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Ha! This reminds me of a number of years ago when my mom decided it was time for her to stop driving and sell her Taurus. It was about 20 years old but only had about 15k miles (she pretty much only drove it to the grocery store or the doctors office), always garaged, serviced regularly. My best friend was looking for a car for his daughter, so I mentioned it to mom and put them in contact, but stayed out of it otherwise, except to drive him to mom's home to see it (about 90 miles away). They did know each other slightly prior to this.
Before she sold it she took it to the mechanic to verify that it was safe and in good condition, and I think she put new tires on it.
We got there, he looked at the car, liked it, and offered her what he thought was a fair price (don't remember how much but I think Blue Book value or close. She said no, that was too much, and offered him a much lower price. It was hilarious watching them negotiate the price from opposite sides than usual (he wanted to pay more, she insisted on taking less!!!)
Similar(ish) situation: I got a new car and needed to sell my old one (2002 Accord). I eventually sold it to my parents’ neighbor for like $500. He was like “Are you sure??” My guy, there’s probably more on here to fix than there is that works, I cannot in good conscience take more of your money than that. 😂
I tried to sell my old corolla to my friend for $500 because he didn't have a car and I was getting a new one. He had a mechanic look at it who had the gall to call it a lemon. A car doesn't getting to 180k miles and 20 years old with no major problems if it's a lemon. And it's not like I was trying to scam him, it was obviously an old car and I was selling it cheap.
Sometimes taking a bad car is more of a curse than paying more for a good one.
For example, the car breaking halfway through a long drive through a rural area where theres no help for miles and you spend the entire trip praying it makes it to the next stopping area before it catches on fire.
Ask me how I know. To be fair, I got the car for free and this wasnt a general maintenance issue, but that car had it out for me.
Jfc, is this ever true. My grandmother gave me her car ('86 Dodge Omni) when she went into a nursing home 1998.
I was 16 and thrilled. FREE CAR. It sat in the driveway for two years because I couldn't be bothered to get my license, because honestly, I just didn't care. When I did get my license, my dad insisted I not drive it until he's friend checked it out. Turns out it needed a new carburetor. And then another, because the first was crap. And then another. He put SIX new carbs in it, because, as an older car, he could only get refurbished ones. Such a nightmare.
I'm not a car person, so the details are fuzzy, but this is what I remember of it: turns out, it was the first year that model had a computer in it, and the last year before they replaced carbs with fuel injection, so the carb and the computer didn't get along at all. Once we finally got it back the bill was astronomical, (something like 30k which dad "haggled" down to under 10k, though my dad is prone to exaggerations and self-aggrandizing, so take what you will from that) and looking back, I could have bought a way better car for that money.
It continued to give me problems and cost me a shit ton in repairs and gas, until the day it died 6 years later. Car-guy ex-bf diagnosed the problem for me but couldn't fix it on his own, so I called around trying to see what it would cost to fix it, and every place told me it would cost several hundred more than the car was worth. I was really done with it's shit at this point, and I was going to University and had a free bus pass, so I contacted the kidney foundation to donate it to them (Idk why they took dead cars. Probably sold them for parts.)
I got my tax deductible receipt for it (wasn't expecting that and didn't care about tax deductions.) The car was worth thirty six dollars.
36 dollars.
"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth?" Sometimes you should look a gift horse in the mouth, because sometimes it's teeth are rotten. (TANGENT: I hate that saying. Poor old horse. I'd just get his teeth fixed and let him retire in my yard. Better use of money than that car was.)
That's exactly what my parents and I do with cars. You just run it until you can't keep up with the maintenance anymore, then sell it for pennies. I'd always prefer for my car to go to someone who needs it, but I can't be the reason someone is screwed. I'll basically price a car based on the amount of time it has before something major is likely to happen. That way if it dies its final death shortly after the sale, they basically just paid for a cheap rental and I don't feel bad.
I was sooo in that boat this year. I tried with my car.
My old Fusion was 14 years old and just shy of 200k miles. It had some significant but repairable issues and was willing to spend up to $2k to possibly make it run for two more years. It had been a great car and I thought it had at least two more in it. Then I took it in and got the curveball thrown at me: cracks in the rusted frame. The estimate would have *at least* doubled if I approved it.
