Richard Tuttle - Web of Deceit

“There is more, lad,” Wendal continued. “Khadorans don’t sell slaves to slaves. I have never heard of anyone buying a slave’s freedom. Oh they may sell a slave to another estate, but slaves never go free.”

Rejji sat silently with his back to Wendal’s stall for a long time. He mulled over Wendal’s words and sought to find an acceptable exception to the rule Wendal had stated. Surely there must be some condition under which an estate would give a slave freedom, he thought. He felt the pouch of gold coins that he had gotten from Wendal and wondered what price would make an estate break with tradition. His thoughts were interrupted by a customer at Wendal’s stall, the first Rejji had ever seen. Rejji looked up as the finely dressed woman started fondling a small gold statue that Wendal had on display.

“It is one of BaGrec’s works,” Wendal smiled.

“I recognized his style,” nodded the woman. “He was such a talented artisan.”

“Indeed he was,” agreed Wendal. “It is a shame that Khadora has lost such a fine man.”

“How much is it?” asked the woman.

“It is extremely rare,” commented Wendal. “While his style is distinctive, BaGrec tried something new with this piece. Notice the eyes.”

“Oh that is different,” responded the woman.

“Indeed,” smiled Wendal. “It was one of his last pieces. I believe he was trying to capture the sorrow of his lover. It resulted in a rather unique piece. I could make this collector’s piece yours for two thousand gold.”

The woman looked at Wendal with surprise and placed the statue down. “That is a great deal more than his other pieces,” reasoned the woman. “I have been buying his pieces for years so I should know. I think you will be holding this piece for a long time.”

“It is higher than his pieces have sold for in the past,” conceded Wendal, “but BaGrec is dead now. He will never create another masterpiece and the ones he has created will soar in value. There are only so many of them after all and people who have them will not want to part with them. I suspect this piece will be sold to a collector who will resell it for five times the purchase price.”

“Really?” quizzed the woman as she picked the statue back up. “It is a shame that he will not make any more.”

The woman examined the statue closely while Wendal busied himself with straightening other items in the stall that did not need his attention. He appeared totally disinterested in the woman and the decision she was making regarding the purchase.

“Would you consider fifteen hundred?” offered the woman.

Wendal looked up from his fussing and acted like he had just noticed that the woman was still at his stall. “Fifteen hundred leaves no appreciable profit for me,” he declared. “These items are extremely hard to come by and I should be selling it for much more than I am. Still,” he hesitated, “I will let you have it today for nineteen hundred. That is the best I can do.”

The woman hesitated only a minute and then nodded her head. “Will you take a note?” she asked.

“Certainly,” Wendal smiled. “It is preferable to handling large sums of gold.”

The woman smiled and prepared a piece of paper embossed with a clan symbol on it and wrote in the amount of the purchase. She handed the note to Wendal, who gently took the statue and placed it in a velvet pouch and handed it to the woman. She beamed as she took the pouch and strode off.

“I think she would have paid two thousand,” Rejji said as he stood up.

“Of course she would have,” agreed Wendal, “but she would have resented it. By giving her a slight discount, she is now thrilled with her purchase and will return here often. The best sale is not always the one that returns the most gold immediately. One should always make sure that the purchaser leaves happy. It is the good will that is spread to others about you that will bring you customers.”

“How much did you pay for it?” Rejji queried.

“Four hundred,” grinned Wendal.

“Wow!” exclaimed Rejji. “Do all merchants make that much profit?”

“No,” answered Wendal. “There are three type of merchants basically. Those like me who specialize in high priced items are one type. The items must be in short supply and must have high quality. Sales will be few but the profits will be large. I typically only make one or two sales a day. Some days I may spend my time here without a single customer.”

Wendal nodded to a passing customer and continued, “The low end merchants make very little on each sale, but they make sales all day long. They depend on great volume to earn their profit. The things they sell must be something that is needed by everyone and the competition will be fierce. Still those type of merchants can earn a decent wage.”

“What of the third type?” prodded Rejji.

“The ones in the middle,” Wendal said. “There is no easy way to define them. Typically they seek to sell products that are not rare and yet not required by the masses. It is a difficult range to thrive in unless you are able to control the supply of your items. This is the area that Brontos liked. He would bring back items from Fakara that while not rare, where only accessible to him and a few other traders. So, although the items might be plentiful, not every merchant had access to them. By releasing only as much as he wanted to, he was able to control the price and make a good profit. If many merchants decided to descend on Fakara and create competition for Brontos, then his profits would plummet.”

“So the teeth I sold him were not rare, but he could set the price on them because I sold only to him?” asked Rejji.

“Exactly,” nodded Wendal. “If you had been selling to many merchants, Brontos would not have been able to turn a fair profit on them. Of course when you made them no longer available, the teeth became rare and the price rose a great deal.”

“And if I was able to supply them again?” Rejji probed.

“That would depend on the quantity you offered for sale,” explained Wendal. “If you tried to sell a lot of them, the price would plummet. You must realize that while there are purchasers for the teeth, the number of purchasers is limited. You get a higher price when there are more purchasers than there are items to go around. The greater the imbalance, the greater the profit.”

“What things did Brontos come back with most of the time?” the Pikata slave asked.

“I was not real familiar with Brontos’s merchandise,” admitted Wendal. “He seldom came back with anything rare enough for me to purchase. I know he brought in some fine silk garments, carved woodcrafts, nuggets of a strange metal, and your teeth. He purchased mostly seeds and farming implements to take with him to Fakara.”

Rejji nodded and gazed up at the high sun and decided it was time for the midday meal. He opened the sack the inn had provided and inspected the contents. It was a decent meal of cured meat, cheese and bread. He started eating and felt eyes upon him. He looked up and saw Wendal watching him.

“I am sorry,” apologized Rejji. “Would you care for some?”

“Actually I would,” smiled Wendal. “It has been a long time since I had a fresh midday meal.”

Rejji offered the sack to Wendal. “Don’t you bring a meal with you everyday?” he asked.

“No,” Wendal replied. “I am here from sun up until sundown. If I take a break for a meal, I may miss a customer. It is easier to forego the meal.”

“Why not stop at an inn on your way here and get a bag to go?” inquired Rejji.

“It is a busy time for the inns,” replied Wendal. “The wait would be too long.”