Ok, I’ll try the less than, greater than brackets to make a paragraph. Sorry for the clutter.
GoldenGoose7 and also Trish. Hi, Trish. You recently mentioned that you found retailers annoyed you at antique auctions by outbidding you just enough to keep you from getting your bargain. Later, you were advised that this was OK because you’re never entitled to a “steal”. May I add a little insight to this?
My cousin was an antiques and art dealer in London. He explained that there was a group of retailers who made a living by going out of business, the oriental carpet business. Acting as a group, but not necessarily in collusion, they sold to the public at going out of business auctions. Any good lot would never sell at a low price because another dealer would always buy it. In that way they kept the good stuff at good prices amongst themselves. Even he, as an outside dealer, was excluded. No one is accusing CBID of this but you can see why we, the public, could be annoyed at seeing our sought after lots swept away to someone else’s store.
I did know a tobacco retailer in West Lafayette who told me that he would go to Walgreen’s to buy out their stock of sale items, in part to save a little money over wholesale, but also so the public wouldn't get the wrong idea of what the real price should be. This took from Walgreen’s their expensive loss leader promotion and the public never got their “deal”.
I still like CBID, wish you every success and hope you make a lot of money so that you can continue. And I hope my paragraph marks work this time.