"Mr. Valentine, this is the seller I mentioned, Mr. Fang Lang, a soldier who just returned from the European battlefield. You can call him Fang." Wan Chongxin brought Fang Lang to the outside of Chinatown and found Mr. Stellan Valentine in a luxury apartment.
After Wan Chongxin's explanation, Mr. Valentine warmly welcomed the two into the living room of the bedroom. Fang Lang could tell from Mr. Valentine's surprised expression that he was indeed a collector who knew the value of his goods.
"Mr. Fang, thank you for standing up when the world needed you. You can call me Valentine." Valentine extended his hand enthusiastically and shook hands with Fang Lang, and expressed his gratitude for Fang Lang's identity as a soldier of the Allied Forces.
Unfortunately, Fang Lang was not enthusiastic about standing up when the world needed him. Fighting the Germans in Europe was not his wish. It would be better if he could fight the Japanese to the death in the Asian battlefield. So Fang Lang did not want to have too much communication with this World War I veteran on this topic. He just wanted to quickly end the transaction and seize the time to start his subsequent plans.
So after shaking hands, he took out two Luger P08s wrapped in holsters from his backpack, placed them on the coffee table and said, "Hello, Mr. Valentine, nice to meet you. These are the two Luger P08s that I got with great difficulty. You can appreciate them carefully. I hope you will be satisfied!"
Valentine didn't mind Fang Lang's directness. His eyes had already been deeply attracted by the two pistols on the table. His hands touched the leather holsters as if he was caressing his lover's delicate skin. Fang Lang and Wan Chongxin sat quietly aside, waiting for the buyer to inspect the goods.
Apparently, Valentin really liked the Ruger P08. He took the two pistols in his hands, played with them over and over, disassembled and reassembled them. After a long while, he reluctantly put the guns back on the table and said, "Fang, I believe Wan has told you that I once offered a reward for the Ruger P08, so I really like these two pistols. I wonder what your offer is?"
"Mr. Valentine, I'm really sorry. I don't know much about collecting, so I can't give you an accurate quote, but you can tell me a price, and if I think it's appropriate, we can make a deal. Is that okay with you?" Fang Lang was telling the truth. He really didn't know the value of the pistol, and he bought it at the strong suggestion of Carlo Gambino.
However, he was not completely unfamiliar with price negotiations. He could use Valentine's quotation to test his desired price. As long as it was not too far from his expectations, he would rather spend his time purchasing cigarettes.
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"Fang, how about this! I understand that the price of a standard Ruger P08 on the market is about five hundred dollars. If you are willing, I will buy your two Ruger pistols for one thousand two hundred dollars. How about that? This is two hundred dollars higher than the market price. No one should be able to offer a higher price than me." Valentine thought for a while before speaking.
"Mr. Valentine, you also said that five hundred dollars is the price of a standard model, but are you sure you have seen these two pistols of mine clearly? Mine are not standard models!" If Fang Lang had really seized them on the battlefield, he might have been fooled by Valentine. Unfortunately, Fang Lang bought these two pistols on the black market for fifty dollars. There are still a lot of standard Ruger P08s on the black market, and the price is cheaper than the two he bought. So Fang Lang knew that Valentine thought he didn't understand the situation and wanted to take advantage of him.
"Ah! Is that so? Let me take a closer look!" Valentine was not embarrassed when he heard Fang Lang's answer, as if he had really made a mistake. He picked up the two Luger P08s again and checked them.
As soon as Fang Lang saw Valentine's attitude, he knew that he didn't want to show his cards directly and wanted to haggle with Fang Lang about the price. However, Fang Lang didn't want to waste time with Valentine here, so he said directly: "Mr. Valentine, the long-barreled P08 in your left hand is the artillery type, and the short-barreled one in your right hand is the navy type. These two Rugers are relatively rare types, especially the navy type, which should still be a very rare type in the US market, so I hope that we can all quote a suitable price openly. If we can make a deal, that would be the best. If not, I will look for the next buyer, okay?"