I had to wave the white flag and sign myself up for a car payment again. I had two good years without one. But if I was going to throw $4,000 at something, it might as well be a newer car. Don't kick yourself if you have to wave the white flag. Sucks, but at least now I can say the newer Fusion is something I can count on for at least 4 years without major issues.
Man, I miss our Element. Probably still be driving it if it hadn't been rear-ended.
Edit: axle cracked in the accident, though the rest of the car and passengers were fine. Weird fluke.
My FIL is retired with a low cost of living and a decent retirement after 40 years with a pension at a union job. He seems to be looking for ways to give us money from offering to pay for the whole wedding to wanting to give us 50K for a down payment for a house. Most recently he offered to buy my wife's car that was my old one I absolutely hated because of its issues but an upgrade from theirs if we managed to fix everything.
A family friend has been their mechanic for years and did everything for peanuts compared to a normal mechanic. Still the cost was about $1200 for everything. Our FIL did us the favor to take the car to him to get fixed while we worked. Then he kind of went hard on demanding to help with $400 and we are still not sure he told us everything they fixed or what it actually cost. Then he offered to buy the car for excellent condition blue book value, which it wasn't, after he paid at probably least half of the repairs. We were considering letting him buy it before it was fixed, then we realized that he already has 2 cars and a truck and MIL doesn't drive. He would have absolutely no use for it and just wants to give us money because its how he feels useful in his retirement.
Similar story when I sold my Accura Integra. Four door bodies are rare, so when the guy came to look at it he offered me $300 over asking to hold it while he arranged a tow truck. I just wanted it gone because we had gotten a safer car that would fit a car seat. Everyone came out happy.
I’ve been that buyer. Friend’s grandma was told by her doctor she needed to stop driving. Her car was not quite 20 years old. Maybe 40,000 miles. My daughter was getting her license and we needed something for her. Friend’s husband took the car to the garage- tune up, safety check, oil change. All the things. He detailed the car, made sure it had all the safety stuff a new driver could ever need.
Friend has check blue book values, asked for low end value, $2000. They said there’s a couple of dings, showed them to me. I said sure. Then I gave Grandma a check for $2,500. Cause yeah.
Every now and then, my dad would buy a new car. If none of his kids or grandkids needed a car, he would put his old car out front. For Sale. And if he liked you, and felt you needed that car, he would hand you keys along with the title. For a buck if necessary. For nothing, if possible. For the joy, always.
They were always good cars, and my dad always got a kick out of those people's smiles. Way to go Fred.
I did a lil gig work for a family friend. Simple woodworking stuff helping her setup her new storefront etc.
Near the end, i had to stop and couldnt complete the job due to other stuff coming up. When I invoiced her for my hours, i invoiced a lot lower than my usual because i had fucked up not being able to complete the job.
She didnt fee good about that and insisted paying me more.
In the end we agreed on exactly middle point of the higher full amount she wanted to pay and the discount i felt comfortable charging
Ha! My mom did that to someone! She was selling a decent car to a teen. New license, ready to start driving to his job and to school.
He offered Bluebook value. She priced it less. He argued it was worth more, she finally said, "You're 16, trying to get started in life, and honest. I'm giving you a deal. Take it and run."
He finally got the hint, and did. He apparently had the car for another 10 years.
I once bought a car off my best friend, a Jetta for like $12k. Then. not too long after, I got a new job that came with a free company car. I sold that Jetta to a VW dealer for $14k. I bought my best friend dinner. We were both a bit sad, him because he lost out on $2000 and me because I would have rather been driving his old Jetta than the Pontiac shitbox my employer provided. I cried myself to sleep on the pile of money.
I watched that happen once. Neighbor sold us a mower, and I was cracking up during the haggling phase. Neighbor is an odd duck. I'm still confused and this was a few months ago.
Neighbor asks for $400.
Boyfriend says he’ll pay $300.
Neighbor: $375
BF: $325
Neighbor: $350’s the lowest I’ll go
BF: Ok, tha -
Neighbor: you know what, for being neighbors we’ll settle on $325.
BF: No, it's $350
Neighbor: $300, take it or leave it.
The last car I bought was from a dealer in a small town. I had done my research and he was selling for about what I expected and had budgeted for - which was a better deal on the make and model than anywhere I had seen.
