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User
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Topic: And the sharks descend...
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Amazonia
♀ Member
Member # 32810 |  Posted: 9:00 PM, August 2nd (Thursday), 2012 |     |
I created a CL ad for my engagement ring this morning (I know others are looking to sell as well - PM me if you want to see the text of my ad to see what I included).
I've done my research. I know what my diamond is worth. I know what the setting is worth. I have a standing offer from a neighborhood jeweler and I'm fairly certain I could get him to go a few hundred higher. I know what I can expect to get from my ring, reasonably.
It might take time to find the right buyer, but I know what it's worth.
I've started getting emails from "jewelers" - ridiculous, insulting prices. They are trying to haggle with me. What they don't know is that I spent 3 years living in one of the most haggle-necessary countries in the modern world.
I find their attempted back and forth rather amusing. Bring it on, boys! 
Trust me, if I can get good quality beef for local prices in rural China with a face as white as mine, I can get my asking price out of this ring. 
"No girl who plays the role of the hero dates a guy who uses her. She knows who she is; she just forgot for a little while." -my awesome pastor | I edit to correct my iPad's "corrections"
Posts: 11170 | Registered: Jul 2011 | From: Washington, DC |
tired_and_broken
♀ Member
Member # 34226 | | Posted: 9:05 PM, August 2nd (Thursday), 2012 |  |
You GO girl!
Divorced 04/12/12
I am FREE!
Posts: 640 | Registered: Dec 2011 | From: Was in Florida/Now in Texas |
nowiknow23
♀ Guide
Member # 33226 | | Posted: 9:42 PM, August 2nd (Thursday), 2012 | |
Go, Ama! 
You can call me NIK
“I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you... stranger." - The Joker
Posts: 14087 | Registered: Aug 2011 | From: "Is this heaven?" ;-) |
Bebba1171
♂ Member
Member # 33857 | | Posted: 10:11 PM, August 2nd (Thursday), 2012 | |
Tai gui la!
Divorced by Interlocutory decree in May 2012. WW had an affair with a 66 yo doctor she worked for.
D-Day Sept 16. 2011.
BH- 52 (Me) / XWW 50
Two great kids that don't deserve this!
Posts: 599 | Registered: Nov 2011 | From: USA |
aesir
♂ Member
Member # 17210 | | Posted: 10:31 PM, August 2nd (Thursday), 2012 | |
Make sure you reply in Chinese to at least one of their offers. I can maybe tell you a phrase or two they don't normally teach to a Gwi Lo. 
Your mileage may vary... in accordance with the prophecy.
Do not back up. Severe tire damage.
Posts: 14221 | Registered: Nov 2007 | From: Winnipeg |
Bebba1171
♂ Member
Member # 33857 | | Posted: 6:02 AM, August 3rd (Friday), 2012 | |
Say bu gui la!
Divorced by Interlocutory decree in May 2012. WW had an affair with a 66 yo doctor she worked for.
D-Day Sept 16. 2011.
BH- 52 (Me) / XWW 50
Two great kids that don't deserve this!
Posts: 599 | Registered: Nov 2011 | From: USA |
Amazonia
♀ Member
Member # 32810 | | Posted: 4:57 PM, August 6th (Monday), 2012 | |
Bebba -
I got lowball offers from half a dozen seedy "jewelers" (the kind who work out of their home office and lie about being local  ), all of whom had the same spiel: "Give me your cell phone number so we can discuss this!" (yeah...NOT happening, you can ask whatever you want via email!), "I can't believe it appraised for so high, a diamond like that isn't worth that much. No one is going to pay what you're asking!" "Let me help you out; I know you're not going to get another offer this good, but you seem like a good person, so I'll give you $X" (half my asking price, which was 60% of the original purchase/appraisal), "That offer is only good through tomorrow though. It'll be less after that."
