Stagflation

 

Well, I've got to call my Antique Mall this Morning and file a Complaint, coz on Monday they Sold a $30 Collectible 1994 Alice In Wonderland Barbie out of our Locked Case and only charged the Customer $3!!!  Of coarse the Customer didn't say anything, and whatever Cashier rang it up didn't catch their error either by omitting a Zero, which can be an Honest Mistake and not Intentional, but I expect the Mall to reimburse me the $27 Error they made coz the Product is now long gone and that Customer isn't likely to come back and pay it!  I'm not Eating the Loss.  

They have to keep the Tags on all Sales and those Collectible Barbies had Large oversized Sales Tags clearly marked with the Correct Price twice, large and unmistakable.  Plus, along with $30 written out large I also always on every Tag Write Out the Amount in a Word too, so it would also have said "Thirty" on the Tag, so a Cashier nor a Customer could alter the Price Tag and get away with it.  Mistakes can happen, but they need to make good on THEIR Mistakes to the Vendor who takes a substantial Loss due to their errors.  I Sold a lot of my Collectible Dolls that Day that were more expensive and out of our Locked Case.

I don't want Drama or a Headache about it either, sometimes they will try to claim Vendors have to Eat any Losses we have.  If someone Steals it, or breaks it, then we do, but if it's a Cashier's Error on the Sale of it, I stand firm that their Hired Help messed up and that's then their liability and on them to put Right!  Tag Switching is harder to get reimbursement on coz a Cashier can't honestly always tell that's been done, even some alterations are pretty Smooth when someone is good at altering Tags.  It's why I Write the Number AND the Word of the Amount on my Tags and always have.  Staff know this about me, so can't claim they couldn't Read both a Number or a Word.  One or the other would and should make it clear what the Price is.

So, that's how I'm starting my Wednesday Morning, dammit!  With a Problem to Solve.  Shit.  Like I Need more problems or battles, Right? *LOL*   I finally cleared up most Battles with our Insurance and Medical stuff... I'm still waiting on full reimbursement from a Credit Card Company that my Account got hacked and someone was using it that I contested, coz it wasn't me.  They reimbursed some of the $600 this Thief Charged, but not all of it yet.  The Card was immediately Cancelled and Re-Issued, I only had one legit Charge on it during that Period, which I told them that Charge was me and Fine to Charge me for. 

 It was a significant Charge I'd made, I rarely use the Card and the Credit Card Company knows and can see that History.  And the other fraudulent Charges were numerous yet Small amounts that just added up to a lot.  So they'd avoided detection by CitiBank alerting me of fraudulent use, which isn't uncommon for Hackers to do that to get away with their Scam longer and for perhaps a whole Billing Cycle.   Since I verified the largest Charge as being my own, I was entirely Believable and had never done Business with any of the Small Charge Companies ever, so that was Telling too, they were all on the East Coast and I'm on the West Coast.  

Most of my Purchases are Local, with very few exceptions, all the fraudulent small Charges totaling around $600 were out of New Jersey, where the Perp may live, if they trace it back to them.  And all were Online Purchases, not made from my Computer or Cellphone, so easier to trace back by their Fraud Dept..  I'm not paying for fraudulent purchases.  If a Hacker is out of the Country it's harder to pursue, but I think this one was in America and Younger, by what was Purchased and who they do Business with.  Some were like Credit Restoration {which I don't Need the Service of, I have excellent Credit}, others were those Porn Hub sites {don't Need that either, LMAO}.  So, some horny Young Male Criminal Hacker with Bad Credit, I presume?  *Bwahahaha*  But, it's a Pain in the Ass to Deal with and run damage control behind being Victimized by these Criminal Assholes.

The Rep at CitiBank laughed that I had somewhat a Wicked Sense of Humor about describing the Perp Negatively, but probably accurately.  Well, they Needed THEIR Credit Restored, so there's a Clue as to Who they are.  The Credit Restoration Company should be able to tell you whose requesting the Credit Restoration Services.  *Eye Roll, some Thieves aren't all that Smart or Clever as they Think they are!*  In fact, when I Worked at the DA's Office, frankly, the really Smart and Clever Criminals are the Exception, not the Rule.  There's a lot more Stupid folk out there committing Crimes actually and why so many of them aren't that difficult to catch or Prosecute.  Unless it's a Syndicated Crime Ring, those can be really difficult to take down... for obvious reasons.

