Chapter 604: 194. A few genuine items_3
“Oh, you’re talking about this? It’s my lucky charm, and I wouldn’t sell it for any price. But I do have some other things here that you might be interested in. However, I just got back from the sea and haven’t had time to organize this trip’s loot yet, so I won’t be able to introduce you to the things in the store for now. Just come in and have a look for yourself. But remember, if you’re not buying, don’t touch.”
Hadley Grant waved to Noland Lee, inviting him into the shop before busying himself with organizing the contents of his backpack.
The shop was small and about five meters tall from ground level to the ceiling. The surrounding walls were cluttered with disorderly shelves, and a dim chandelier hanging from the ceiling was the only source of light.
Upon entering the shop and looking around, Noland knew he came to the right place.
Just as Hadley had written on his sign, the goods in his shop were genuine, either genuinely collected by the Dragon Clan or actually from the Dragon Clan themselves.
Most of the merchandise was small objects made of metal or stone material, with no clear use. A small portion was more exotic items like dragon teeth, dragon scales, and dragon dander.
Noland used Deconstruction to verify the authenticity of these items, but their quality was frankly quite poor, all being rather shoddy.
They were not only severely damaged but also had obvious signs of weathering and erosion from sea water, which greatly reduced their overall appearance.
Noland noticed that items from the Dragon Clan themselves had a greater consumption of Deconstruction, regardless of their size.
The most typical example was a dragon tooth the size of a thumb, which was yellow and covered in dents and notches, with the surface feeling like it had been coated with wax when the light shone on it.
Noland found that a complete deconstruction of this small object required over 10,000 points of Energy.
Noland leaned in for a closer look at the dragon tooth, but couldn’t deduce anything from it.
He looked back at Hadley, who was busying himself with the contents of his backpack, and asked with a tone of disbelief:
“Is that dragon tooth on the shelf really a dragon tooth? It looks just like a sharpened finger bone…”
Hadley’s reaction to Noland’s question was intense. He slammed the miscellaneous items in his hand onto the table, straightened up, and glared at Noland:
“Of course, it’s real! Everything in my shop is genuine! It’s all because of those damn counterfeit sellers! Every person who comes to my shop to buy something asks if it’s real!”
It seemed that Hadley was fed up with his counterfeit-selling peers.
It made sense, though. Once the sale of counterfeits becomes a complete system with established standards, the public perception becomes distorted by the fakes.
After all, not everyone has enough knowledge to tell the difference between genuine and counterfeit on their own.
Most buyers are either looking for novelty or have a shallow understanding of the Dragon Clan. In such cases, counterfeit sellers can more easily convince customers that their fakes are the real deal using carefully crafted words and tricks.
Over time, the true products get driven out by the counterfeits, creating a “bad money drives out good” phenomenon.
Take the dragon tooth Noland mentioned as an example.
Some counterfeit dragon teeth are made to look crystal clear and flawless. These kinds of fakes are sold to low-level buyers who know absolutely nothing about the Dragon Clan.
If a buyer has some knowledge of the Dragon Clan but not much, deliberately aged counterfeit dragon teeth will be put out for sale.
The fakes can now achieve a remarkably convincing appearance under the enhancement of magic, but the cost to produce counterfeit and genuine products is like night and day.
Fakes can be manufactured in magic workshops at a low cost.
Genuine items require shopkeepers to find real sources, or like Hadley, personally scour the seas for treasures flying out from the Spinning Continent, or dive deep into the seabed to find lost objects buried there.
Noland understood Hadley’s frustration and deliberately provoked him with his words.
The reason was simple… it was reminiscent of the old “headphone buying” trick. If you don’t know which sub-$300 headphones are best, don’t ask “What are the best headphones under $300”, but say “There are no good headphones under $300.”
Although this kind of fishing method might be irritating, it’s simple, efficient, and most likely to provoke those with genuine knowledge and integrity to come forward and speak up.
That’s the kind of person Hadley was.
When facing Noland Lee’s doubts, he unceremoniously ridiculed the counterfeit and then removed his glasses to look at the dragon tooth Noland was pointing at from several meters away, saying impatiently:
“That’s a baby dragon’s tooth; that’s why it’s so small. More precisely, it’s a tooth a juvenile dragon discarded during its first tooth replacement. This tooth is at least five thousand years old, so it’s normal for it to look ragged. The dragon teeth you see in other shops are mostly fake…”
Hadley suddenly said, like a deflated balloon:
“Forget it, believe it or not… All I can say is that everything here is real. I hate counterfeits more than you do…”
Hadley put his glasses back on and continued to tidy up the clutter on the table.
Noland Lee nodded slowly behind him, getting a better understanding of Hadley’s personality, character, and traits.
This was a relatively straightforward and blunt deep-sea wizard. While other shopkeepers relied on selling counterfeit goods to laze around in the marketplace, Hadley chose to personally capture dragon clan treasure from the sea surface and sell it in his own shop.
Normally, such a hands-on shopkeeper would have many genuine items, and he should have had a better business, but why was he so down and out?.
Noland had some ideas about this.
One reason was that the counterfeits were too realistic.
Secondly, with the dragon species almost extinct, modern magic craftsmen had discovered materials to replace dragon-related substances, making the demand for dragon-related materials in the magic industry almost zero.
Thirdly, Noland felt it was related to the appraisal fees.
Before finding Hadley’s shop, Noland specifically visited appraisal shops in the marketplace.
The Scholars’ Association-certified appraisers had a starting price of 100,000 gold coins per appraisal.
Non-Scholars’ Association-certified appraisers charged a starting price of 10,000 gold coins per appraisal.
No matter which kind of appraisal service, the cost was higher than most counterfeits. Coupled with counterfeiters selling counterfeit items with appraisal reports, naturally, few buyers would bother paying for someone else to appraise them.
As a result of the various factors, everything Noland saw in Hadley’s shop, whether new or old, complete or not, was all seen in other shops, as if shopkeepers in other places had specially copied from Hadley’s things.
In the face of such realistic counterfeits, genuine items from Hadley’s would have no competitive advantage if they sold for more.
“How much is this dragon tooth?” Noland asked.
Hadley turned and looked at Noland:
“330 gold coins, non-negotiable. You want it? If so, I’ll wrap it for you.”
“Well, it’s quite expensive. I’ll think about it. When was the last time you sold something?” Noland asked again.
Hadley scratched his chin:
“Uh… about a month ago, I think.”
It would be strange to sell genuine items at such high prices when the counterfeit could pass as genuine…
Noland glanced around with a thoughtful expression in his eyes.
He seemed to have found a great way to both harvest Energy Points in large quantities and gain Knowledge Skills.
As expected, once away from the Alchemist Island, magical things became more abundant around him, and the small objects available for Passive Deconstruction also grew richer. His decision to leave Alchemist Island was indeed the right one.
The only downside was having to spend gold coins every step of the way.