I told them all thanks but no thanks and they all told me that I'd come crawling back. (Okay, only one of them said that, the others stopped emailing at that point....and yes, I emailed the one today and let him know I'd sold it, muahaha )
And I got one email from a nice middle aged woman looking to replace her 19 and a half year old engagement ring. We met at her bank this afternoon after I got off work. She brought her sister-in-law, I brought the ring. She tried it on, they both squealed. I cleaned it just before leaving the house this morning, so it caught the sun and put on quite the show (it's actually a beautiful diamond, although I never cared for the setting). She started hemming about the price, but looked uncomfortable bargaining, so I pulled out the matching (very simple) wedding band and offered to throw it in for free if we stuck to my original price. The most I could have gotten for that on CL probably would have been $150-200, and no jeweler would have taken it. She was sold, and it saved me the trouble.
So we headed into the bank (we'd met outside, since I've heard banks are not actually keen on you selling stuff in their lobbies...imagine that ) and I stood there while she drew a cashier's check off her account. Half an hour later, it was deposited into my account and I talked myself out of buying an iPad... it's all earmarked for tuition, BUT it'll cover my first semester!
I'm thrilled. This was a great experience. My bff texted right after and asked how I felt about it; I told her that I expected to be sad or sentimental, but honestly? Seeing it on her finger and seeing her so happy, it just made me happy, and the ring seemed to fit her better than it ever fit me. I'm glad that it went to a happy home, and I'm glad that the money came through for me just days after the tuition bill showed up. Very serendipitous.  [This message edited by Amazonia at 4:59 PM, August 6th (Monday)]
"No girl who plays the role of the hero dates a guy who uses her. She knows who she is; she just forgot for a little while." -my awesome pastor | I edit to correct my iPad's "corrections"
Posts: 11170 | Registered: Jul 2011 | From: Washington, DC |
Crescita
♀ Member
Member # 32616 | | Posted: 5:40 PM, August 6th (Monday), 2012 | |
Yay! How much commission to sell mine for me?
Posts: 2116 | Registered: Jun 2011 | From: The Valley of the Sun |
Amazonia
♀ Member
Member # 32810 | | Posted: 5:53 PM, August 6th (Monday), 2012 | |
Crescita, I can send you my tips, but I don't want to deal with doing this again!
"No girl who plays the role of the hero dates a guy who uses her. She knows who she is; she just forgot for a little while." -my awesome pastor | I edit to correct my iPad's "corrections"
Posts: 11170 | Registered: Jul 2011 | From: Washington, DC |
ARae2
♀ Member
Member # 30619 | | Posted: 6:54 AM, August 7th (Tuesday), 2012 | |
YEAH!!! So excited for you!!! This gives me home whenever I try to sell mine!!
Me: 31
Divorced 12/12/11
"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes. I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best"
Posts: 527 | Registered: Jan 2011 |
gahurts
♂ Member
Member # 33699 | | Posted: 9:18 AM, August 7th (Tuesday), 2012 | |
Ama, That's a great story. It is so good that your rings went to someone who was happy top be wearing them.
Bebba and Aesir, My Chinese is limited to a few words (turn left, turn right, I'm sorry, etc). What you said Google Translate won't recognize. I'm curious, please. What does <<Gwi Lo>> and 不归拉 <<bu gui la>> translate to??
"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indominable will"
- Mahatma Gandi
Posts: 1745 | Registered: Oct 2011 | From: Georgia |
Bebba1171
♂ Member
Member # 33857 | | Posted: 9:29 AM, August 7th (Tuesday), 2012 | |
Tai Gui La means too expensive
and
Bu Gui La means not very expensive.
Ama's Mandarin is better than mine. I never lived there but have been to China over 20 times. I had one assignment for several months where I was there for three weeks and then home a week. We fired our Sales Director over there and I was the interim..Was happy when that ended. Worked 20 hours a day with way too much drinking involved. Now, I hardly drink at all.