Well, at 9:00 a.m. when our Mall Opened I talked to our Manager and he could see the Error and told me he'd take care of it, so, that's a relief.  They'll pull the Tag from Monday's Sales and see it's clearly marked 30 and Thirty, not 3 and Three... not that any 1994 New Old Stock Collectible Character Barbie in it's original Packaging would ever Sell for only Three Dollars anywhere, not even in a Chazza and not even in 1994 when she was Produced!!!  I paid more than that for her.  It was a Disney Exclusive, and tho' a lot of them were Produced, to find one in it's Pristine Unopened Condition is Uncommon, the European Version can even go for $100, but $30 on up is what the American Version goes for in New Old Stock Pristine Condition, which this one was. 

 It Retailed for $30 when it was Released in 1994, so my Price Point was very Good at the original early 1990's Price and I knew she'd easily Sell.  I wasn't trying to find the End Of The Rainbow Customer, I just wanted to Turn a reasonable Profit on my Investment all these Years later when I happened upon her at a Chazza and saw that her price remained stable, she never Lost in Value from 1994, tho' those who paid full price for her in 1994 would be disappointed that they might just break even after holding onto her in Mint Condition for all these Years.  So, she wasn't an Investment for the Original Purchaser on The Buy, which is always where you make your Money, on The Buy.  If Values decrease or don't increase at all, it wasn't an Investment Vehicle for you to make Money on.  And sometimes we Buy without a Thought to the Intention of Resale or parting with it when we made the Purchase..

Most folks pay too much in the first place, so will never get their Money back if and when they Need to get rid of it.  But, "Alice In Wonderland" is a popular Theme for Resale and I think the Japanese Buyers might have purchased all the Collectible Dolls that Sold that Day, they cleaned my Locked Case out of most of them.  They might not have even realized, Buying in bulk, that they hadn't been Charged the right price on her.  I've never had a Japanese Picker ever try to make an Offer, they always pay what the Ask Price is and are decent Buyers, usually repeat Buyers, they used to come every Quarter, but haven't been here since 2018 so it's nice to see them back.  They usually stay a little while, put all their Purchases in Shipping Containers to Export back to Japan, and Travel to various Countries Sourcing Inventory before returning to Japan. 

 So, I wouldn't expect them to come back and tell the Mall, oh, we owe you $27 more, you made a mistake on our large Purchase.   They Trust they got Charged correctly and may not even scrutinize their Receipt and Laundry List of Purchases, they do it all so quickly and efficiently.  It's hard to keep up with them when they come in and sometimes Management will even Assign them an Employee to assist them coz they're Buying so much at once and are in a hurry to Buy Fast and move on to the next location on their itinerary.  Like Princess T said, they were literally RUNNING into their Store and hitting the Racks like it was a Timed Contest!  *LOL* 

 I've seen them drop over Twenty Grand in a matter of Minutes!  They know what they want and are looking for, they don't screw around or haggle.  If your Prices are Correct, and they can still make their Margins in Japan, they will Buy from you all day long.  Certain American Products can fetch a fortune Overseas in many Countries.  My Uncle from Wales used to come with Empty Suitcases and fill them up with Red Line American Levi Vintage Jeans to Resell back Home in North Wales.   Even now in America they can Sell for $200-$800+ these days.  I still look for them, hard to Source these days.  LEVI even puts out Tutorials on how to Identify their Vintage Jeans and the Era made.  It's worth knowing.

It was so Hot Today that anything I thought I might do, I aborted the notion of even doing it and took a long Nap instead.  *LOL and Le Sigh*  I'm not 100% yet or thru with my Antibiotic regimen so I'm just not pushing myself.  I do have to go in to the Antique Mall later Tonight coz my Friend Amy has a Gift for me of an Antique Loving Cup that she won't allow me to Buy from her but wants to give me as a Friendship Gift.  I also have to pick up my Check, it was a pleasant Surprise to know I even had one coz that Pay Period was a rough one.  I only Sold a scant few good pieces and not enuf Smalls I thought I'd even turn a Profit and hoped I didn't Owe. 

 Rents are high everywhere and why a lot of Brick & Mortar Shopping is going away and being replaced by Online Shopping.  Now that Gas is so high too and likely not to go down anytime soon, perhaps even go up more, folks don't wanna commute to Work or to Shop, too expensive an outlay.  I rethink going anywhere now and even Shopping, I don't do if I don't have to do it, coz it's not like I make a point to GO Shopping or spend Money.  I've bought some things lately mostly for Princess T's sake and she pays me back for it.  She has the Money Saved Up, I don't.  Just expenses now pretty much taps me out Month to Month anymore, so there's less discretionary spending.  This is where Stagflation may creep in... Prices Rise while the Economy contracts and stalls.

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We will continue to alter our habits as necessity dictates... the Country and Administration will have to then Deal with it... everything they do will have consequences... Dawn... The Bohemian