I wanted to buy one of the lamps above. She said NO! The rest is herstory.
She shook her head throughout the following conversation:
I: How much is a lamp?
Larry Brown: $950/-
I: Does the price come down if I buy two?
L: How much are you offering?
I: $1250 for two.
L: How about $1800?
L and I went back and forth until he said $1400.
Suddenly I felt remorseful, and reverse bargaining started.
I: I’m embarrassed that I’m bargaining with you. You are an artist, you love what you do and you travel across the country with your hand made products.
I’ll pay your full initial asking price.
L: You are an unusual man. True. I used to make more money making furniture but I love what I’m doing now.
But I won’t accept a penny more than the final price we just discussed.
I paid with plastic, put the two lamps in the trunk of our SUV, and went to a coffee shop.
There were two unknown women sitting at the next table from M & I, and I showed them a picture of the lamps on my phone, saying: “Look what I just bought!”
They asked: “From where,” and ran off to Larry’s tent at the street fair.
The rest of herstory was a silent smile and noon-stop shaking of her head throughout.