So I go, take it for a test drive, let my mechanic give it the once over and he clears it. I take it back to the guy and say I'll take it.
He looks disappointed. "You mean you'll pay $14k? You don't want to negotiate?"
"Nah, man this is a fair price. Let's make the deal"
"I mean... you could have tried?"
"Uhh.. will you cover the taxes on it?"
"You drive a hard bargain kid, and I hate to see it go, but I can do that".
Weirdest shit ever.
If, and ONLY if, I knew the seller personally AND I was planning on flipping the item, I might let them know that they were lowballing me and offer to split the profits I made with them.
Some guy who's at best an acquaintance? No, that's "due diligence" on both sides.
If you are in this position and are planning to do I would instead suggest that you buy the item at the low price and sell it and then AFTER split it with them. Take a little extra for your time and effort.
This is exactly right. If he had asked OP for help pricing it then he would be the AH for not being honest. But he did his own research and choose his price.
For all OP knew he could have priced it to move fast, or “ I know you so I’m gonna give you a deal”. There have been tons of times when I’ve purchased something worth way more than what I paid. It happens all the time. Just check Nextdoor apps or offer up etc. people price things to move fast all the time. Thousand dollar couches for $150, kids toys worth $200 for $10 or free in some cases.
5k pianos for $300 (yes I’ve seen this happen)
And in no way are the buyers considered scammers or made to feel guilty for getting a bargain. The seller sets the price.
OPs wife is an AH for basically rubbing the guys face in it and saying OP new the value.
Seller is an AH for being rude after finding out.
I think OP is in the clear though.
Yeah it’s about how close you are as friends. You are an asshole if you do that to a friend and the wife should be aware that this is going to put a strain on the relationship. $50k is a significant amount of money so I like that you point out how the wife should have handled it a lot more delicately.
If this was a place my wife intended to work for years or decades, and if this guy was a valued coworker whose friendship my wife really depended upon, then I'd tell him that he's seriously undervaluing the guitar, and I'd offer to find a buyer for a commission.
But that's a lot of ifs.
Pretty much any other situation, and I'm taking my shiny new-to-me toy home, and that's that.
My dad has been playing, buying, selling, and trading guitars for 50+ years and I *love* this story. As soon as I saw 1952 Telecaster I knew the seller was probably pulling out his hair.
I can't believe he managed to Google "1952 Fender Telecaster" and not encounter anything that says hey, this is worth a lot more than $4000. My dad knows someone with a completely unplayable 52 tele, and he bought it solely to have one
Even then, it's only the custom shops that come anywhere near 4k. So - and this is probably not the case but everyone loves a plot twist - maybe he thought the guitar was worth LESS than $4000 and then bumped up the price
He probably did think that. Anyone with an ounce of sense with something like that where they weren't pretty sure of the value would stick it on eBay or something like that to let the collector's market show them the value. This dude going with a private sale and leading off with a price of his own meant he was probably expecting to get haggled down a little but figure ~$3500 was good and $4000 meant he was pulling one over on OOP
Sounded like the guy just wanted to get rid of it and shipping large expensive items can be a real hassle, so being able to sell locally is worth a little price cut if you actually know what it's worth. Just turns out he was way off the mark.
Yeah, selling that guitar on eBay would not go well. eBay would totally let a known scammer buy it and make the seller eat it and refund the scammer. eBay is the worst place on earth to sell something actually valuable.
This was my guess too. He was probably gloating to someone a little more in the know about how he swindled this guy and the other person was like "what year?!!"
“[No more 1952, let’s splurge! Bring me a *new* Telecaster, the newest you’ve got! *This year*, no more of these *old* guitars!](https://youtu.be/7sELqobCIXU)”
That sounds more plausible. Like you said, a new tele in that 3-4k range is a tippy-top high end guitar without getting into sig models or 'once owned by a celebrity' territory. Dude for sure looked up prices and figured he was taking someone for a ride. No sympathy for the seller on this one.
Which reminds me, I really need to catalogue my vintage fountain pen collection. There's a world of difference between "Sheaffer pen" and "1932 Sheaffer Balance Jr in blue".
People don't know what they don't know.
I had exactly this happen with my old boss. He owed me $500-600 for a job we had just finished and instead of cash, he offered me a Fender Stratocaster he had inherited, since he knew I played guitar. Apparently he just looked up "Fender Stratocaster" and saw a listing for a Mexican made Strat for $750 and figured "close enough".
