I kept a Snap-On screwdriver from a 911.

From a friend or a repeat client, YES. Anyone else....Hell no.

Funny, just the other day, I saw an ad for a Boxster. Absurdly low price for the car. The ad was honest, and the owner said it was blowing white smoke, but ran fine. He thought it had a blown head gasket.

I thought about going and looking at the car and testing to see if it was the air/oil separator, then flipping it. Instead, I sent him a text explaining that it could be an easy fix, and linked him to the DIY article here on Pelican. He texted me back and thanked me profusely. Good deed for the week, done.

Hey, it's been almost 4 years and I still have it. I told her it was worth more than $10K, but she insisted that was the asking price. I sleep most nights:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/614889-1960-mercedes-190-sl-10k-story.html

Classic thread - great story and even a few posts from MossGuy and one from Dottore.

Congrats, Bob.....sweet ride and even sweeter deal! SmileWavy

First and foremost, I try to never say "well what would have done is..."
In most cases, you know what you 'd like to think you'll do but when the rubber meets the road situational ethics can bend a lot of people's standards and danger can weaken bravery.

That said, I agree with Rick here:
Why is it people treat flippers like criminals? Every store you shop in does it. They buy a product and sell it for more than they paid.

Nothing at all wrong with flipping. But to tell someone who doesn't know any better that something is worth way less, then you turn around and flip it for way more, well, that sort of shows you to be a liar.

When I was landscaping in college, an elderly customer knew I played in a band and asked me to take a look at an old Gibson acoustic. It had to be from the 1940s and was in perfect condition. I probably could have had it for mowing his lawn for free. I had no use for it. Had I taken it for a song and then flipped it for a fortune, I think that might have been unethical.

My dad had a friend in college who asked him to clean up a filthy 1866 Winchester .44 carbine he had found when cleaning out his deceased father's basement. He then just told my dad to keep it. It hung on our living room wall until about 10 yrs. ago. My dad asked me to sell it for him and I got $6500 for it. Should he have tracked down that old college friend and given him all or some of the money?

I was NOT referring to that purchase...

As a buyer or a seller I take advantage of the deal, not the person...........................something my father practiced in his commodities trade.

I keep everything but the money. That, I will give back.

Now, what if the person you bought the items was a real abrasive SOB to you? Would you still do the right or ethical thing?

Easy. Doing the right thing is about you.

Secondarily, it may make the other party ponder the moment. A bonus if it does.

One way I make a living is by buying items from auctions, estate sales, thrift stores, and garage sales, the reselling on eBay and Craigslist. If I'm buying something from your garage sale, you must have priced it below what it's worth. Sometimes, by a large amount.

I live in a fairly wealthy part of town so if I'm buying stereo equipment from someone living in a $750K house, I'm going try to pay as little as possible.

I have paid more than the asking price when I know there's a huge upside, the acquisition cost is small or the seller looks like they could use a break. I asked a woman if she had any watches at an estate sale and she went inside dug around and brought out a cool automatic. When I asked how much, I could see here struggling to put a number on it saying, "This has got to worth at least $10," like she was pricing it up to give me room to negotiate. I said, "How about $20?" Made her very happy. I netted around $100 when I sold it.

I don't like Goodwill. Don't like how they treat their employees at all. Does my heart good to buy something from them for $50 and turn around and sell it for $500.

• You buy something and sell it for a lot more than you paid, because the seller didn't know what he had. Do you make it right by offering the seller part of the profit?

No. Caveat emptor goes both ways.

• How about this. You buy a desk at a yard sale, and when you get it home, you find an envelope with a huge stash of cash taped to the bottom of one of the drawers.
Keep the cash? Give it back? Give part of it back?

I'd like to think I'd give it back, but haven't been tested.

• Or, you buy a painting at goodwill, because you like the frame. When you take the dust cover off the back, you find a certifiable first draft of the Magna Carta, thought to be lost for centuries.
Who owns that valuable document? You? Goodwill? The state? Great Britain?

I own it.

• Maybe you're putting a sprinkler system in the backyard and you find a coffee can full of gold doubloons. Yours to keep?

Yup.

Saw this article and thought of this thread...

https://gma.yahoo.com/texas-man-finds-treasure-hidden-chest-estate-sale-053000463--abc-news-house-and-home.html


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