Chapter 13

"Hey, kid, can I talk to you for a moment? I have something to discuss."

The traveling merchant who always comes to the village said to me.

It’s perfect timing.

I had just finished making a new product.

What I sell to the merchant are sandals made from Hatsuca stems and magic mushrooms that have finally started to be produced in larger quantities.

However, the sandals are incredibly cheap, and I can only harvest a small amount of the magic mushrooms.

So, I was planning to have him buy the tableware I made the other day.

"Actually, I want to sell the bricks your family makes. I heard you recently built a new house, and I saw that it turned out quite impressive."

"Huh? Our house has been around for a long time, and we haven’t built a new one... Are you talking about the shed?"

"Huh? Is that brick building just a shed? Well, even if it’s a shed, it’s fine. I just want you to ask your parents to sell me those bricks."

"Sure, no problem. We have a lot of extra ones. But, I have something better. I made some new tableware. Can you buy it?"

"Hmm, tableware... No, I really want the bricks right now. I’ll check out the tableware next time."

"Come on, give it a chance. It’s really good, and you won’t regret it. Take a look."

It seems the merchant is only interested in the bricks and not the tableware.

But I think the white porcelain and glass tableware, which are rare in this village, are quite special.

I confidently show him the new products.

"Wow, these are impressive. They’re all so beautiful. How did you make them?"

"Secret. But, will you buy them?"

"Yeah, sure. I’ll buy them along with the bricks."

I thought the negotiation with the merchant was over.

But when we finished loading the bricks near my house and it came time to settle the payment, the result was not what I expected.

I was sure that the white porcelain and glass tableware would fetch a high price.

I never doubted this.

However, the price the merchant offered was much lower than I had anticipated.

They should be worth more.

I said this, but the result didn’t change much.

He told me that he was already buying them at several times the price of regular tableware.

I argued that a beautiful glass cup like this should fetch a higher price, but it didn’t work.

Basically, the people the merchant deals with are the commoners in the city and the village.

Not many people are willing to spend that much on tableware.

I thought about selling them to the wealthy, but it’s not that simple.

The wealthy don’t often deal with traveling merchants who go around the village.

They only do business with merchants they have long-term relationships with, and it’s hard to break into that circle.

From their perspective, they feel that it’s already a favor to buy at several times the regular price.

Good things don’t always sell.

A familiar phrase came to mind.

No matter how great a product is, it doesn’t necessarily sell on its own.

Rather, the key is how to advertise and make the product sell.

But here, there’s no TV, newspapers, or internet.

For high-end items, the target would be the nobility and the wealthy.

How to make them want to buy is the question.

Probably the best advertisement is something like, "This item is used by that noble family."

But I have no connections to get such a track record.

So, no matter how much I try to promote my new products to the merchant, it’s meaningless.

I was disappointed and dejected, but I promised to continue selling bricks in the future.

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