What Would You Do ?

[Yarrum]

My hypothetical question is this. Say you had someone offer to sell you 10 coins for 50c or $1 each and you knew one of them was worth a minimum of $1100 or maybe up to $4000. Would you tell the person?? And would it make a difference if the person was a nice little old lady or a complete scumbag?
Thanks for your thoughts.

 

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[SgtSki in MI]

Well what I could say is that I'd keep my mouth shut and buy them, but that would be hypocritical of me because I have already been faced with this moral dilemma but on a smaller monetary scale. One of my soldiers once had an 1885-O Morgan that's an easy MS-64 were it to be certified. Well, that Morgan now belongs to me. He offered to sell it to me for five bucks so he could go buy a pack of smokes. I felt obligated to tell him it was worth much more than five bucks and that I would look up the value in the bluebook & redbook and then give him bluebook value plus half the difference between bluebook and redbook. BTW, that's how I buy from people that I know who are privately selling but don't know the value. He insisted that all he wanted from ME was five dollars and he wouldn't take a penny more.......So I gave him the five bucks.

I guess I'd be inclined to keep quiet and buy them unless I knew the person or their circumstances.

HH,
SgtSki

 

[doozis]

In this day and age honesty and character is fast becoming a rarity in
many people and "doing the right thing" is scoffed at. Some people even take pride in "snookering" other people.
But if you reach deep inside and ask yourself how you would feel if your were on the other end of the situation you'll probably find the answer.

I know it may sound corny and old fashion but that's my take on it.

Doozis

 

[EasyMoney]

A guy I know who is mentally ill and wanted to get $30 and use it on a punch card (gambling). He sold me his BH Landstar for $30. Should I have told him that it was worth more? After all, he would have just sold it to someone else for the same amount, or less..

In this case this is not a test of morals or religion or kindheartedness, it is a philosophical delimma; Should I take back the coat that was worth more than the store asked for it, or should I have sent them a check for what difference I thought they should have asked for it? The man wasn't stupid, he was just mentally ill, and that illness had nothing to do with his ability to make a good financial decision.

On the other hand, what if I worked for $10 per hour when someone should have been paying me $30 per hour? How about the other way? Should I tell them that I am being paid too much at $30 per hour instead of $10?

We owe much more to those we know and love or who are weak or incapable, than to those who or strangers or casual aquaintenences. We have a stronger sense of duty and responsibility for them. Family and friends and helpless people usually get more from us than do those who we know little about. If it was my daughter, a friend, or someone else familiar or quite obviously content with their asking price and they appeared to be able to know the value of it I would not let it worry me, but I would offer what it was actually worth. If it was a little old lady and she didn't know that she was selling something for too little $$, I would tell her so and offer her more. If she refused my offer and said she already knew the value but wanted to sell it anyway I would not question her motives, I would simply go with her wishes instead. I have sold things too cheaply to people or given it to them, simply because I wanted to help them, or to be kind, and not to make a profit. I wouldn't challenge her motives, it might even offend her.

 

[lessthanzero]

Hey Easymoney, you know that I sold it to you. Don't know if I won on those punchcards, could you come over and check?

 

[N.J.THer]

For me I guess it would depend on how the offer came about. If it was a public sale such as a garage sale I say seller beware. If you don't know how much something is and sell it for a certain price you should have researched it more. Plus if I don't buy it someone else most likely will. Everyone goes to these type of sales to get bargins so this one would just be a very good bargin.

On the other hand if it was someone that found out I enjoy old coins and thought they would do me a favor and sell me some old coins they had tucked away in their top draw then I would feel I had to tell them.

When I was a kid I collected comic books and would buy and sell some for for a profit to supplement my addiction. I had a table at flea market and an older gentleman approached me and told me he had some old comic books he would like to sell. I went to his house and looked over the books and he had some early Disney comics that were worth quite a bit. I told him they were a little out of my range for what I can afford to buy and made him an offer on some comics he had. He appreciated my honesty and gave me a really good deal on the other comics. So everyone made out well and I felt good about myself.

NJ

 

[Bodyguard]

Many moons ago, while at a yard sale, I saw a piece of photographic equipment with a label marked $15. I asked the gentleman if that was really what he was asking. I still remember his answer. "I don't know what it is worth to you; I know that to me, it is worth $15. I want to get rid of it. You want it.... give me the 15.
After I bought it, he asked me what I thought it was worth.( I forgot to say the unit was in pristine condition, still in the box). I told him that new the piece would probably fetch $125., which I couldn't justify for the use I would have for it. He asked if I would be using or selling the piece, and I told him I'd be using it. I used it for about 10 years, then got $75 dollars credit, trading in for my first digital camera.
So to answer your question, if the person is selling something out of need (raising money for a worthy cause), I would probably give them a reasonable estimate on what I believed it was worth. If it is someone who is selling for a quick buck, who doesn't care about the value of the item, I would probably take the offered price, or even talk them down. With the info available online these days.... I think they should take some effort to find a reasonable worth.
JR

 

[aa battery]

Reading this i wonder that every time we experience this kind of thing we are being tested by the Lord.Just a thought. aa

 

[acedigger]

Everyone likes finding that vintage corvette in an old barn for cheap but I would say as long as both of you are happy with the deal then its no problem. I might offer a little more for the more expensive coin. Because even if you gave them $200 bucks for it you would still be getting a great deal.
Heck, if its worth that much you buy it for a couple dollars and I will buy it from you for a couple hundred.

