Art of the deal: ‘Haggle Sale’ offers novel way to purchase works
The vast majority of Americans are used to shopping where the number listed on the price tag is usually so firm it’s almost like it’s carved in stone. But not everything commercial is so cut and dry.
Those that frequent yard sales and flea markets, for instance, know that sellers are often willing to wrangle with an interested buyer over the marked price.
Like she’s done every year between Christmas and New Year’s Day from 1976 to 1991 at her Greene County Craftsman, her now defunct store on High Street in Waynesburg, Carol Randolph offered her inventory for sale with haggling and flexible prices in mind.
“Back then, the haggle sales were a success and a lot of fun,” she said.
Last year, Randolph resuscitated the concept of haggling at a one-day sale of art and crafts in her home in Waynesburg.
From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 7, she’ll reprise the concept by filling the living and dining rooms of her home at 554 Ross St., Waynesburg with the works of up to two dozen artists.
The sale will be a fund-raiser for the 2012 Spring Beauty 3, an art show and sale at the Greene County Historical Society Museum in Waynesburg scheduled for next May.
“Twenty-five percent of the proceeds of the Haggle Sale will be donated to the museum to help pay for the cost of staging Spring Beauty 3,” Randolph said.
At the sale, the framed oil paintings, watercolors photography, jewelry, painted saws and sleds and perhaps pottery will all have price tags clearly labeled on each piece.
The only difference is that prospective buyers can try for a reduction in price by haggling with Randolph.
“Art lovers and buyers don’t get to do this at exhibits, shows and galleries because there it’s considered a social faux pas,” she said.
Every piece in the sale, starting with the least expensive note cards ($1.50) to the most expensive works ($350), is subject to bargaining.
Once a price is agreed on, buyers have to pay with cash or check as no credit cards will be accepted.
Randolph’s husband, Jim, a.k.a. Fuzzy, is expected to have some of his woodworking and lapidary artifacts available at the sale.
These include jewelry made from mussel shells taken from Ten Mile Creek, shards of New Geneva stoneware and broken glass and dinnerware and pieces of stained glass discarded by local churches and Waynesburg University’s Miller Hall.
Award-winning pen and ink drawing artist and sculptor Britta Miller of Waynesburg will also have her work available for purchase, as will Carol Randolph, whose work is included in private collections in the United States, Canada and Europe.
“I first started haggling over the prices of art back in 1976 and found out that many people enjoy going back and forth over what they’ll pay for a favorite piece,” Randolph said.
“The upcoming Haggle Sale will let people try their hand at bargaining for something they’d really like for their home, office or place of business. And it’s a good way to help support next year’s Spring Beauty 3 event at the Greene County Historical Society Museum,” she added.
For more information, phone 724-852-6363.