When my father began his antique business oak furniture from the early 20th century was one of the hottest selling items in the country. He bought and sold a lot of it.

One Saturday evening he brought home the nicest oak secretary I’ve ever seen - beautiful original finish; lots of ornate intricate scroll work; beveled mirror; beveled glass door with leaded stained glass on the upper third; and the biggest claw feet I’ve ever seen on a piece of furniture.

My mother took one look at it and said, “You’re not selling that. It’s going in the dining room”. Mom loved that piece of furniture and it enjoyed a prominent place their home for several years.

The way Mom & Dad’s house was laid out, whenever shoppers came to visit the antique shop in the basement, on the way to the stairway, they could see Mom’s secretary sitting in the dining room. Over time, hundreds of people asked how much they were asking for the secretary. Mom’s response was always the same - “It’s not for sale.”

Most people accepted that response and never asked again. A few asked a second or third time on ensuing visits, but getting the same response, soon stopped asking. All that is, except for a very persistent gentleman from Winnipeg, Canada named Evan.

For a number of years, every couple months, Evan visited the shop and on each visit he would ask Mom the same question - “What will you take for the secretary?” Each time the response was the same - “It’s not for sale.”

After several years, Evan showed up one winter Saturday afternoon. He and Dad went down to the shop in the basement, and Evan bought two or three small pieces of Tiffany glass. When he and Dad came back upstairs, Mom asked him if he’d like a cup of coffee before he left. As the three of them were sitting at the kitchen table, Evan asked the now familiar question.

Mom, thinking she would put an end to hearing the same question every time he was in Crookston, did some fast mental calculating. At the time, nice oak secretaries sold for $600 to $1000 depending upon how nice they were and their condition. Because of how nice this one was, she decided if they asked $1500 for it, they might eventually find a buyer.

So, she added $500 to that, and then tripled that, and answered $6000, a figure she thought would stop him from continually asking. Evan said, “$6000?” Mom said, “not a penny less.”

Evan pulled out his checkbook, asked what that converted to in Canadian dollars, wrote out a check, and Mom’s secretary had found a new home.

The eBay Moral Of The Story - When you have something you know is extremely nice and top-of-the-line in it’s niche, don’t be afraid to put a seemingly crazy Buy-It-Now price on it when you list it on eBay.

Photography by Sanomme.

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