This morning, a High Point Furniture Company 18 wheeler showed up outside our office with a whole truck of "fine furniture" destined for Denver, CO. The "order", however was cancelled en-route so they need to unload all this "fine furniture" cheap.
I had to bite and take a look. As I walked over, there was a couple looking at a bargin $575 Bombay chest and had their checkbooks in hand. I expressed interest also, took a look and immediately pointed out all sorts of issues:
It did have a nice finish and stone top, but outside of that, it was junk. Needless to say, after my comments, the people looking to spend $575 on this bargain, put their checkbooks away and said they would think about it and walked away.
- The thru dovetails on the back of the drawers had 1/16" gaps betwen the pins and tails and were held together by brad nails and what appeared to be glue from a hot glue gun.
- The drawer bottoms were made from a cheap 1/8" thick grade of plywood.
- The drawer sides were attached to the front using a butt joint and more brad nails and hot glue gun glue.
- The entire chest looked to be made of 1/2" material.
Someone else called the police on them and they are currently being issued a citation for not having a permit.
What is my point of this debacle:
I found this instance both sad and amusing. It was fun playing with the guys that finally admitted to me they just drive the truck and don't know a thing about furniture; eventhough, they sounded like "experts" when trying to unload this stuff.
- It's ashamed that people take advantage of other peoples emotions by offering them a "bargain" and getting them to bite on a piece of junk.
- The general public doesn't know the difference between a finely crafted piece of furniture and a mass produced, low quality piece.
- Don't buy anything "bargain" from the back of a truck.
- The finish makes or breaks a piece - fine finish on a poorly made piece makes it look "high quality", while a poor finish on a finely constucted piece can make it look cheap.
On a final note, if this is a "once in a lifetime opportunity" to take advantage of their loss, why do they have permits in the next city over to sell out the back of a truck since this was just our dumb luck that they need to unload this stuff from their "cancelled" order.