Good guy or chump
 

So the wife and I are running some errands Saturday morning and we come across a big yard sale. It's in a big out-building full of junk - perfect! So I'm poking around and I come across this weird looking gizmo.

Here's a picture of one just like it.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1270468470.jpg

So I asked the guy what it is and he tells me it's a hat stretcher. Well, I don't need that as I don't wear hats, except ball caps and those have adjustments. But it looks interesting so I ask how much. He'll let it go for $25 because it's "collectable."

Well I don't bite so a little later he says "how about $20?" So I think maybe I could resell it on eBay and I buy it. Well we pay him and he says he's going to go inside and look it up on the internet. I thought why would he do that as we've already bought it. So we walk out to the car and we've got the engine running and we're just about to pull away and he comes sprinting up the driveway.

I get out and say what's the matter and he says he's made a huge mistake and could he buy it back from me. Turns out the thing's worth about $300.

Hat Stretcher on eBay

Well I say no problem. I really don't want to give it back, but from the looks of his situation, he could use the money more than me. So he ends up giving me $25 to buy it back. Needless to say, my wife went berzerk! She was yelling at me for a good hour. How could I give away, basically, a couple hundred dollars to a stranger?

Guess I'm a chump. I'm out the money and my wife is mad at me!!

Your thoughts?

Nice one
 

He is unprepared and foolish, and you are well intentioned and more importantly not greedy. You saw he was in a bad way financially so you did the right thing.

Chump? I wouldn't say that, but maybe enabling his lack of financial skills. Good luck on EBay...I bet you could have got him up to $50. :cool:

I appreciate that H and Rob.

You know the guy wasn't beligerent or anything like that. He was truly anguished that he sold that weird thing. He said he made a huge mistake and could I please sell it back to him.

I know I could have just drove away when I saw him sprinting up the driveway, but I felt bad for the guy.

But hey, business is business. I wouldn't blame anyone if they thought I was the biggest loser out there.

You did what you thought was the right thing...I wouldn't gnash about it at all. Life is entirely too short to fret over an antique hat stretcher.

The bright side is you made a 25% return on your investment:cool:

Nah, not a chump.

You're right, I did make a profit! That gave me $5 extra dollars for more junk at the next yard sale! Next time I find something weird, I'm going to run to the car and drive away leaving a trail of tire smoke.

You definitely did the right thing. The only reason to keep it would be out of greed.

That said, the seller is a douche. He had every opportunity to determine its value. Finding it more valuable after a sale and having the balls to ask to buy it back makes him a loser. It's not like he found out it had some intrinsic personal/emotional importance, he just wanted to make more money. Greedy. Douche.

You have to wonder, if he found out it was only worth $100 after the sale, would he have asked to buy it back. $125?

you did the right thing. let someone else suffer the ills of greed. better to live with a clean heart.

I just thought it strange that he would try and determine the value AFTER he closed the deal. That made no sense to me.

Still no chump, yea...$5 profit (no shame in a $5/5 minute profit!), and yes...his was obviously a soul in agony. Life is short, have fun with this. Makes for great stories at the bar.

not a chump. Seems more like you're a good person to me. My wife would probably have given me hell, and I'm not sure I'd have sold it back to him.

You're not out money, you made $5, right?

"It's worth $300" If you can get that for it. That would require some effort. Hell, he may list it on ebay and only get $30.

I think things turned out nicely.


KT

Yea, something is worth what someone else will pay for it.

I don't know that there's a huge market for hat stretchers! But the supply is also low. Who would buy something like that? Barry Bonds?

I would have told my wife to STFU. Not a chump.

I dunno, I've got a fairly big noggin. I usually wear an "extra large". I think my actual size is about 7 3/4, so not setting any records, but buying a hat can be a pain.

Hmm, he may have lied, no surprise.

There is one of those up on eBay right now with a Buy It Now price of $595.00:eek: Has two offers on it.

Item number: 380220671374

Couple of cheaper ones but they don't appear to have the electric heater option.

Seems that doing the right thing is a current theme here. Good people doing the right thing. Man you could found a country based on that idea.

You did good. Asking $300.00 ain't gettin' $300. let him find out how soft the market for collectibles is for himself.

