• frippa@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Rome, Italy. rent for a small store is 800/mo where this store is, and an average salary is about 1200/mo. This antique/junk store sells like 2 things a day(with average price being 5€) always takes unfavorable exchanges and generally isn’t great business-wise, yet it’s been here for 15 years, in a district where most - more reasonable - businesses fail within 2 years.

    It doesn’t take credits cards, only cash. There’s a flight simulator controller from the 80s that didn’t sell for a decade.

    Maybe I’m just paranoid.

    Edit: i still love that store, I’m addicted to collecting old junk (self promotion time: I founded a coin collecting community over at lemmy.ml,its called numismatics) and I go to that store every month or so, it helped me to get rid of some old vynil records from my grandfather in exchange for some cash (obv without receipt) but still, I think it either evades taxes (taking that from granted) or it’s something bigger, like a front for a mafia or something else.

    • philpo@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      Had a similar one as well in a former neighbourhood I used to live. Turns out the guy is one of the biggest online sellers and keeps the shop for some legal reasons/for customers to come and see an object in real life/to keep him entertained while in reality he had tremendous trade volumes online.

      • frippa@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        The fact is that the store owner is a massive boomer, I need to write him via sms because he doesn’t have WhatsApp (ubiquitous in Italy and all of Europe) and only owns a dumb phone, as an online seller myself, I think a smartphone is a must these days. He doesn’t have a site, he thinks eBay is the devil (and as an ebay seller, that’s true, but for other reasons) so I don’t think he’s an online seller, he’s just not the type

        • philpo@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          Yeah, in that case he is very likely just living off inheritance or something. I know exactly what you mean, though - initially I thought the guy I described above is “your” type of guy. I know more than enough of these idiots but most now have a smartphone to read telegram channels it seems.

          And the guy I mean still is a huge boomer and asshole, nevertheless. Both online and offline reviews are horrible.

          BTW: Salutami il mio amore segreto, l’Italia. Ancora poche settimane e finalmente potrò tornare a trovarvi.