I had a fun experience at the second-hand market last week!
Our second hand market is a congregation of vendors on an empty parking lot, it happens on a specific day of the week. About 40-60 vendors put all of their goods on big pieces of tarp, and then customers can walk around, pick what they like and ask for prices. There's old tools, cutlery, tons of clothing, baskets, pottery, books, electronics, shoes, instruments, anything you could imagine. Haggling is expected and encouraged.
I will sometimes seek a specific object on this market for weeks or even months, until someone has it in their inventory, and is willing to sell it for a normal price. For example, it took me about 5 months to find a good walnut opener, but in the end I got one for a single euro, and it's perfect. This time, I was looking for an awl, and a computer mouse.
Awl is a shoe-making tool, and I've been looking for one for months. I've seen several instructive videos on shoe making, specifically shoe making in the old days without modern technology, and I've wanted to make my own shoes so badly, and also mend the shoes that have fallen apart. I've managed to fix one pair of summer shoes after watching just two videos; it made me dream about how far I could go if I had an awl. Awl is a sharp needle, thicker than regular sewing needles, with a holder; it's used to punch trough leather so you could sew it. This tool is very old, and I've been hoping that someone on the second-hand market might still have one. But week after week, no luck. I've been asking people who had lots of tools on display, if they had an awl, or even knew what it was, and they all knew of it, but didn't have one.
This time, I was more focused on getting a computer mouse; my wrists and the back of my palms have started hurting very badly from overuse of a laptop touchpad, and it felt very much like the beginning of a carpal tunnel syndrome. I figured this pain might get better if I tried using a mouse instead! But mouses felt expensive to me (person who doesn't buy anything), so I wanted one that was cheap and used. But how would I know if it actually worked, if I got it on the second-hand market? I could potentially buy something worthless and only know it once I get home. So I hatched up a plan.
I would bring my laptop, in a bag, on sleep mode so I could have it running in a second. When I find a mouse, I'd ask the vendor the price first (if I chat about it for a while, they might increase the price), and after knowing the price, whether it works. At this point, if the price is 2 euros or less, I would ask if I could 'try it out', and if they said yes, I'd open up my laptop and plug the mouse in. If it works, I have a functional mouse to bring home, for an acceptable price. With this plan, and my laptop in a bag, I approached the market.
I was going around looking for a mouse, but still eyed the displays of old tools. I located 2 vendors selling mice, no awl anywhere. Still as I was passing one vendor, who was selling tools like pliers, screwdrivers, hammers, and so on, he greeted and asked if I needed help. So I looked at him and asked 'Do you have an awl?'. He said no. I thanked him and turned away. 'Wait', he said. 'I actually might have one.' His display did not have one, so I looked at him with confusion.
The guy walked over to his car, from which he procured a bucket filled with tools. He started pulling stuff out of the bucket, throwing it on the parking lot, and this lasted for a hot minute, until finally, from the bottom of the bucket, he procured ... I think the worst awl that ever lived in the world. He handed it to me, and I was mesmerized, that was the first awl I've seen in real life! But it was covered in gross-looking layered dried paint, dull, not correctly centered in the holder, and a bit ajar. I frowned and mentioned how it needs to be cleaned, and sharpened, to which he explained that he used it for opening buckets of paint. I was horrified. Crime in my eyes. But still, a real life awl! He said I could sharpen it with some sandpaper. I asked how much he was asking for it. 3 euro, he said. I offered him one. He accepted.
Then, to my biggest shock, he pulled out a crochet needle from the bucket! I am not joking, I was tempted to hell and back to buy that needle, I don't have one, and it was beautiful and perfect, but it was also, the tiniest crochet needle existing. Imagine a normal sewing needle, with a hooked ending, it was that small! It was size zero. I knew I wouldn't try to crochet with yarn that tiny, so I restrained myself, explained that even though I need one, this one is far too tiny for me. I'm still thinking about that crochet needle though.
Extremely happy to finally get my hands on an awl, no matter in what kind of shape it was, I went on to try my luck with the mouse vendors. I first went to one I knew was extremely cheap, and his pile of electronics was horrifying, just 30 different cables all tangled together, but I spotted a few mouse-shaped objects underneath. I crouched and untangled a mouse that was dusty, but had a nice cable, and maybe worked. I asked the price; it was 1 euro. Then I asked if it works, the answer was 'I don't know'. I asked if I could try it, and he was happy to let me try. I opened up my laptop, and the mouse moved, but in a weird, distorted way. It was throwing a tantrum on my desktop. The guy still wanted to sell it to me and attempted to convince me that there's a setting in windows that corrects this behaviour, but I thanked him and moved on. He kept talking at me as I was leaving, saying 'I have 20 mice at home!'. I didn't reply.
I crouched at the next cable infested pile, and pulled out a mouse that looked way better. I asked the vendor for a price – it was 1 euro for this one too. I asked whether it worked, and the vendor promised it did. When I asked if I could test it, he was confused, told me to just return it if it didn't work. I explained I could test it in a second, and it would be a big hassle to come back just because of this. Then he realized I had a laptop with me, and watched me plug it in. This one was perfect. Smooth and responsive. I had my mouse.
I paid 1 euro for it, and went on my merry way! It felt incredible to get both of my desired items on one visit, that kind of thing never happened before, and the mouse was even cheaper than expected. My hand does hurt less with the use of a mouse, and I haven't tried my hand at restoring the awl yet, but it's on my mind all the time, I'm going to make my own shoes and I have the means to do it.
Here are my two objects, isn't it funny that I had to haggle to get the awl at a low price, but the mouse was just immediately that cheap? I'm trying to figure out if it's just the market's economics at play, or maybe the awl just is more valuable. If it works well, it will last me for a lifetime, while the mouse is likely to work for a few years and then call it a day.