Ever feel guilty about getting a good deal?

[Beans]

Good weekend for me at the garage sales. Nothing great just the deals I got.

1. National Guard computer backpack with two NG notebooks, and one Diecast Race Car - (National Guard #88)- Everthing was new and in the backpack and was marked FREE - checked to make sure and yep free. I felt like I should buy something so I bought a David Dear Egg timer shaped clock (hard to find) for $1.00

2. Harley Davidson brand new unopened Monoploy game, 4 unopened new Collectable Harley Davidson Playing card tins with two packs of playing cards inside tin, 2 unopened Harley Davidson classic Motorcycle playing cards, 1 Harley Davidson tin for ? and 1 chocolate chip cookie from the kids. $3.25. The cookie cost .25.


So not to bad and I did give the HD garage sale people opportunity to say no to my offer of $3 (all I had at the time). They accepted with hesitation, so I felt a little guilty on that one.

[brendan1414]

The sellers put things out there they want to sell or get rid of, they did their end of the deal already, they have their money and they are happy to get rid of some stuff. You must have behaved yourself too much if that is on your conscience.

I like the egg timer shaped clock though, really neat design, and at first i thought you meant notebooks as in a laptop!

[jadeblackhawk]

Nope. If they're not willing to do the work (ie, research, selling, shipping, dealing with people all over the country) why should I feel guilty for getting a deal and then working for the profit?

[hombre_de_plata_flaco]

Nice finds man!

And no - I have never felt guilty about getting a good deal. It's the sellers responsibility to research their item and price it accordingly. I have sold items that were under priced that I failed to research so that knife cuts both ways.

In fact, I feel a certain amount of pleasure if I can get over on someone like a pawn broker. I recently bought an old Pioneer Super Tuner cassette player/FM car stereo made in 1976 from a pawn shop for $8.00 and sold it on eBay for $250.00

Giving a pawn shop a taste of their own medicine was quite a pleasurable experience.

[GPS53]

Not at all, I will even try and get it cheaper if I can.

[SEANO]

Hum, nope!

[ivan salis]

you offer your "deal" they decide to say yes or no -- so it's on their head * if its too low a price -- its their stuff they can say yes or they can say no to your offer -- you did not take it by force or steal from em without paying at all for it did you? -- so you feel guilty for doing what? getting a bargin? --geez o petes . forget about it already.

[truckinbutch]

Nice finds man!

And no - I have never felt guilty about getting a good deal. It's the sellers responsibility to research their item and price it accordingly. I have sold items that were under priced that I failed to research so that knife cuts both ways.

In fact, I feel a certain amount of pleasure if I can get over on someone like a pawn broker. I recently bought an old Pioneer Super Tuner cassette player/FM car stereo made in 1976 from a pawn shop for $8.00 and sold it on eBay for $250.00

Giving a pawn shop a taste of their own medicine was quite a pleasurable experience.

I like the way you think , my friend .

[Love It Twice 2009]

Nice finds man!

And no - I have never felt guilty about getting a good deal. It's the sellers responsibility to research their item and price it accordingly. I have sold items that were under priced that I failed to research so that knife cuts both ways.

In fact, I feel a certain amount of pleasure if I can get over on someone like a pawn broker. I recently bought an old Pioneer Super Tuner cassette player/FM car stereo made in 1976 from a pawn shop for $8.00 and sold it on eBay for $250.00

Giving a pawn shop a taste of their own medicine was quite a pleasurable experience.

I agree with this 100%. Pawn shops kick people when they are already down. I mean really, who wants to hawk there stuff for 1/3 of what they paid for it unless they are in dire straits and in need of quick cash.

[hombre_de_plata_flaco]

On the other hand, if I go to a flea market or something and a guy has a box full of Mercury Dimes with ".50 cents each" written down as his price, I'm not going to correct his error. But, if someone comes to me with a pile of Mercury Dimes and asks me how much I can give for the silver, I sit them down and explain spot price for that day, weigh the coins, multiply by 90% to calculate silver content, then multiply again by the percentage I am willing to pay - which is usually 75%-80%.

