things who do it for themselves and a small circle (like you who enjoy the girlettes).

I was talking with my Chocolate-maker friend and her husband--he's another. Though he is frustrated with the lack of an art scene where he can bump into other ideas. I do think that's helpful.

I find it mostly online. Sometimes I reject the ideas (I don't want to do Barbie fashions), but even then, they can inspire and give ideas.
Like the man, Jian Yang (his IG) who makes high-fashion Barbie clothes from waste paper.
One of his toilet paper wedding dresses:

Must dash! Everyone, have a day of your own!

7 comments:

  1. GEEZ don't send that guy to the V&A!! The melt it down people make me nervous! Thank you for saving the silver!

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  2. such philosophical posts lately which i love. the melt-down people --love that term! And the policy should be that there is an attempt to sell it in the store FIRST! When the good stuff is always sent other places, customers quit coming back and they will find out. goodwill has gotten a reputation for doing that. i had a place in alexandria that i loved until i found out that many of the stuff gleaned the good stuff (for themselves!!!) before it hit the floor. the manager even made the mistake of talking about it in front of a friend of mine.
    k

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  3. Thrift stores around here have developed the rep of siphoning the good stuff for their own resale or for other schemes.

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  4. Well, that explains a lot!

    Ceci

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  5. PS: Be sure and look for the news stories about the William H. Dorsey painting found for $10 in a thrift store (in Philadelphia I think, I was excited about the painting and didn't absorb the details of finding it, just that it was a thrift store.....). Made me think of you and your Art Volunteer.

    Ceci

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