I would also make sure and get some sort of receipt in case it was "grandaddys favorite coin" and the family comes screaming. That way you can say you legally bought the coin.

I am kinda going through the same thing, a lady we know wants to leave my wife and I everything. She has plenty of money and family heirlooms. She has no kids but does have plenty of family in the area. I don't feel comfortable just "taking them". She wants us to go ahead and take the jewerly and coins but I want an itemized list signed by both parties just to keep everyone honest.

Hope this helps
Thanks

 

[Yarrum]

Reading this i wonder that every time we experience this kind of thing we are being tested by the Lord.Just a thought. aa

The thought had crossed my mind as well. I'm not a Christian as such but I will usually go out of my way to do the right thing. I think like some of you guys have said it's a little different if you know the person and their background. Everyone I've spoken to has said "Do the deal", it may be a sign of the times ;
Thanks all for your responses.

 

[sparkymaster]

Hey Yarrum,

This is a great question you have.

I don't think there's a correct answer to it not knowing the complete situation.

In my opinion, if someone says: Hey I'll sell these coins to you for $10, you then have the opportunity to say yes or no with no obligation of feeling guilty.

If your not straight up lying to them about the value I'd take em and run.

HH

sparkymaster

 

[re-tek]

they say buyer beware right? well seller should have some responsibility too. someone is selling something thats worth much more than they are selling it for i'm gonna buy it unless its stolen. you reallize this is the whole premise of doing business. buy low and sell high. am i gonna BS someone and tell them its worthless. no. i do beleive though that in this day and age of incredible resources at your fingertips (internet) you should take the time to look things up. if you just plain ole dont care then so be it.

if the seller is happy with what they got then everybody is happy.

 

[re-tek]

Reading this i wonder that every time we experience this kind of thing we are being tested by the Lord.Just a thought. aa

if we're gettin' holy on this...
as i drive down the street on a weekend the little voice in my head will say "go to that yardsale". i may pass 10-20 of them and none of them will get my attention. i'm talkin' just seeing the signs, not even driving passed the house. i'll go to that one yardsale that i felt the yearning to go to and you bet i will walk out with some outrageous deal.

last time this happened i walked out with a very heavy silver worlds fair medallion on a wooden stand, a small stack of collectible books, about 20 cd's, a modern designer flatware set, and some other cool trinkets. spent $40 total. guy was happy and invited me back next weekend.

if i'm being tested by the lord, then he appreciates a good junk collector!

 

[jeff of pa]

My hypothetical question is this. Say you had someone offer to sell you 10 coins for 50c or $1 each and you knew one of them was worth a minimum of $1100 or maybe up to $4000. Would you tell the person?? And would it make a difference if the person was a nice little old lady or a complete scumbag?
Thanks for your thoughts.

easy, I paid a dollar for a handfull of tokens after I saw one of them was
a a 1795 Letterd edge Large cent worth $100.00
one of the tokes, a Token for Land that said "White Only" sold on eBay for about
$70.00 . and several others brought between $5 & $15
The guy was an Antique Buyer had a box of apparently unsearched tokens
sitting on a table at a yard sale and told me $1.00 per handfull.

He made what he wanted, I made what I was satisfied with.

All were happy

 

[oldplacesnofinds]

If they come to you and set the price, take it. If they come to you as someone that knows coins, give them an honest quote. If you buy coins this way, you will never feel bad. I bought coins off a guy that did some plumming for me. I did not check the silver charts in weeks and a couple days after buying a lot of bullion from him, I noticed silver had gone up quite a bit. I sat down and wrote him a check for the difference. It wasn't much. Maybe around $30 but it made him feel good and I didn't feel like I ripped him off.

 

[EasyMoney]

Yeah right Lessthan..

That was funny.

Anything you say..Ha ha

BTW, did u hear the recent news? It seems that YES, the icebergs are melting at the N Pole, BUT, the news shows that new ones are growing faster and BIGGER than the old ones, by LEAPS AND BOUNDS! In other words, the opposite is happening with the ice cap than people thought just 2 weeks ago. And the earth is not warming as quickly or as much as certain people initially claimed. In fact, the debate is now that the earth may well be in a state of cooling, instead of warming.

Amazing.

 

[EDDE]

buy them sell the worthy one
send her half the money(anonymously) ,be she a nice person