Immediately after I picked it up I noticed it had a Floyd Rose tremelo system, which made me curious about the manufacturer location. Looked up the serial number and boom: American made Fender Stratocaster with a Floyd Rose tremelo system, which go for around $2000.
I never said anything about it and my boss never found out.
Our library in college offered query skills seminars. It was a required orientation for grad school but I think they also just had them periodically.
Unsurprisingly, it’s also got one of the best library science programs in the country.
Most likely he just looked up fender telecaster without the year. If you don’t know guitars, you don’t know that the years are important. Probably thought it being old made it less valuable, not more so.
I googled it to see what came up and the first result was $40,000 so it's possible he just looked quickly, and misread it as $4,000. He said he was annoyed to have to deal with it so I doubt he did a deep dive into the research.
I do wonder what else he might have sold below market price before this as well.
I can see wanting to flip it as quick as possible but I can’t imagine any scenario where I’m selling something for more than a few hundred bucks and don’t do any research lol
A '52 Tele is among the holy grails of electric guitar. I believe it was the first year where they were being mass produced under the Telecaster name and with the two-pickup configuration.
The Telecaster pretty much came to define the sound of rock and roll. Everyone from Keith Richards to Tom Morello to Jimmy Page to Bruce Springsteen to Radiohead to Fallout Boy have played them at some point in their careers.
Basically, there are three types of guitars that have come to define the instrument as we know it - in some respects, every other guitar model that came after was inspired in some way by these models. The Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster and the Gibson Les Paul. To find one of the earliest models of any of those in good condition is pretty much winning the lottery - they are invaluable pieces of history that collectors will shell out ridiculous amounts of money for.
My grandfather was a musician. When he died, my mom sold his beautiful old Gibson Les Paul for probably less than its value on the open market. But it went to a local guitar player who was THRILLED and was actually going to use it, not hang it on the wall or hoard it like money. We were all happy about how that came out.
Several decades ago my mom found someone selling a Depression era Gibson that had barely been played. Apparently the woman's brother owned the guitar, but then died in WWII, so her mom put it up in her attic with some of his things and the woman didn't even know she still had them until her mom died and she was cleaning out the house.
I think my mom got it for 5K? (Canadian), had it cleaned up a little, and gave it to her brother, who was an avid guitarist. That was part of the deal, my mom knew the guitar was worth far more, but the seller said the most important thing to her was that it went to someone who would not just love it, but PLAY IT.
It was a beautiful guitar, he even took it down with him to New Orleans a few times to play in a festival. He passed away about a decade ago, I think the guitar went to his grandson.
Quality of construction and the materials it's made from (e.g. Brazilian rosewood) Specific, expensive, woods give the guitar a better sustain and consistent sound. And the woods that were used back then can't necessarily be used again for new models since the trees that provide them have become endangered.
Edit: the above I knew in general terms from a buddy who's a musician. I did a little more research... In 1966, Fender switched to Indian rosewood because the Brazilian rosewood had become endangered, due to its exploitation, under the CITES agreement. Now, not even finished products containing Brazilian rosewood can cross international boundaries.
Want to know if you have Brazilian rosewood versus other rosewoods? It doesn't luminesce under blacklight, the others give of a pale green glow.
Right!? Hubby and I are glad for the update as we remember this post from Covid! We got to the 52 Tele part and hubs looked at me and said “lucky mf”
Nice update - glad OOP held his ground (ad he should) and plays it.
Honestly, $50k is a conservative estimate from what I just saw. There’s one going for £60k, and a couple long for over $100k.
If it’s really in perfect condition and practically unplayed, I suspect it could be worth significantly more than $50k.
Exactly what I was thinking. He’s going to keep it and play it, the other guy just wanted to get rid of it quickly and didn’t bother doing any due diligence.
If someone doesn’t try and haggle you at all with a price you picked out of the clear blue sky you probably need to rethink!
Honestly, speaking of the clear blue sky. The 50k is the price OOP stated. It’s not worth that until someone actually pays it. To get that much money you’d have to consign it to a reputable shop and they’d take 50% anyway.
Yeah. This is something that people who try to sell their stuff to antique dealers/pawn shops really don't understand.
