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  #1  
Old 07-13-2019, 01:32 PM
Kalani Kalani is offline
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Default Ethics Q: What would YOU do?

Scenario 1:
Let’s say you went to a garage sale and saw something that you new was too cheap. Would you let the sellers know? Would you make sure they new? Or would you just buy it—-they didn’t do their research, their loss, your gain?

Scenario 2:
Same as above but husband wasn’t there, didn’t answer his phone when wife called him, you don’t know his thoughts, and she made you a ridiculous offer.

What would you do?

Note: to further complicate things, ad say’s “Garage Sale- Everything Must Go- My Loss, Your again”

Last edited by Kalani; 07-13-2019 at 01:37 PM.
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Old 07-13-2019, 01:39 PM
zmf zmf is offline
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I don't quite understand the second part of your question, but, whatever you do, you have to live with yourself afterwards.
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Old 07-13-2019, 01:43 PM
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It depends. If they had a 1940 Martin they were selling for $500 I would clearly tell them. If they were selling a 2008 Martin D28 for $1200, I probably wouldn’t. Same goes on the other situation. I would not accept a ridiculous offer without some discussion involving appropriate value. Everyone has their own comfort zone. But I think it is worth imagining how you would feel if someone was dealing with your spouse or family member - and use that as a guideline.
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Old 07-13-2019, 01:43 PM
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I experienced scenario 1 in about 1980. I was working for one of those weekly advertising newspapers that were big at the time but couldn't still exist in the age of Craig's List. I was the circulation manager (when I was 19 years old) and I'd be the first one to see the whole paper together when I'd take the big sheets to the printer the night before and they'd run the first few and I'd have them the night before they came out.

One night I had an unreleased paper for the next day and I saw an ad for a 60's Gibson Firebird with a price of something like $50 on it, maybe it was $80, but it was waaaaay too low. I stopped by the address the next day and there was a middle aged lady who's son had been killed in a car accident a few months before and she was slowly selling off some of his stuff. It was incredibly sad. She handed me the guitar and I played it a few minutes and it was a great guitar, somewhat vintage, and it was worth a lot more than what she asked. I told her that - I said I'd like to buy it, I didn't know exactly how much it was worth, but it was worth a lot more than she was asking, at least several hundred dollars. She thanked me for telling her that and said she really didn't have the time or inclination to really look into it, but what did I think would be a low, but fair price. I told her $250 (or around that - this was a looooong time ago and i don't remember the specifics that clearly anymore) seemed like it was at least getting into the neighborhood of what a music store would probably give her for it. So she sold it to me for that. It was a great guitar - I didn't really bond with it all that much, being a strat guy. And a couple years later I sold it to a friend who really loved it for the same thing I'd paid for it.

I'm sure I still got a screaming deal on it, and I enjoyed having it, but I no way wanted to profit from that lady's pain, so I had it a while and passed it on. I gave her what I hoped was a somewhat fair price for it. And I didn't lose any sleep, but always felt funny playing that, knowing it's history.

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Old 07-13-2019, 01:46 PM
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Yard sale/garage sale prices tend to be based on unloading something that the seller not only doesn't want to own but generally doesn't even want to move back into the house/garage. Some times things are a good deal and some times they're not. As a seller one establishes a price so that the item will sell. As a buyer, one establishes whether the item and its price are desirable. I don't think it's the buyer's job to make sure that the seller establishes a high enough price. In the OP's scenario, I'd make the purchase and not give it another thought...

Having said that, I befriended the owner of a very small guitar shop outside Richmond, VA in the late 1970s. The surroundings were rural, and the owner told me a story about an elderly farm widow who brought a guitar into his shop to sell. It was in a wooden coffin case and turned out to be a Martin parlor. Its serial number and characteristics dated it to the first three years of Martin production in the late 1830s. Clearly the widow knew nothing about the guitar and wanted something like $50 for it. My recollection is that the shop owner talked her down to $35 and never gave it another thought. Yeh, he was somewhat sleazy, but I suppose business is business to him....
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Last edited by RP; 07-13-2019 at 01:56 PM.
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Old 07-13-2019, 01:58 PM
rokdog49 rokdog49 is offline
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If I'm 100% certain it's priced far below its value and I was aware of its approximate value and I really wanted it,I would make an offer in the range of what I considered it's worth. I would tell the lady selling the guitar what I knew to be true and that in good conscience I was making her a reasonable offer give or take. I would explain that there is always a "range" of pricing high to low and my offer is what I believe to be "fair."
If I didn't want the guitar in the first place, because I'm who I am, I would likely comment that I felt the asking price for the guitar is too low. If she wants more info she can ask.
I'm not ripping somebody off for a stupid guitar...or anything else for that matter.
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Old 07-13-2019, 02:04 PM
Bain Bain is offline
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Just buy it , win win for me ,they are happy selling it at a price, you are happy to buy it at a price, good lord what is the dilemma here,......
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Old 07-13-2019, 02:14 PM
Kalani Kalani is offline
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Bain: Dilemma:

Scenario 1: They may not know the true value of the item

Scenario 2: You suspect wife may not know, husband does but wife is making the offer because she can’t contact husband
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Old 07-13-2019, 02:16 PM
rmgjsps rmgjsps is offline
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A quick parable about ethics. A man goes to see his clergyman saying that he had a question of ethics to ask him about. He tells the following story: Today after the store closed, I was counting up the day's receipts and discovered that there were two fresh $100.00 bills stock together, as new bill sometimes will do. I know that the only customer today who paid with a C-note was Mrs. Jones. The clergyman breaks in, "It seems to me that the answer to your question is obvious." The man says "It may seem so, but my question is: Do I tell my business partner?"
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Old 07-13-2019, 02:22 PM
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Your question is about ethics.
With that in mind you should let the seller know that the item is worth more than they are asking.
Now if you are interested in it, make them an offer.
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Old 07-13-2019, 02:24 PM
Kalani Kalani is offline
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Rmg: Good one!
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Old 07-13-2019, 02:40 PM
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Well, there's either a man in the mirror or there isn't.
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Old 07-13-2019, 02:47 PM
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If it was off the wall I'd say something. If its just a bargain then I'd wonder why.
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Old 07-13-2019, 02:48 PM
ChalkLitIScream ChalkLitIScream is offline
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Their loss, your gain. Opportunities don’t come by often, and if they do you gotta take em!
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Old 07-13-2019, 02:55 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pitar View Post
Well, there's either a man in the mirror or there isn't.
^^^ This ^^^


...
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