Adventures in American Bookshops, Antique Stores and Auction Rooms — John Shaqi
Adventures in American Bookshops, Antique Stores and Auction RoomsBruno, Guido
General
Adventures in American Bookshops, Antique Stores and Auction Rooms
Bruno, Guido
Antiquarian booksellers -- United States; Booksellers and bookselling -- United States
“That’s where all the dealers are. I sell to dealers only and they have
fixed prices. For instance, we get from seventy-five cents to one dollar
for a pair of trousers without patches, twenty-five cents to fifty cents
for patched-up trousers, according to the extent of the necessary
repairs. Waistcoats bring fifty cents, coats from twenty-five cents up
to a dollar. Shoes according to their condition, anything from five
cents to seventy-five cents. Hats, neckties, shirts, collars; socks
bring a few pennies only, according to their attractiveness. Overcoats
are in great demand in the cold season. They bring from one dollar up to
five dollars. Women’s dresses bring about the same prices. I usually
make from twenty-five to fifty cents profit on the dollar. Often I make
a hundred per cent and often, too, I make a mistake and lose money. Once
in a while I pick up a piece of jewelry, but people don’t sell jewelry
outright. They would rather pawn it, and then sell the pawn ticket.
“I’ve bought pawn tickets. I paid ten per cent of the loaned amount, but
I got stung so often by buying fake tickets that I don’t bother with
them any more. I know people who go about as I do who make ten and
fifteen dollars the day, but I call it a fair day if I clear from three
to five dollars. Ten dollars is about a fair capital to start with in
buying and selling old clothes, but I know a man who started with fifty
cents and in less than a year he owned a shop on Baxter Street.
“Once I had a great day. A man called me in. It was on Forty-fifth
Street, and I think he must have been an actor. He asked me to take away
all the clothes contained in a big trunk in his room. They were all
women’s clothes of expensive fabric. I had to come three times before I
had taken it all away.
“‘How much will you give me for it?’ he inquired. All I had in my pocket
was twelve dollars. I made him an offer of ten dollars, and I was never
more ashamed of myself than in that moment. But he didn’t pay any
attention to me. He smoked a cigarette and simply said: ‘That will be
all right, but take it out immediately.’ I made bundles and carried it
out in portions. I gave him ten dollars. I laid the money on the table,
and before I left the room the last time, I said: ‘Mister, here are the
ten dollars,’ pointing to the money that was still laying on the table.
‘Take it along, too,’ was his answer. ‘It would bring me only bad luck.
Take it quickly and get out with you.’
“I got frightened and took the money and went downstairs to the landlady
of the rooming house and asked her whether he was ‘all right,’ whether
it was safe to buy the things from him.
“The landlady answered: ‘Oh, yes, he’s all right, the poor fellow. His
wife ran away with some other man only yesterday, and he seems to take
it very hard.’
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