Emporiums

In addition to their headquarters, most merchant houses maintain large trading emporiums in five to ten different cities. These facilities consist of large buildings where all manner of goods are stored in neat bins. When a resident enters one of these emporiums, an agent of the house is assigned to accompany him and see to his needs. If the customer has come to sell, he will discover that the agent is interested in buying almost anything. Of course, a few restrictions apply. First, it cannot be against the laws of the city to possess or otherwise handle the item being offered. Second the item must be of demonstrated value to someone somewhere. Finally, the resident must be willing to part with the item for about half of its true worth (a quarter if it must be transported to another city before being resold). If a deal is struck, the customer is paid in hard currency or goods, as he prefers. If the customer has come to buy, an agent will lead him through the emporium and offer to sell him anything in which he expresses an interest. Generally, most emporiums have an ample supply of common items, such as tools, building supplies, clothes, etc., and also supply one or two types of rare items, such as jewelry, gems, food, weapons, etc. Although it is possible for a customer to bargain for a lower price, most agents will not accept less than an item's true value - and will obviously try for somewhat more. Payment is accepted in goods or metal coin. Most emporiums are run by trusted senior agents of their parent merchant houses, if not by a member of the owning family itself. These agents handle large transactions themselves, and generally live in well-guarded areas over, behind, or beneath the trading floor. I believe, though I am guessing when I say this, that operating capital for the emporium is generally stored in a secret vault located somewhere within the senior agent's living quarters.