ANST - Merchanting

[John Ruble]

Baric said:
> One of the stated goals of a Laurel when I joined 20 some years ago was to
> be skilled enough to earn one's living at one's art.  I would say
> merchanting one's art is an embodiment of that goal.  
> 
> Economically, a merchant's project time is limited by the effort of trying
> to earn a living from their work, which offsets some of the skill they
> have
> 
<...>

I would love to see a merchant enter a research paper on merchanting.

I see merchants all the time whose stalls look like something out of a
modern Ren Faire.  But occasionally I see a merchant that makes me feel like
I'm walking down the streets in Mikligard, looking for trade goods to take
home on the ship.  These merchants have obviously done some research on
period merchanting and trading. Their display looks period, their wares look
good, and their delivery is wonderful.

It would be nice if they could share this knowledge in the form of a
research paper. Research papers, on top of being pure research, serve as
guides to others about the topic.  They furnish starting points in the form
of bibliographic entries for further research. And they expose new arts and
sciences to the unawares.

I did a short stint in sales once.  I know that merchanting is more than
just haggling.  It is an acquired talent.  But it would be wonderful to see
how much different (or similar) it is now to what it was then, five hundred
or a thousand years ago.


Master Ulf

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