50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 307 I guarantee you won't suffer a loss

Sun Zhiwei had no intention of getting himself stuck in this shop; people need to have their own lives.

What's more, he also has a main job: he has to work as a secret agent.

A few hours later, everything was ready, and looking at the small shop that was now completely filled, a sense of accomplishment welled up inside me.

With the shop settled, he took advantage of his free time in the afternoon to go to the used car market and buy a used Ford Pinto.

This is a common car model on the market now. I have to say that cars are really cheap now. This car, which is almost new, only cost him $400.

This is also thanks to the current economic downturn, as many middle-class people have sold their cars and are now using public transportation to save money.

However, this is actually a good thing for the industry he's in now. There will be many more people selling artwork, even though he only handles authentication, not acquisition.

However, authentication is also part of the art market, and he can also get a share of the profits from the booming art market.

On the second day of his business opening, he gave each shop owner in the surrounding area a small gift: a beautifully packaged Chinese silver coin.

For ordinary people, this kind of currency that is no longer in circulation is an antique. Although it is not worth much money, it is very meaningful.

Unsurprisingly, there was no business for the first three days, with only shop owners from the nearby area occasionally coming over to visit.

Sun Zhiwei wasn't annoyed; he opened and closed the door on time every day.

In the morning, he would go to the nearby community to collect the phone numbers of the residents, who were all potential customers.

In this day and age, there are no people specifically assigned to collect customer information.

After collecting the residents' information, he memorized it all, believing that this information would be useful in the future.

On the fourth day, as soon as he opened his shop in the afternoon, the owner of the laundry shop next door ran over.

"Hey James, I found a ring in the pile of laundry left by a customer today. Could you take a look at it?"

"Old Jim, there's no need for that. It's just a ring. You can just go to any jewelry store and have it appraised. My appraisal fees are very high."

This needs to be made clear beforehand. Even close brothers should keep clear accounts, let alone neighbors.

"Ha, I know, I know, but I know even more that the guys at the gold shops are worse. They charge higher prices than you do, but offer lower prices. I don't want them to make a profit."

"Okay, then I'll take a look for you."

"James, how much do you charge for your appraisals?"

"Here you go, the price list."

Old Jim turned to look at the price list next to him, which clearly stated:

For items under $1000, the appraisal fee is $100 per appraisal.
For items priced between $1000 and $9999, the appraisal fee is 8% per appraisal.
For items worth between $1 and $10, the appraisal fee is 6% per appraisal.
For items valued at over $10, the appraisal fee is 4% per appraisal.
Service fee: Minimum $1000, depending on distance.

"Oh my god, your prices here are really expensive."

Old Jim was starting to regret it. It wasn't that he couldn't afford $100, but he was worried that if the ring wasn't worth much, he would lose money.

He thought for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, please take a look for me."

As he spoke, he took a ring out of his pocket; it was a typical women's gold and diamond ring.

Sun Zhiwei took out a piece of velvet cloth and spread it on the table, then asked Old Jim to place the ring on the cloth.

Meanwhile, he took out a magnifying glass, pencil, medicine, ink, white paper, etc. from under the counter, and placed a whole set of testing tools on the table.

Gold isn't worth much these days, so Sun Zhiwei focused on the diamond set in the ring; it looked quite large. He put on white gloves, gently placed the ring on a tray with tweezers, and began his examination.

He first drew a black line on a piece of white paper with a pencil, then placed the diamond on that black line, and then turned his head around to observe the diamond from different angles.

If it's a fake diamond, you should be able to see the black line on the paper through it; if it's real, you won't.

Then he used tweezers to pick up the ring and gently pressed the ring face against the bare skin of his wrist, feeling a slightly cool sensation.

Then, he pressed his breath on the diamond's facet and breathed on it, but the diamond's surface showed no reaction.

Fifteen minutes later, Sun Zhiwei used more than ten methods to test the ring before finally weighing it.

During this time, just to be on the safe side, he took advantage of a moment when Old Jim was distracted and put the ring away and put it back in the space once.

Old Jim waited quietly to the side, not daring to utter a sound.

"Congratulations, old Jim, you've hit the jackpot."

"This is a genuine diamond ring, with a band weighing 8 grams and a diamond weighing 1.4 carats. The key point is that this diamond is a pink diamond, which is extremely rare."

"Really? It's pink? I didn't notice."

Upon hearing this, old Jim immediately took the diamond ring in his hand and examined it carefully, his face beaming with joy.

After a long pause, he reluctantly put down the ring and asked, "James, tell me, how much is it really worth?"

"I won't even mention the ring; it's less than half an ounce and costs a few tens of dollars."

"The key is this diamond. If it were an ordinary diamond, it would be worth about $1000, but it has a slight pink tint, which makes its price more than 10 times higher."

"However, if you try to sell it, you'll definitely get a huge discount from unscrupulous gold shops. But it can still fetch at least $5000. If it's less than that, go to another gold shop."

"Hahaha, that's great, thank you James." Old Jim quickly and carefully put the ring into his pocket, pressing it down firmly with his hand.

"Alright, then I'll charge you the second tier, $640. Thank you."

Old Jim reluctantly took out his wallet from his pocket, counted out $640, and handed it to Sun Zhiwei.

After Sun Zhiwei took the money, he called out to Old Jim, who was about to leave.

Do you need me to issue you a certificate of authenticity?

"How much does it cost? What's it for?"

Old Jim was still resentful about spending so much money on the appraisal and was now very wary of Sun Zhiwei.

"I am an International Registered Art Appraiser. My appraisal certificate can increase the price you get when you sell it by 10%."

As he spoke, Sun Zhiwei pointed to the certificate on the wall. The old-fashioned seal of the M Country Appraisers Association on the certificate was particularly impressive.

"The processing fee for one certificate is $100. Do you want it?"

Old Jim thought that if he had a certificate of authenticity, he could sell it for $500 more. After weighing the options, he gritted his teeth and counted out ten $10 bills.

Sun Zhiwei laughed and forcefully pulled the ten banknotes out of his hand, putting them into the money box in the drawer.

Then he took out a camera from under the counter and gestured to old Jim, saying, "Come here, I guarantee you won't lose out."

After saying that, he led old Jim to a corner of the shop.

(End of this chapter)