Chapter 62 Chinaware Storage (2/2)

With a few more bargains, the last price was set at 145,000 dollars.

Once the money was wired into their accounts, Hans proudly smiled at Li Du. ”Look, we got five thousand more than expected. How was the Big Fox?” Hans turned hesitantly to Raymond. ”Are you Grandpa Fox now?”

”F*ck you! Haha!”

Oldest rule of bargaining: once the deal was done, both parties would become friends.

Hans helped Raymond set up the clocks. Raymond started telling them some collector’s knowledge on antique clocks.

”For antique clocks, first, you have to look at the era it is from. Second, you have to find out the origin of manufacture. Third, what materials were used to make it. Finally, but most importantly, the craftsman, and whether it is authentic or a replica. This information tells you the era, origin, materials used, and all sorts of information on the design.

”Also, in Europe, antique clocks are known to represent nobility. After they became popular in the nineteenth century in England, most of them were mass-produced in Germany.

”Without a doubt, handcrafted ones from England were valuable. Those from Germany were not.

”Here’s some trivial knowledge for you: When watching movies or dramas, antique clocks tend to show up on the screen. If they appear in the houses of the wealthy or royalty, then those were definitely made in England. If they are in houses of the common folk, then they were made in Germany.”

Li Du let out a laugh; it turned out that the German-made products Europe was proud of were once considered cheap goods.

After sending Raymond off, they still had to deal with the two replicas.

The best way to deal with them were junk sellers. However, once Kevin looked at them, he shook his head and said, ”These things aren’t worth much. They’re fakes. I’ll buy one for 500 dollars.”

”Such a significant difference?” Li Du was stunned. ”The authentic ones went for over 70 grand each!”

Kevin scoffed, ”These are gold-plated clocks, that’s why they were worth 500 dollars. If they weren’t, no one would buy them—even at 100 dollars each. Mass-produced goods... there are as many of these as there are stars in the sky.”

With such a low price, they might as well have kept them.

After some negotiation, they decided to bring one clock home each as a souvenir of the profit they had made that day.

This profit was indeed enormous. In total, they earned 162 thousand, and Li Du’s share was almost 100 thousand—just a little bit short.

Hans lamented and said, ”So close, you could have almost accumulated your first 100 thousand in one auction. How about we just sell these fakes?”

Li Du shook his head. ”It’s ok, there will be chances in the future. Let’s keep searching for info on auctions.”

Hans flashed his phone and said, ”I’ve already received a piece of info. In Phoenix, a storage company is having an auction. The date is next Tuesday.”

There were only three days left. The two went to pack up some things and went straight to Phoenix.

Hans first took him to tour the storage company. This company was called Big Red Sparrow Storage Co. Ltd., with five units up for auction.

Li Du released the bug into the units. With ample time to spare, he thoroughly searched all five of them.

However, disappointingly, there was nothing valuable. Only unit 102 seemed decent, with a lot of chinaware.

If those were antiques, the china would make them rich overnight. A pity, though, because these were all modern china. The bug was uninterested and flew off immediately.

Li Du shook his head, saying, ”Seems like we have to go home disappointed.”

”Nothing of value?” Hans sighed.

Li Du tried to cover things up and said, ”I couldn’t see clearly. Let us wait until the units are opened to see if there is anything good.”

Hans did not ask about how he was able to discern if there were any treasures. One of them was responsible for info on units and handling the goods, the other was responsible for sniffing out the treasures. No interfering, and mutual trust.