If they are not happy with the price I tell them to:

(A) Sell them on eBay themselves and give eBay and PayPal nearly 20% (most don't know how, else they wouldn't ask me)

(B) Take them to an auction barn and get 70% of whatever a bidder will pay for them - which could be $5.00

(C) Take them to our local coin dealer and get burned

(D) Take them to a "We Buy Gold and Silver!" place and get REALLY burned

(E) Take them to a pawn shop and get SCORCHED like you were standing three feet from the sun

I give them about every option I can for selling their coins except for turning them onto a refinery, which is information I keep to myself because I don't like the idea of coins being melted down.

[jerseyben]

On the other hand, if I go to a flea market or something and a guy has a box full of Mercury Dimes with ".50 cents each" written down as his price, I'm not going to correct his error. But, if someone comes to me with a pile of Mercury Dimes and asks me how much I can give for the silver, I sit them down and explain spot price for that day, weigh the coins, multiply by 90% to calculate silver content, then multiply again by the percentage I am willing to pay - which is usually 75%-80%.

If they are not happy with the price I tell them to:

(A) Sell them on eBay themselves and give eBay and PayPal nearly 20% (most don't know how, else they wouldn't ask me)

(B) Take them to an auction barn and get 70% of whatever a bidder will pay for them - which could be $5.00

(C) Take them to our local coin dealer and get burned

(D) Take them to a "We Buy Gold and Silver!" place and get REALLY burned

(E) Take them to a pawn shop and get SCORCHED like you were standing three feet from the sun

I give them about every option I can for selling their coins except for turning them onto a refinery, which is information I keep to myself because I don't like the idea of coins being melted down.

Bravo!

[boogeyman]

I never feel guilty. My way of thinking is, if they're too lazy or don't want to take the time to research the value of what they're selling then the price they ask is what they get. If the show was on my foot, I'd kick myself a few times & wonder why lessons are so expensive.

[oldgoat]

I once found an old indian pot at a flea market, asked the lady what she wanted for it, she said 50 cents.....I told her it was worth more, actually quite a bit more....she said not to me. The only thing she wanted was the 50 cents.....I quit worrying bout feeling guilty when I got burned a few times.....

By the way, the pot has been appraised for $1000 to $3500.......goat

[diggummup]

Short answer- No never. It's not my job to inform a seller what their wares are worth. That is...unless a see a little ole lady cashing in here late Husbands coin collection at the bank for face value. But then that's a different scenario.

[jerseyben]

How about this all too familiar scenario:

You stop at a sale, ask the seller if they have any jewelry. They reply "yes but its all costume" or "yes, but none of it is real". You then take a brief look through and easily spot a few sterling or even gold pieces. You buy the whole lot for a few bucks to $5.

Is this something to feel guilty about or shame on them for not realizing what they had?

[bigscoop]

If a person is doing the garage sale thing to make extra money by flipping their purchases then they can't afford to feel guilt. I certainly don't.

[boogeyman]

How about this all too familiar scenario:

You stop at a sale, ask the seller if they have any jewelry. They reply "yes but its all costume" or "yes, but none of it is real". You then take a brief look through and easily spot a few sterling or even gold pieces. You buy the whole lot for a few bucks to $5.

Is this something to feel guilty about or shame on them for not realizing what they had?

First thing to do is to walk out of their view, then do your happy dance! Like I said, If they're too lazy to check what they got & research the value then why should you feel guilty? If things were reversed do you honestly think they would be feeling any guilt? Not!

[Produce Guy]

I kind of felt guilty when we bought some big stereo speakers at a garage sale for $10 and inside one of the speakers was a bag of weed and the other time when we bought some(about 75) Hot Wheels,for $5,the lady at the sale said her no good son had some old cars,not sure what kind?,so she brings out 3 of those old carriers,the ones that look like a tire and all these Hot Wheels were inside. ,his lost our gain.

[jnkhntr]

Do sellers feel guilty when they sell an item that is chipped, has been glued, or does not work when they tell you it does? We have all been bitten at one time or another!

[2Minnesota]

No guilt felt here when I get a good deal!
I agree if they didn't take time to research, or they just want to get rid of stuff you should feel no guilt. I do not ask them to take less than what they have an item marked for (my husband will do this sometimes though). Sometimes they will say "make an offer" and I do. I wouldn't walk into a store and ask if they would take less for the gallon of milk or the hamberger, so if it's priced to high for me, I move on......That's just me though ;-)