Well I would have thought to myself,"is my life really going to be better if I keep it and sell it myself? Or am I better off selling it back to this guy?"

you know what you did was right. sure he's a dope but wouldn't you have felt cheapened by keeping it?

Hey, I felt real good about helping this guy out. He seemed like a pretty decent guy. My wife was back to her loving self by Sunday morning, so I'm out of the dog house. As Rob said earlier, it'll be a funny story years down the road.

It always amazes me the strange devices that people will pay money for.

Not a Chump at all, you should never have been in the dog house in the first place. You did a dumb guy a favor and your wife is pissed?

U should start the filming for American Pickers 2: Picking the Big Texan

Yea, she went nuclear!! I told her to not buy anything at Old Navy this week to make up for it. She took that suggestion well.

You did the right thing. Good on you.

Only if your wife will be able to laugh at her reaction and the way she treated you.

If it's that important to her, flip your wife a couple of hundred bucks and get on with your life. Someday your deeds will be repaid. So will hers.

You did the right thing. It would have probably sat around the house until you decided to get rid of it for next to nothing. Besides, he probably needs the $ more than you by a long shot. I agree, I would have told the wife to STFU.

What's more important to you?

- $300?
- Helping out a guy that's in a bind, and making five bucks in the process?

Weird story. The time to research the value of something is before you sell it. You did a nice thing and the guy was extremely lucky that he sold it to you- there are a lot of people who make a living by finding under-priced oddities and antiques at garage sales and then selling them online or at their antique shop. In fact, the entire antique industry in the U.S.A., (probably the world), involves traveling the back roads of rural America buying stuff for a fraction of its final (big city) value and reselling it. It all comes down to knowing your **** and being ready to jump on something immediately. It's a business where you must have the cash on you, no "I'll be back in 30 minutes/just have to run to the bank" stuff.

If you found someone selling a '58 Speedster out of a barn for $10k, would you educate them as to its real value or jump on it? It's an interesting ethical question. Most knowledgeable Porsche people would not tell the guy holding the pink slip that it's really worth $250k, I'm guessing.

I would not sweat it but the guy did not deserve to get it back, IMO.

+1

Denis, you are right about people making a living buying and reselling. You are basically getting paid for your knowledge. I happened across a couple of saxophones the other day at a yard sale. Bought them both for $75.

Just sold the pair yesterday for $322 for the alto and $815 for the tenor.

Tenor Sax

Alto sax

I didnt' know exactly how much they were worth, but I knew they were worth more than $75.

I don't feel bad about that deal because that guy was just cleaning out a closet and was glad to get rid of them. He actually wanted $50 a piece! But said he'd take $75 for the pair with no prompting from me.

It seems the wife is the GREEDY ONE with stars in her eyes of lollipops and dollar signs....

I once was agonizing over the price I sold somthing for. Mother asked, " Did ya make a PROFIT?" I said, "YEAH?" Then Mother said "Quit yer *****in and complainin and stfu ya dim wit!"

Youu made 25% on your money in 5 minutes...where el;se can you make that kind O return? If that guy had fou out that thing was only worth $15 would he have rushed out to return $5. I don't think so...he set the price not you. You have to remember you were putting your money $20 at risk on something you had no idea about its value.

On this deal chalk it up to being charitable, your consolation is that you walked away with more money than youstarted with for virtually no effort on your part..(trying to resell the fking thing)

NEXT DEAL PLEASE!

I paid twice the asking price for my basketcase 69S in your scenario.

So what would you do in my exact scenario? Give the guy $20k for the Speedster or $250k?

You don't have an exact scenario. When you describe the condition, i.e., basketcase, garage queen, etc. and you describe the seller, then you have an exact scenario.

every scenario will be unique. Mine, the guy had no idea what he had, his wife told him to get rid of it, we struck a deal at his asking price, I flew to TX, he took time off and helped me with the car, it was clearly worth a lot more than he was asking, even as a basketcase, and I told him as much, and we agreed at double the asking price which was fair for both of us. I drove away in a Penske box truck with the car in the back.

So many variables in any sale, each judgment must be unique.

If I came across a similar gentleman with a nice example of a speedster, I would tell him how much it's worth and I would tell him how much I could pay, and then let him decide.

