Fiddlers

I thought that we were getting a bit more savvy with our purchasing these days, more customer aware. Even for those major items for things like cars or houses for instance we are informing ourselves to a greater extent before buying. There are many TV and radio programmes geared specifically for this. Even dodgy builders are exposed on candid camera style shows. Gone are the days when a 'buy two for one' pair of tights meant bullet holes appearing even as they were being put on, or what about the cheap black work skirts and trousers that went a strange shade of grungy green after a couple of washes because of poor quality dyes. And there is so much information on the packets as we become more discerning, the chances of passing off a 90 percent water washing up liquid or 90 percent sugar content in jam for example is becoming increasingly difficult.

So you can imagine my surprise when an even bigger than usual catalogue came sliding sneakily through my letter box the other day, informing me of homeware that included similar stuff to that which quite honestly my family and I had relegated to the skip or dumped at the back of our garage. What was even funnier was the price tags. These were so outrageous that we had to admire the sheer audacity of the, for want of a better word, sellers. Apparently reclaimed school desks from the 60's, industrial conveyer belt trays, fruit and veg crates and factory shelving are 'di rigeur' for home design for a certain type of client. There must be some out there who agree, as the sellers appear to be doing very well for themselves with outlets in a few of our major department stores. According to the catalogue my family discovered that we actually have a small fortune in old anglepoise lamps, utility light shades and a school bench lurking in our loft and garage and we were thinking of going into business ourselves.

And so my advice to anyone reading this is to be very guarded about leaving anything vintage, or old even, on your washing line, outside your house, in the rubbish bin, certainly in an unlocked garage, because old junk is an opportunity to peddle and it might be your loss that has become another's gain. The slogan on the front of the catalogue we received proudly announced: 'buy cheap buy twice' so to all discerning purchasers go careful out there.