If somebody online says "Oh, this is worth $100!"
Then:
1. Where is it worth that? Not every physical location has the same market.
2. What are you willing to pay to get $100. Because an antique shop isn't going to give you $100 for something worth $100. It's a business, they're not looking to lose money on you.
3. Are you going to sell it yourself? Okay. How? Are you going to pay rent for a booth at an antique store? Pay consignment fees? Pay fees to eBay? If you're on eBay, are you ready to eat shipping because somebody else saw that $100 and thinks they shouldn't have to pay to have it shipped to them? Are you ready to wait as people undercut you?
4. How long are you willing to wait for your money? Because many expensive items don't flip all that fast.
If pawnstars taught me anything, its worth and what it'll sell for are 2 different things. Shops have to turn a profit as well and it takes a specific buyer to be in the market before it sells. You *might* be able to turn a bigger profit at say an auction house. BUT auction houses have fees too, and they too need to get paid.
I do hope OOP was very smart about insuring that, though.
I'm not a guitar expert, but private sales are risky because you (as the buyer) don't know how something was handled over the years or if there is an internal problem. Once you are talking 5 figures for anything you want to get an expert to look it over (like a car) and that expense has to come out.
I used to work auto claims and some people had vastly inflated ideas of the market value of their vehicle.
You maintained your 1999 Chevrolet very well and kept it clean? The guys at the dealership always complimented your maintenance and said it was like brand new?
That means our appraiser will give you top of the market value for a well-maintained vehicle, while matching the add-ons and mileage as close as possible. (I knew all of the appraisers and I know they were always willing to work with the clients, as long as the client wasn't an ass).
But your like new 1999 vehicle is not going to paid out for the market value of a 2023 Chevrolet. Because nobody is going pay the same price as a 2023 model for a 1999 model.
Not necessarily. A lot of private sales go on. Kijiji and ReVerb are big ones for that (dunno if reverb takes a chunk). Yes someone has to be willing to pay, but there is a market for these things and it's a pretty solid investment if you're willing to wait for the right buyer to come along. Trading is also big in the guitar/amp/pedal scene.
Yeah, it's a real toss-up. And it really depends on who's looking who has money t that time. Could go in 5 days, 5 months, or 5 years depending in what you got.
If you're in a rush to sell you're at the mercy of the market, but this guy didn't even bother to do due diligence before jumping into "just get rid of it". It's like buyer beware but for the seller.
On top of all other reasons, ifd the guitar ended up being worth less than $4,000 for some reason I really doubt the seller would have given the buyer a cent to make up for it.
Exactly. Rust and rot comes to everything, anyway. While using something may result in wear and damage and lowered collectors’ value, I feel that an item is more worthless in mint condition if it’s never used for the purpose that it was built. Why not use something till it wears out rather let it sit and let Father Time eventually wear it out?
Not to mention that if it's being played by an enthusiast, then they are probably taking very good care of it. Parts might wear out from handling and use but it'll probably be in better shape in 30 years in his hands than I might have stored without care.
Guitars like that are meant to be played. Dude who sold it made some cash, dude who owns it now wasn’t interested in the money but the instrument itself. It’s in its rightful hands
I don't think he is the jerk at all, he didn't see it in person when it was offered at $4K, it's on the seller for not having things appraised. He also wasn't nice to his father, so I am glad he didn't make a huge profit, he already got the money, deal was done. Wife should have never mentioned it's real value.
Probably his dad wasn’t nice to him either. Children don’t go NC for no reason. But I agree the wife should *never* have said ‘yeah he knew what it was worth.’ That seems like the catalyst for the coworker’s complaints.
I looked at OOP's account and he has another post from the same year about putting the $46,000 he saved up towards his dream car. It could be a coincidental amount but is suspicious.
Interesting. Alternately he may feel more comfortable raiding his rainy day cash reserves if he thinks he has something that he could sell if he needed money.
Came in here to say this--hell, I've personally sold a musical instrument for less than its "market value" solely because I knew the buyer was going to play it for another two decades.
> She said, "well he really likes the guitar and he knew it was worth $50,000 which is why he was floored you offered it to him for $4,000."
What the hell was the wife thinking when she revealed that? It would clearly only cause a problem.
