Value for money

We were at Amcorp Mall on Sunday morning, after sending the girls to Marriott Putrajaya, not expecting the usual crowd when there is a flea market. Only a handful of stalls were open. I went over to Joe's corner and went through his usual wares of musical items and 'lelong' or auction stuff.

I never imagine I could be attracted to a used Chinese coffee table set which has four stools with tops in the shape of a quarter each which can be combined to form a round 'table', and two stools meant for both ends of the rectangular table which has a picture of flowers and a bird made of marble pieces and a glass top over it for practical purpose as well as serving as part of a framed picture. There were 'mother of pearls' nicely set which I can imagine when new, must be really attractive and expensive too.

I told SP about it but one glance and she wouldn't even take a closer look and said, 'it is made of lacquer (actually meant lacquer finish) and cannot stand water (like those made from compressed wood chips)...' I had a good look at the bottom of a stool and a good feel of the table and was convinced she was wrong. The price was originally set at Rm980 (don't really believe in this) and with the Raya discount of 12%, it was on offer at Rm860. Joe's staff called him for me to speak to him and he gave me a final offer of Rm800. It was an impulse purchase because like what SP said, 'where are you going to use it and where are you going to put it?' I was really riled by this because for one who has been collecting all kinds of old furniture which is a nightmare to the cleaner, this was the least reason I expected from her. Besides this, I was also keen to test my judgment even though I don't really need it now and cannot say that I can really afford it without forgoing some other things.

Just the night before, a sister-in-law said she had her old collectible furniture (dining chairs) repaired at Rm120 each! I have yet to get over the fact that SP agreed (over the phone) with a contractor to repair the roof in PJ for Rm3,000, without even knowing the extent of damage and discussing with me! The job was done within 4 hours which involved 4 men including the contractor himself. The present heavy downpour was a factor which influenced her decision but knowing her, she has always included some minor repairs in a situation like this which must have given rise to the lump sum. I must say it was a job well done, which was tested by heavy downpour soon after.

The other point is that we can never win in such a bargaining situation. First of all, we are not in the position to carry out the repairs ourselves (but I would have considered asking my friend in BG to do it if I knew it was going to cost so much) and our options are: either get a low price but the other party will cut corners, or pay a good price and he would do a better job and likely to throw in some other minor repairs 'for free'!

I find SP is always caught in this 'feel good' thing (by paying more) of having a happy worker who can sort out her accumulated little things in one go. To me, it is 'pennywise, pound foolish' because she is normally so calculative over small sums. A more rational decision would be to sort out the most urgent aspect ie. the leaking roof first, because the other minor repairs can wait and be done at much lower costs. For example, the touch-up painting part, because I did the whole house before!