The other day, I saw this fine specimen on craigslist:
It was $20. I expect low prices for very-70s furniture, with or without a (very necessary) coat of paint slapped on. So, $50 would be the cap for a reasonable price for this sort of thing, I think. $20 is therefore a bargain. It was posted yesterday, and I contacted the seller yesterday. (I need something to sit under the antique cabinet in my laundry room...I think I've explained. Anyway.) Someone had already claimed it. Hey, fair is fair - it's a great price, and that's a piece you can do a lot with. I'm not complaining.
Unless.
Unless it was purchased by some idiot who thinks that if only it were duck egg blue, and then finished with dark wax, then it would be a precious heirloom worth $300.
I comfort myself with the knowledge that these people cannot possibly be selling all of their wares at their ludicrous prices; but even the fact that they are trying is enough to irk me greatly. And if that's what happened to this buffet (a bargain that I would have appreciated, and used in my home - rather than as the basis for a preposterous profit margin), then I am cranky indeed.
And remember when I went on about how they tell you in their craigslist ad exactly what colors they used, and what type of wax, and that they specifically used the Annie Sloan brand of chalk paint, because surely your assessment of its beauty and usefulness is not dependent on how it looks or works, but on the materials they used to get it to that stage - remember that? Of course you do.
So, just to show you that you should never doubt me - this was advertised on October 26:
For $295. Of course I'm not kidding. Don't take my word for it - see for yourself.
But then, on October 31, it was advertised again. Here it is, five days later:
And the seller explains...
It's "[h]and-painted in linen and off-white colors then finished with dark wax for an aged look."
What did I tell you about the dark wax????
Oh, by the way. With a second color (and the dark wax!), it's $350. I wouldn't believe me, either - you really need to see for yourself.
This thing has to die out before it takes over all the furniture. But it seems really difficult to kill. Maybe it's one of those white-ash-stake-through-the-heart, skull-stuffed-with-garlic, buried-in-a-spot-where-the-moon-never-shines sorts of things. I'm willing to do whatever it takes.
