- Joined
- Apr 26, 2007
- Messages
- 8,087
I could use a bit of advice on an unusual situation.
I'm currently listing some things I don't wear anymore for sale, for a variety of reasons - some were presents that were never my style, some of them I bought myself but just always pass over for one reason or another, and some of them are kinda freighted with emotional baggage because they come from past relationships. Well, the jeweler/vendor who made a few of them just stumbled across my listings and sent me a very polite e-mail saying she'd be very interesting in bartering materials or directly exchanging from her current inventory for the pieces I had up, and any others I might have if they were no longer to my taste.
Has this ever happened to anybody else? It never crossed my mind to contact her directly, because most dealers just aren't that accommodating. At first, she was offering to barter/exchange at the rate of what I had up vs. the prices she generally sold at - which, fair enough, I know retailers have mark-up, but it would be a bit of a value loss for me, like, swapping a heavy high-carat gold piece for a silver one. But when I responded by saying that I'd actually been hoping for an exchange of like kind, like one of the other high-karat pieces for the ones I had, she said sure, she'd just need to make it up custom.
In theory, I'm delighted with this - I love her work, and being able to have a piece that didn't come freighted with a lot of drama would be great. On the other hand, I've never been in this situation before, and I figured it couldn't hurt to bounce it off of you guys. Have any of you guys come across anything similar? Is there anything I should keep in mind to be a good customer-turned-exchanger?
I'm currently listing some things I don't wear anymore for sale, for a variety of reasons - some were presents that were never my style, some of them I bought myself but just always pass over for one reason or another, and some of them are kinda freighted with emotional baggage because they come from past relationships. Well, the jeweler/vendor who made a few of them just stumbled across my listings and sent me a very polite e-mail saying she'd be very interesting in bartering materials or directly exchanging from her current inventory for the pieces I had up, and any others I might have if they were no longer to my taste.
Has this ever happened to anybody else? It never crossed my mind to contact her directly, because most dealers just aren't that accommodating. At first, she was offering to barter/exchange at the rate of what I had up vs. the prices she generally sold at - which, fair enough, I know retailers have mark-up, but it would be a bit of a value loss for me, like, swapping a heavy high-carat gold piece for a silver one. But when I responded by saying that I'd actually been hoping for an exchange of like kind, like one of the other high-karat pieces for the ones I had, she said sure, she'd just need to make it up custom.
In theory, I'm delighted with this - I love her work, and being able to have a piece that didn't come freighted with a lot of drama would be great. On the other hand, I've never been in this situation before, and I figured it couldn't hurt to bounce it off of you guys. Have any of you guys come across anything similar? Is there anything I should keep in mind to be a good customer-turned-exchanger?