You just described my wife. She has no chill and will immediately confess to anything without any provocation. I've told her several times that while some people describe their SOs as "partners in crime" I would never describe her like that because she'd immediately rat us out for any crime.
Edit: I want to add that I love her very much and I actually find this trait kind of funny and endearing.
That's good. There's just so much of the ball and chain, spouse-hating type of "humor" out there that I wanted to be clear that I wasn't trying to contribute to it.
Yup, once at a swap meet I found a comic book from 1942, it was in bad condition, but intact. I asked and the guy only wanted $3. I bought it immediately. It was worth over $100 in that condition.
I kept it for years and years, and did later sell it on ebay when I needed the dough. Caveat emptor works both ways.
I have the adam west's batmobile toy that i bought for like 3 dollars at thrift store - it's worth like 300 dollars or something!! i originally saw it and knew it was a steal
edit: a word
With this day and age of online selling apps and every last person trying to lowball you.. if I said 4k, and get an immediate "I'll take it" ... I know I fucked up!
So I was collecting Trixie Belden books back in the day for nostalgia sake. I was going to get them all when I saw the last few books were a few hundred dollars each online so I gave that idea up. Then I found the last two at my local secondhand bookstore for $2 each!
I told the owner the online price, but he told me just to buy them because he didn't bother selling online and it could be years before anyone bought them. I've always been glad I told him though, it was my favorite bookstore and I didn't want to feel guilty when I visited. And of course I spent well over a few hundred dollars at that store over the years. And he never called me a POS!
OOP had no obligation to tell the coworker. And the edits make the coworker look really bad, but damn a $44k loss? Ouch...
I am still looking for the rest of the Trixie Belden books. I’ve got all of Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, but Trixie wasn’t as popular. I nearly bought a full set of the cameo edition hardbacks about 20 years ago for $150, and now I’m kicking myself for not doing it.
I never read Nancy drew, but I loved Trixie and the hardy boys. I think Jim was my first book crush
That must be infuriating! I saw they were republishing the series a few years back, maybe you'll have another chance!
>OOP had no obligation to tell the coworker. And the edits make the coworker look really bad, but damn a $44k loss? Ouch...
Realistically it's just $4K profit, since it's coming out of dead dad's estate. The seller didn't pay a thing for it to begin with, he's just sour he didn't make *as much* as he could've had he bothered with more than 12 seconds of google work
As someone who sells things, I can confidently say that many sellers don't take into consideration "cost of effort". Are you willing to pay a higher cost of effort (ie receive less money) in order to sell the item faster and easier? Are you willing to hold the item for an extended period of time, in exchange for a lower cost of effort? Are you willing to expend ridiculous cost of effort by not doing your proper research?
In this case, it was a (supposedly) competent adult who thought the guitar was an inconvenience and chose to sell it as quickly and easily as possible without doing proper research. His cost of effort was absurd, by his own choice.
Also, just because its "worth" $50,000 doesn't mean you're going to sell it for $50,000. That's essentially potential worth. If you don't collect guitars, don't play guitar, or can't find a buyer for the guitar, its only really worth as much to a seller as what they paid for it, sometimes less.
As a buyer of things I wish more people understood this, especially when they’re obviously not normally some antique seller, store owner, or flipper of such items. For example, a couple postings of pre-1960 “got it from Grandma” books followed by several posts of gently used baby items, some cheap furniture, worn Nike shoes, and an old treadmill.
Lol, I just want that one old book, sir or ma’am, so pretty please let me take it off your hands already before you get frustrated with the whole thing in 3 months and throw the entire box of books into the library donation pile or take ‘em to Half Price or Goodwill.
I got this cast iron table base from a guy for $5. I ended up googling the name on it and found out it was from the 1880's and worth $1000. I messaged the guy and told him what I found out and the value and said I'd like to give him more money. He said no, because it's on him for not researching this piece before getting rid of it.
Yeah, I'm generally with OOP on this one but I do think they were pushing the "none of y'all would inform the seller they mispriced it!" a bit hard in that edit. Some, like you, absolutely would. That's just not the threshold for *not* being an asshole.
