When I sent him an email to thank him he said he was pleased I liked it and that he wanted £35 for it. I was a bit surprised; he had never mentioned money before. But, fair enough! But I thought £35 was pushing it a bit. The stuff looked decades old! And it needed a new mechanism. I decided to send a counter-bid. I went a bit lower than I was willing to pay, as you should not start a negotiation with the amount you want it to end up with. But that rubbed him the wrong way! He said my offer was too low and could he have the stuff back please. I was a bit flummoxed. If he had an nonnegotiable price in mind, why hadn't he told me that before I mounted the bloody thing onto my bike? I am now a bit grumpy as I think he could have saved me the effort by talking money and his rather specific demands a bit sooner, and he is (apparently) insulted by my offer. Great! That worked out well. No pannier rack, and two people who have been antagonised. Not what I had in mind when I decided to drop buying one commercially and wait for his set-up to reach me! But well. At some time convenient to me (I'm not going to rush; this process has already taken a year, after all) I'll take the thing down and give it back. Then it can go back to his attic! And, over time, the antagonism will fade...
A brief addition
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