Shaun, that is a standard that most would not be able to attain. It's as if you're penalizing yourself for knowing the value of something. I've made a lot of money buying and reselling stuff, but I think if you give a guy his asking price, that is all your obligated to do.

If the guy is clearly hurting, then the dynamic changes. But, it takes a real charitable individual to tell someone, "hey, this is worth a lot more than you're asking. You should sell it for $X." Ethically, I don't know if you're bound to inform someone of the true value in every case.

Craig, the biggest determination for me is the quality of the man selling. This particular guy deserved more than what he was asking. Not everyone does. I feel good about the purchase.

Every scenario is unique.

it's a small world.

I feel like I've been paid back several fold since then.

I'd be interested to hear your wife's rationale as to why you are a chump for allowing someone to correct their honest mistake without penalty.

Well, on second though, I don't want to hear it :D

I watch American Pickers, and this is how they make a living. You paid him what he wanted. That is not taking advantage of anyone. Didn't someone on this forum buy a diver's watch for some rediculously low price a month or so ago? Was that also taking advantage? How about these folks who buy a painting at a yard sale 'cause they liked the frame, then found a masterpiece stuffed in the back. Perfectly fair deal IMO.

Yea, my wife's greedy side really came through that day. It's funny, because she's a school teacher (1st grade) and is always buying books and games for the kids. I never begrudge her the charity in that giant giveaway! But she just saw the dollar signs - and it wasn't like a priceless painting or civil war artifact. It was a freakin' hat stretcher that may or may not have been worth what, dinner and a movie plus popcorn?!? Women!

When I was livin in in S CA, I got to goin down to ABELS AUCTIONS every Wednesday for preview and on Thursday for the Auction if I wanted something. The whole scene had a social aspect as one got to know people after a time...basically with the non dealer it was what have you found or seen in the past week. After about a year the mainly W LA Antique Dealers and PICKERS got to know me and would talk to me...for one reason they saw that I had a good eye and didn't overpay...

I only got to know allot of the people only by their first names and by face..but I can tell you a good number of those people had cubic dinero...Some were in Hollywood, some were owners of High tech firms, some were in RE Development, Some were in RE as in owning the high rises on Wilshire Blvd. Some were into Stocks..some were professional people...One just never knew who one was talking to...yet everybody was lookin for that treasure for a bargain price.
When I started goin to Abels back in 97...the pickins for art was REAL GOOD..every week you could take home a bargain...thousands of $$$ were left on the table... and there were more than a few that got away...

One thing that I remember was an antique wooden ships model...about 24 inches long...it was a sailing ship that was powered by steam and had 3 or 4 smokestacks made out of Ivory or Bone...it went for $1500...probably was worth in the 5K to 7K range..

Or the Parker DHE 28 GA SXS that went for $7500...I wa the under bidder at $7000..6 months later it sold at Butterfields for $18000. today it is worth $40000 to $50000. I was surprised that I was bidding against a Whitter CA 2ND Hand Furniture Dealer..after the auction he told me a fiend wanted it and to go to $12000...

Or the American Impressionist painting that sold for $23000 to a W LA Antiques Dealer with Sam Sampras (Pete's Daddy) as the under bidder. the Dealer sold it the next day to a BH Gallery for $65,000 where they marked it to $150,000....

Today if I want art all I have to do is cruise Ebay or the various Web sites and I can find deals...I bought a 20 x 24 REX BRANDT Gauche of Balboa Yacht Clubs Dock for $200 delivered the signature was mushy and not as clear cut as his W/C's. That came out of a well known Houston Auction House...which surprised me that they didn't know who it was...NOt only do I know the style but the scene is the same as small part of the scene in another Brandt that I own...value 5K to 10K...

with regards to Spoons...I bought a contemporary Pennsylvania Long Rifle at an online auction for a G 2 weeks ago, another one by the same maker is listed on an online dealers website for $3200...does one think there is a profit there?

Tabs, thanks for ruining my thread! ;)

Your art and spoon post makes my hat stretcher story seem like Hemingway compared to Dr. Seuss!

Anyway, once again, you're paid for your knowledge. Be it art, musical instruments, spoons, cars.... Knowledge is power is money.