Pirate B.
Yelp
As a home furnishings business owner myself and lover of all things vintage, I had high hopes for a successful shopping experience here. The place is huge, packed to the rafters with vintage furniture, though after looking closely, is mostly outdated, fairly beat up older furniture. He has some nice things mixed in but clearly his biggest setback is the sky high prices. I mean, when you think "salvage" and "picking", you think close to wholesale prices or even fair discounts for buying in bulk.
Well, I had set aside a rather large pile of items I was interested in. When it came time to show Stan, my heart sank at the first price he called out. I reminded him that I was a vintage reseller and was interested in buying a large quantity of several different items. Nope. No bueno. No discount... in fact he made me feel like a gerk for asking to knock even 5 bucks off. For example, he had hundreds of vintage wood crates/boxes. He was asking high retail. I asked for a 20% discount for buying 50+ crates. He adamantly declined my offer, saying he paid nearly what he was charging for the crates... yeah right! Come on Stan, we all know how salvage buyers work. I was annoyed he'd rather hold out for the higher end NYC buyer than attempt to build a business relationship for a potential repeat buyer. Later on he sold me some commercial gumball machines.. When I asked how to open them (after already paying for them) he admitted there was no key, but I "can stick a screwdriver in there pretty easy and get to the coins and candy that way". I stupidly trusted his word and later found out that not only does using a screwdriver break the lock, but the coin trays were missing entirely! So now I cannot use/sell the machines for anything. I have a good feeling he knew that. And that was after complaining I was nickel and diming him for the machines.
I am in the business of selling vintage goods. Stan could have very easily gained a new buyer who very well could have spent tens of thousands of dollars over the next several years. But he missed out. I am not going back. Stan, if you're reading this, remember, you have to sell to make money to buy. You'll earn dedicated customers in the process.
*In response to his most recent comment:
Stan, you must not remember who I am because not only do I have an 1800sq ft retail showroom, but a 3000sq ft warehouse and workshop. You, sir, are in the salvage business. Many of your buyers are resellers, if not all of them. In fact, unless you want to sell one or two items per sale, your dealers (like me) should receive a better deal for buying in bulk. Say, 50-100 items in one shopping trip. Not make us feel like we're putting you out of business for a few dollars discount. And please don't attempt to justify your prices because you have "overhead, employees and utilities". As another reviewer so honestly put it, your building looks as though it hasn't been updated in probably 100 years (peeling lead paint all around, broken windows, etc) and during the 2 hours I was there, I only saw you, your other half and a young porter to help with load-ins. In fact, when I was ready to get pricing, I had to go back down 3-4 flights and back to the front desk just to find help. Readers don't need to take my word for it that your prices are not only sky high, but a vast majority of your goods are in either salvage condition (read rough) or just plain not in demand anymore. Just read the other reviews. My other salvage sellers have no problem offering fair discounts to bulk, repeat buyers like myself. I'm not surprised you have a building filled to the rafters with junk. At your prices it will stay filled for years to come.