Well, I think you have stumbled onto something here, Antss, because, as near as I can determine, "failure to pump enough money into their system" because they couldn't "maintain margins" is very much a description of every business failure in history. So you are batting 1000. The question is why didn't Maytag have enough money coming in? Or was it too much going out? Whatever. Maytag was a billion in debt, losing money on the sale of unprofitable subsidiaries, saddled with underperforming manufacturing facilities, and had bet the farm on a machine that proved to be a dog that landed them in court and into a class action settlement that included buying customers brand new 1000 dollar washers. They lost the battle to Whirlpool Bauchnect and the Neptune is what lost them the battle. Also, you are taking my sarcasm a bit too literally. I did not mean to imply that Miele is the ONLY manufacturer engaging in the practice of retail price maintenance, but it certainly is not a commonplace practice at this juncture. How do I know this? I, and every other shopper in the country can still successfully price shop and encounter deltas in pricing across the spectrum of retailers for the vast majority of goods from artichokes to Veblen-class commodities. Including Rolex watches. You CAN price shop those, I am afraid. And your ability to frame an analogy needs some work, Antss. Miele is NOT the guy at the fleamarket. Miele is the guy who makes whatever it is the guy at the fleamarket sells. Nobody is claiming that the guy who makes the stuff should not charge exactly what he wants to charge. Nobody is claiming that the guy at the fleamarket should not charge exactly what HE wants. And that is the point. Because what Miele is doing is making the stuff, charging what it wants for it, but then telling the guy at the fleamarket what HE can sell it for, threatening his supply if he does not. If Miele wants to keep its prices high then they are perfectly free to charge whatever they wish for their products through their wholesale system. That is not what they are doing. They are preventing retailers from selling in accordance with what THEIR market realities are. Resulting in near homgeneity of price across every outlet. Now, in this discussion I HAVE NOT introduced other, previously adjudged legal forms of restraint of trade. Territories, Dealership networks, franchise agreements, all are examples of restraint of trade that have been found legal, for good or bad. I have not said word one about this. Your tossing it in is a strawman and a time waster. Price maintenance is the subject. It was previously illegal, has now been found to be POSSIBLY legal. It remains to be seen whether Congress will address this, but I have a feeling we are going to be finding out because the sleeping titans are starting to get pissed. Ebay being one, One more thing: "Health reform" was only the most minimal attempt at regulation of the insurance market. The rest of the world has shown the USA how it should be done in order to save the most lives for far less cost. We did not do that. All the health care reform bill is is an attempt to begin to regulate a market in anarchy where insurers could offload risk at will and cherry-pick the market, which is fine, unless it is you or your wife or your kid getting the recision letter. Here's the good thing about the health care bill: It can be fixed if parts don't work. This is in contrast to leaving things as they were, sitting on your hands, and refusing to address real problems. Or imagining that letting everybody do exactly what they want will fix everything magically, which is the Laissez Fairest's answer to every economic dilemma.

It sounds like you have a delighted buyer and a good transaction. I'm glad this worked out so well for you. I agree with every word Les just said. Don't even start to second guess your price or the speed with which you sold. I would have suggested a lower price just because I know how cheap people can be with used upholstered furniture, and was surprised that you were able to sell at your asking price. It just goes to show that when you have a wonderful item priced attractively, it can all happen really fast. And selling used is not about what an item is worth. Your chair is probably worth nearly as much as you paid for it, since it appears to be in beautiful condition. But it is about what people will agree to pay. I had some heavy red and gold chenille drapes Craigslisted a few weeks ago, just before Christmas. I made them and the fabric cost me about $100, even at a super super discount. I priced them at $40 for the drapes including the heavy metal rod. (A Hancock's steal for $16 for a $89.00 rod 5 years ago.) Well, I couldn't beat off the potential buyers with a stick. I was flooded with emails and phone calls. I could have sold those drapes several times over and I am still getting the occasional email asking if they are available. But what's funny is this: I had listed the same drapes at the same price a month earlier/same day of the week. Got a couple of inquiries but no real interest. I was already giving them away at that price, but wondered if I was asking too much. So, obviously, the timing of my later ad was the trigger for the sale. Do not underestimate the value of good timing. People are thinking about Spring redos right now, and that chair set is perfect. And once your PayPal money hits your bank, you should be good. The lady who bought my drapes wanted to make me a PayPal payment immediately, since she live in the mountains and couldn't get down that day. I didn't take it, but not because I didn't trust her to pay. It had more to do with wanting her to see them and make sure she was happy. I like PayPal. Red Here is a link that might be useful: Here's a photo of my drapes as they appeared in my ad...Scroll on left all the way to the bottom

Oh, and here I thought you were off restoring the Chambers. ;-) With two functions in one appliance, if one goes out, both do. That's true for the range and the double oven. A gas cooking surface is pretty simple, and even if one burner has an issue, often it won't affect the other burners. If you're talking all gas range and electric wall oven, obviously there's the different environment made by either, though in current ovens, the dichotomy is supposed to be flipped, and it's the gas that's the drier one, and electric that's moister. If you like starting something on the stovetop and finishing in the oven, or browning on the burner, braising in the oven, and reducing on the burner, there's a marginal convenience to having the oven right there. With a range oven, you have to get out of the way, while making your sauce, if someone else is tending something in the oven. With a wall oven, you can just order your minions to take it out, and they don't have to disturb you. If you have double ovens, theoretically, they'll handle the same way. With two different ovens, you have to remember which recipe does what in which oven. I grew up that way, with two different wall ovens which cooked quite differently. It's really not a biggie, once you know your ovens, to know which needs more time to brown, vs. which retains heat better, vs. which does X better whereas the other does Y. There's a learning curve with any oven. With two different ones, there are two, and you have to keep them straight. That's all I can think of. I'm sure others will have more. Which do you want?

cpartist, I just finished looking at your condo on the other thread. Stunning! Your new house plans look and sound amazing too! All of you have certainly convinced me that the guy whose comment started this whole thing is the silly one, not I for looking at appliances from a workability standpoint. Shelayne, speaking of functionality, how do you like your microwave/speed oven? I've rather tentatively decided on a micro/steam oven because I steam veggies nearly every day, but I looked at some micro/speed and was curious as to how the speed oven works? Fori, you make a good point. Not all harvest golds were the same, nor were all avocado greens. Now, unless you can get something really speciality or retro, you're basically choosing amongst black, white, and SS; sometimes bisque. beachem, yes! Craigslist is my friend. I almost never buy anything at full retail price. Everything goes on sale if you're patient. But "gently used" is great, and there are some good deals to be found on Craigslist. Rebunky, you're not so bad yourself! :-) I really appreciate how you and everyone here have been so nice and have taken an interest in my little project. As for the Maytag...don't get me started, lol!