I had a phone call inquiry on pricing on some Hancock and Moore from a customer in New York on a couple of pieces. I gave her the prices and she paused and said "I can get a better price from "X" store in North Carolina, will you match or beat their price?, they are lower than yours."

My reply to her was "Why would you want to buy from that dealer? They went massively bankrupt a few years ago and left both suppliers and retail customers holding the bag, many people lost their deposits and never got their furniture. Suppliers did not get paid into the millions of dollars from their multi-state chain. You order through them and your order - and your money - could be at risk. Same owners, same name - now they are operating out of some shell of a building."

She responded "I like to get the lowest price - I'm sure they would be OK now, don't you think?"

I said "If they sell too low they can't stay in business, and those prices are too low to be sustainable for the long term. It's like a Ponzi Scheme - it works for a while but at the end, someone is left holding the bag. You don't want to be that person."

Yep, I'm SURE they changed their ethics and learned their lesson from the prior bankruptcy <sarcasm>

Know whom you are buying from. Do your due diligence. A deal is not a deal if you never get your order and cannot recover your deposit money. Be smart about it.