Selling dust as gold is what defines marketing! A glaring case of this is a New Zealand based retailer selling what are common household items in India as classic and aspirational objects, all this of course, with a spin and price that sounds exorbitant!

The New Zealand brand is Annabelle’s and has listed a common Indian string cot with a fancy name, that is as “Vintage Indian Daybed”, with a white bedsheet spread over it.  Now comes the real twist in the tale as the object up for sale is priced 10 times more than its actual cost in India.

The accompanying descriptions with the “Vintage Indian Daybed”, refer to it as “One-of-a-kind" and “Original" and it is currently on sale at a price of $800.00 NZD. That in Indian rupees comes to around 41,211.

Also read: Sealed copy of 1985 Super Mario Bros game sold for record $2 mn

Now in India, this common place and regular use object, called charpai is available at the local market at any place for just about 1,000 rupees. Ironically, the international online retail giant, Amazon India is selling it for as less as Rs.800. Well, even those who desire the designer type of charpai, the cost could be a maximum of Rs.10,000.

According to the dictionary – Collins – “charpai” or “charpoy”, is a bedstead of woven webbing or hemp stretched on a wooden frame on four legs, which is common in India and is probably there in every house or can be seen laid out in the terraces or verandahs or balconies.  An outdoor cot, it is quite ubiquitous in dhabas around in northern parts of the country.

Most probably the charpai must have been sourced from India since there are other products like Vintage India Shelving ($900); Vintage Indian Bench ($1,200 and $1,000); Vintage Indian Coffee Table ($1,800) and Indian Chapati Board ($75) being posted on the website.