Ethics Question

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trdhrdr007

Bronze Member
Nov 1, 2009
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I'll add another little piece to the discussion. I picked up the right boot first because the price tag was fastened to the top eyelet. I reached down with my left hand to fold the tongue back & realized there was something inside the boot. The bill was folded into quarters, standing upright, & the top edge was clearly visible without moving anything or reaching inside. The price tag was attached within 1.5" of it. Either the bill was there when it was priced, it moved from inside the boot to that position after pricing, or it fell in sometime after the boot was priced & placed on the floor of the closet.
 

jeff of pa

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I'll add another little piece to the discussion. I picked up the right boot first because the price tag was fastened to the top eyelet. I reached down with my left hand to fold the tongue back & realized there was something inside the boot. The bill was folded into quarters, standing upright, & the top edge was clearly visible without moving anything or reaching inside. The price tag was attached within 1.5" of it. Either the bill was there when it was priced, it moved from inside the boot to that position after pricing, or it fell in sometime after the boot was priced & placed on the floor of the closet.

I'm taking for Granted you know for a Fact it was a whole $100.00 bill & not just a piece of one,
in the hopes someone would see it & buy before going after it :tongue3:
 

maipenrai

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Nov 11, 2010
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What if you seen the bill, and bought the boots because of it, got to your truck and found out it was done on a copy machine, oh, and the sole was coming unglued!
 

jeff of pa

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What if you seen the bill, and bought the boots because of it, got to your truck and found out it was done on a copy machine, oh, and the sole was coming unglued!

That's why you take it out, Take it somewhere to spend it.
If it spends , it was good :thumbsup:

if it's counterfeit you have the professional estate sale company investigated :unhappysmiley:
 

Plumbata

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I'd buy the boots then pocket the money, because whether intended or not the desirable 100.00 is part of the "unit" for sale, along with the undesirable caked mud, and not a freebie to be taken without paying for the rest of the unit.

It's just like old books; I flip through the pages looking for interesting items tucked in like postcards, advertising blotters, letters/stamps etc. and have found Civil War related items, rare advertising and other bits worth more than the book itself, which is then happily purchased. I vividly recall a sale in 4th grade where a lady found a letter from the 30s in an old book, praising Hitler and his economic policies, and excitedly showed it to the organizer of the sale. The organizer promptly tore it, crumpled it, then stuffed it in her pocket as trash, much to my horror. Best to just stay quiet and buy the stuff.
 

spyguy

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Jan 30, 2006
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Several years back I went to a local thrift store run by a nice lady who gives people on probation a job to do their community service hours. The story was going around that a worker was prepping a donated suit for sale and found $10K in one of the pockets. They immediately notified the supervisor of the find and allegedly they were able to locate the original owner of the donated suit and return the money. I always found it pleasantly odd that a worker (and likely probationer) with $10K to lose still did the right thing. Had I BOUGHT that suit and then later made that discovery I probably wouldn't have said ____....
HH
-spyguy
 

jeff of pa

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Several years back I went to a local thrift store run by a nice lady who gives people on probation a job to do their community service hours. The story was going around that a worker was prepping a donated suit for sale and found $10K in one of the pockets. They immediately notified the supervisor of the find and allegedly they were able to locate the original owner of the donated suit and return the money. I always found it pleasantly odd that a worker (and likely probationer) with $10K to lose still did the right thing. Had I BOUGHT that suit and then later made that discovery I probably wouldn't have said ____....
HH
-spyguy

It really doesn't surprise me. The likely probationer, or Work Release person has more to loose.
and would also be a bit more paranoid of setups.

You or I may be more lax
 

Nortonics

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Nov 20, 2007
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I believe what comes around goes around - it certainly has worked for me. When I win money from contests, etc. I immediately donate at least 1/4 to 1/3 to a worthy cause.

I would not give the money to the company, but rather would report it to them and ask them to have the original property owner contact me to retrieve it.

If you don't think observant people can figure out the quality of one's character quite easily you would be dead wrong. Not to mention simply reading some of these responses, which is akin to the general public's poor perception of metal detectorists to begin with.
 

Beachkid23

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Found a bag of diamonds One time at a bank in the parking lot. And I turned that in. Receive the reward from the owner of the diamonds a couple weeks later. 20 bucks!
Found a guys wallet one time in his pants that he left at the washroom at this campground. He had $7000 cash in it. Returned it to him and I got a guy blaming me for stealing his stuff and wanting to call the cops. Sitting at a bus stop one time and underneath the bench was a brown paper bag. Open it up full of cash. Ended up turning into the police department and being questioned by the cops where I got it from, never saw it again. I guess they didn't understand why somebody would turn in a bag full of money! My cousins found 8- 100 ounce engle hard silver bars in a parking lot. Turn them into in the Police Department and no one claimed them. They had to get a lawyer in order to get them back which they did after about two years.

I think if I ever find anything like that again well, I think I would second-guess what to do with it!

$100 find, I'd take it to the next yard sale.
 

