My buddy did the same thing and found out his "cheap" cereal habit was costing him $9 a week alone. The spreadsheet made him switch to store brand oats and he swears it tastes the same.

8 years on the same knife and you blame the blade? Sounds more like you finally learned the cuts and the cimeter just got the credit. A sharp 6 inch that you actually know will beat a 9 inch you borrowed once, so try sharpening your old one before you go buy a new toy.

How did the dealer know so much about it though? I used to figure antique mall prices were just what things were worth, like the dealers had done the homework and the garage sale folks were clueless. Then I started hitting estate sales and flea markets every weekend and realized the markups can be wild, sometimes five or ten times what the same item sells for in a driveway. Part of it is booth rent and part of it is just hoping somebody walks in who doesnt know any better. So yeah, a $4 to $65 jump is on the steep end but its not crazy at all. You didnt just get lucky, you got there first, and the crackled glaze was your reward for paying attention.