"Fang, you are right. These two Rugers are indeed different from the standard models I have seen. I wonder what price you have in mind!" Since Fang Lang has already explained the specific situation of the gun, he obviously has some knowledge of the gun, so Valentine tried again.
"Mr. Valentine, do you want one or both?" Fang Lang stopped talking.
"If the price is right, I would definitely want the best of both worlds."
"If you want both, my price is three thousand dollars. I wonder if you can accept it."
"Oh my God! Your offer is too high. No one will accept such a high price. This is just a mass-produced industrial product. Even if it has a certain collection value, it is not so high." Mr. Valentine said with an expression of disbelief.
"Since Mr. Valentine feels that he cannot accept this price, we can only see if there is any buyer who really knows the value of the goods. Thank you for entertaining Mr. Valentine." Fang Lang saw Valentine's expression and did not want to argue with him. He stood up and wanted to put the pistol on the table back into his backpack.
As a businessman, Valentine obviously had never encountered an opponent who would retreat directly after a disagreement. He quickly stood up and said, "Fang, don't be impulsive. When we do business, we always have to negotiate the price! Can we sit down and have a cup of coffee and talk about it?"
"Mr. Valentine, no need for coffee. I'm not a businessman, I'm a soldier. If you are really interested in the Luger I have, I suggest you don't beat around the bush. It's best to give a price that matches its value. If I think it's appropriate, we can just make a deal, okay?"
"Haha...Okay! As a veteran of World War I, we are all soldiers, so let's be direct. I can accept a price of two thousand dollars."
"This is not an offer that a veteran soldier would make, Mr. Valentine. You were prepared to spend $1,200 to buy two standard rifles. But this is an artillery model and a rare navy model. I don't think this price is worth the two rifles. I'll give you another $200. This is my final bottom price, $2,800. If you can accept it, we'll make the deal. If not, I'll see if Mr. Wan can help me find a new buyer. If not, I'll just have to carry the rifles myself for self-defense."
Fang Lang knew that Valentine's offer of twelve hundred was because he thought Fang Lang didn't know the value of the item, so he brought up the offer again to disgust Valentine.
"Fang, two thousand five hundred US dollars. This price is definitely worthy of their value. No problem, I'll pay in cash now." Valentine looked painful.
"Mr. Valentine, I've said before, I'm a soldier. Two thousand eight hundred dollars, if you can accept it, we'll make the deal. Since you can't accept it, then I can only look for the next buyer." After saying that, he turned to Wan Chongxin, who had been silent, and said, "Mr. Wan, I think you should hurry up and help me find the next buyer. I wonder if you have any qualified customers."
Seeing Fang Lang put the gun into his backpack, Wan Chongxin stood up and said, "Mr. Fang, of course no problem. I can take you to find another very powerful buyer now."
Although he wanted to make a direct deal, the two sides could not reach an agreement, so he could only stand on Fang Lang's side because the goods were in his hands. If he was not there, he would have no chance of getting the agency fee.
Seeing that the two were about to give up the deal without even turning their heads, Valentine could only say at the last moment: "Okay! Fang, you win. Although your offer is really high, I really like these two good things! Two thousand eight hundred dollars, deal."
Fang Lang was delighted when he heard that Valentine finally agreed to the deal at $2,800. He turned around and said calmly, "Believe me, Mr. Valentine, this deal is absolutely worth the money and you won't regret it."
Seeing the two people holding hands tightly together, Wan Chongxin also breathed a sigh of relief, because as a rookie who had just entered the industry, he would not be able to find so many buyers at once. He had already thought about it, if the deal could not be made, he could only share the profits with another intermediary and look for new customers.
Fortunately, Valentine finally agreed to the deal, so that he could not only get the agency fee, but also get a fifty-dollar reward from Mr. Valentine. This was a lot of money, and he and his sister would not have to worry about food for at least a month.
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