DFW_THer

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Found a bag of diamonds One time at a bank in the parking lot. And I turned that in. Receive the reward from the owner of the diamonds a couple weeks later. 20 bucks!
Found a guys wallet one time in his pants that he left at the washroom at this campground. He had $7000 cash in it. Returned it to him and I got a guy blaming me for stealing his stuff and wanting to call the cops. Sitting at a bus stop one time and underneath the bench was a brown paper bag. Open it up full of cash. Ended up turning into the police department and being questioned by the cops where I got it from, never saw it again. I guess they didn't understand why somebody would turn in a bag full of money! My cousins found 8- 100 ounce engle hard silver bars in a parking lot. Turn them into in the Police Department and no one claimed them. They had to get a lawyer in order to get them back which they did after about two years.

I think if I ever find anything like that again well, I think I would second-guess what to do with it!

$100 find, I'd take it to the next yard sale.


HAH! What doesn't fall in your lap, man? Baha
 

DigIron2

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I think D) leave the bill inside and buy them. Maybe I'd try them on first though to make sure they fit and the bill goes snug up in the toe! [emoji2]
Would take a quick look in the others also just in case!
yep, sellers beware should be no different then buyers beware,"As IS" unless they're friends or family of course.
 

captain flintlock

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I've found and returned many valuable items through my metal detecting over the last several years. Including a $15000 diamond & platinum ring that I had back in the young ladies hand within 5 minutes of hunting. All without any kind of reward. And still do that to this day. But I have no problem buying something at a yard sale, flea market or wherever, knowing that I just made a score on the item. Regardless if it was up front in plain sight, hidden in a bag, book, box or boot. I bought it fair and square!! If I had a half a buck each time a corporate chain store, my cable co., electric co., insurance co. etc ripped me off, I'd be a rich man!! Sorry! Now I'm just venting! [emoji51] But I wouldn't just pull the bill out of the boot, put it in my pocket and walk away. I personally would have a problem with that. I'm also glad to hear that I'm not the only one who flips through the pages of old books and bibles!!
 

Joe777Cool

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E) I would have put the boots on, run out the door while pushing any old ladies in my path out of the way, and then used the money to start an illegal dog fighting ring all while using the lord's name in vain.
 

Escape

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Apr 4, 2009
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E) I would have put the boots on, run out the door while pushing any old ladies in my path out of the way, and then used the money to start an illegal dog fighting ring all while using the lord's name in vain.

Finally an honest answer..
 

mxh5891

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Finders keepers..losers weepers. Unless I see somebody actively searching for a bag of cash, or whatever I find. So far nothing like this has ever happened to me. Most I ever found was a 20 dollar bill washed up on a beach. Nobody was around so I kept it and bought the pizza for my family with it.
 

Beachkid23

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Found a bag of diamonds One time at a bank in the parking lot. And I turned that in. Receive the reward from the owner of the diamonds a couple weeks later. 20 bucks!
Found a guys wallet one time in his pants that he left at the washroom at this campground. He had $7000 cash in it. Returned it to him and I got a guy blaming me for stealing his stuff and wanting to call the cops. Sitting at a bus stop one time and underneath the bench was a brown paper bag. Open it up full of cash. Ended up turning into the police department and being questioned by the cops where I got it from, never saw it again. I guess they didn't understand why somebody would turn in a bag full of money! My cousins found 8- 100 ounce engle hard silver bars in a parking lot. Turn them into in the Police Department and no one claimed them. They had to get a lawyer in order to get them back which they did after about two years.

I think if I ever find anything like that again well, I think I would second-guess what to do with it!

$100 find, I'd take it to the next yard sale.

Let me add to this- my wife lost a 14 K gold bracelet one time and I put an ad on craigslist. Someone claimed that they would have it and they would meet with me however he said he was going to run by a pawnshop first and see how much they would give him for it before he met with me because he wanted to see if my $300 reward was less than what the pawnshop would give him. I kindly explained to him that was an anniversary present and I would hope you would do the right thing and call me back. That there's a possibility it's worth more than $300 but that's all I had for a reward and it would be wonderful because my wife was very sad about losing it. He called me back and said the pawnshop offered him more for it, sorry. I told him to go to hell!
 

DFW_THer

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Let me add to this- my wife lost a 14 K gold bracelet one time and I put an ad on craigslist. Someone claimed that they would have it and they would meet with me however he said he was going to run by a pawnshop first and see how much they would give him for it before he met with me because he wanted to see if my $300 reward was less than what the pawnshop would give him. I kindly explained to him that was an anniversary present and I would hope you would do the right thing and call me back. That there's a possibility it's worth more than $300 but that's all I had for a reward and it would be wonderful because my wife was very sad about losing it. He called me back and said the pawnshop offered him more for it, sorry. I told him to go to hell!

You're kidding, right?!! I have to review this one to make sure I understand.

1. Wife lost a bracelet.
2. Place "lost" ad on C/L.
3. Someone called and claimed they (would?) have it. (Found it)
4. That person then informed you "I'm going to get a quote from the pawn on the corner to see if it's more than your reward"
5. He called back again just to tell you the pawn shop offer was greater and to have a nice day, you're not getting your property back.
6. You told him to go to hell.

This is truly a bizarre run-in. What a criminal.
 

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