I saw Ama's picture and she is Piao Liang. She says I talk like a Taxi Driver! I thought that was pretty funny
Divorced by Interlocutory decree in May 2012. WW had an affair with a 66 yo doctor she worked for.
D-Day Sept 16. 2011.
BH- 52 (Me) / XWW 50
Two great kids that don't deserve this!
Posts: 599 | Registered: Nov 2011 | From: USA |
Amazonia
♀ Member
Member # 32810 | | Posted: 9:29 AM, August 7th (Tuesday), 2012 | |
gui = expensive
bu gui le = it's not expensive!
tai gui le = too expensive!
le is the stupidest participle in any freaking language and has no translatable meaning but about a thousand functions.
bu gui le and tai gui le are commonly used in bargaining. You basically just shout them back and forth at each other for a while negotiating price.
ETA: gwi lo I don't recognize (the spelling isn't standard, unless it's Cantonese; I only speak mandarin), but I'm guessing it's some variation of foreigner. There are a LOT of semi-derogatory terms for foreigners.
ETA2: just saw bebba and I cross-posted. Piao liang is pretty, which I got called a lot by taxi drivers, right before they asked if I wanted to marry a Chinese man. I only lived there three years, so my Mandarin isn't great, but good enough to get by and carry on a conversation. I really miss my character writing class, oddly. [This message edited by Amazonia at 9:33 AM, August 7th (Tuesday)]
"No girl who plays the role of the hero dates a guy who uses her. She knows who she is; she just forgot for a little while." -my awesome pastor | I edit to correct my iPad's "corrections"
Posts: 11170 | Registered: Jul 2011 | From: Washington, DC |
gahurts
♂ Member
Member # 33699 | | Posted: 9:38 AM, August 7th (Tuesday), 2012 | |
Tse Tse.
I went there 6 times in 2010 and early 2011. I was supposed to spend a lot of time there this year but I found out that XW (feels good to say that) was going to use my travel as an excuse to get full custody of my children. The company switched me to an inside job.
I miss China. I'd love to go back. I was trying to learn Mandarin with Rosetta Stone but not having too much luck. Hopefully I can get back there again soon. [This message edited by gahurts at 9:39 AM, August 7th (Tuesday)]
"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indominable will"
- Mahatma Gandi
Posts: 1745 | Registered: Oct 2011 | From: Georgia |
Bebba1171
♂ Member
Member # 33857 | | Posted: 10:28 PM, August 7th (Tuesday), 2012 | |
Generally speaking, I have dog brains between my ears; but for some odd reason I can pick up languages very well.
I got some tapes/books back in 1992 to learn Mandarin when I began going over there. The tapes were supposedly the same system the CIA used to learn Mandarin. I went through the workbook and the cassettes in about a month and started using it. One thing that was really funny was that the greeting the tapes taught was "Ni Hao Tongzhi". What I found out later was that the word Tongzhi meant Comrade!
One time I went to visit Beijing Aerodynamics - a very large customer. I had hosted their Vice Director at our factory and had a plaque made up to commemorate his visit. The pictures of his visit were very prominent in their company brochure.
Our staff hired a limo driver to take me there and I asked one of our staff what a nice greeting would be for my introduction to their President and she told me.
So when the guy was on the outside steps ready to greet me, I walked up the stairs and told him "Ta Ma De". Everyone was shocked.
They then told me I had said the equal of "God Damn You" to the guy! They ended up all having a good laugh over it and we sold them a lot more stuff.
They told me that I should call the lady a Mu Lao Hu which is a mean expression for female tigress.
I treasure my memories over there as well.
I did take some language lessons from another lady over there which also helped and I try to practice my Mandarin whenever I get a chance.
Divorced by Interlocutory decree in May 2012. WW had an affair with a 66 yo doctor she worked for.
D-Day Sept 16. 2011.
BH- 52 (Me) / XWW 50
Two great kids that don't deserve this!
Posts: 599 | Registered: Nov 2011 | From: USA |
| Topic Posts: 15 | |