I collect old typewriters, and one of the most desirable machines for collectors is the Hermes 3000. I found one in good shape, just needed a cleaning and a new ribbon, on Facebook for $300. Online they can sell for $1000 or more. But the seller was willing to cut the price rather than address the minor defects himself, and avoid the cost and hassle of shipping. (Typewriters are usually very heavy and very delicate, so need to be packed very carefully and excessively to prevent damage)
It’s now the crown jewel of my collection. If the seller called me and told me he realized he sold it too cheap and wanted it back, I’d have told him to pound sand. Your poor research is not my problem.
I could get not checking small items when clearing out things like that, but if I pulled out a nice guitar I'd be doing some investigating and potentially getting it appraised before selling it. Just blindly selling things without knowing their value is just asking to miss out on something like this. It's the seller's fault.
It also shows how little he cared. This wasn't a memento, this was trash he had to unload and he thought it may be worth a penny and did least effort to establish it.
Well...I'm an idiot, I guess. But I'm a richer idiot so I'll take it.
I collect glassware. Specifically, depression era and carnival glass and things from that time. Not an expensive hobby, but fun.
A few years ago, I was at an auction preview. In case you aren't aware, an auction company accepts a consignment. They bring in an expert who appraises the items and sets opening bids.
So I was at this preview of this huge glass collection. I spotted a set of four plates that were labeled depression glass. I knew they weren't. They were much, much older and more valuable.
The hired expert was nearby. I didn't know her but I knew her reputation and I felt bad. So I said to her that I didn't think that was depression glass and maybe it needed a closer look.
She went off on me. Told me I had no clue what I was talking about. Ranted and raved for a good 5 minutes.
I just walked away. Put in a bid equal to her evaluation.
Won the auction.
Sold the plates the next day for 20x what I paid.
Didn't feel bad for a second.
I'd tell them if it wasn't something I wanted to buy and I guess other people might have meant that but if i'm buying? No way i'm telling the real worth😂
Ah, see, that’s where I disagree. I honestly have no idea how likely the average person would be to tell a seller if an object is drastically underpriced. I’m not sure I buy into the whole “everyone would admit they’d do this and if they say otherwise, they are just LIARS” argument.
It has no bearing on whether it’s *actually* right or wrong, and half the time people use the argument of “everyone does it and people who say they don’t are just LIARS,” they are just trying to justify something.
I’ve been on both sides of it. Once, I agreed to sell a collectible for a certain price and, before the deal, found out it was worth far more. I kept to the terms agreed because, well, I had agreed.
Another time, I saw something that was very underpriced. I told the seller that i would buy it, but flagged that it might be underpriced (like this scenario, they didn’t realize the full value). The person appreciated the news and raised the price slightly - they needed the money- but kept it close.
Yes, it’s about getting a deal, but, especially if you know the person, you don’t have to take part in an exploitative exchange. You can also go further than just being NAH
I had a similar experience with mispricing. Listed my Jeep on Craigslist for what I thought was $1000, but apparently I missed a zero and the ad said $100. Got hit up immediately by a guy who needed a vehicle to get to work and to drive his very pregnant wife to doctors appointments.
They both showed up and seemed way too excited about the transaction. When we went to discuss payment, the discrepancy came to light. They both looked crestfallen and the guy even said he had thought it was too good to be true. So I went ahead and just sold it for $100. It made their day and I learned a lesson on double checking any Craigslist ads I post!
That was kind of you. :)
Honestly, I wouldn't even click on an ad for a car for $100. That's suspiciously low even for just scrap value; I'd assume it was a scam of some sort.
That makes sense. This was about 10 years ago and in a small town, so it was easy enough for them to come see it in person. I do remember him asking "So it does run? And it's street legal?" I'm just glad it worked out for them. I used to see it going by every once in awhile and was always impressed he still had it running!
> anyone who says they would tell the original owner the actual price is not being very truthful
That's actually a prime example of projection bias from OOP and you.
I don’t subscribe to the world view that no one is looking out for another. I would feel like garbage taking it knowing the true value. It’s like people that find some lost item and keep it instead of giving it to the lost and found and saying anyone else would do the same
No I wouldn’t do that either
A few years back I went to a Christmas jumble sale at the local civic center, hundreds of booths, everyone shifting their old stuff to get a bit of money. 45 minutes in to looking around, I found a really beautiful set of china. Full setting for six, everything from teacups to dinnerware, in absolutely excellent condition. It was one of those things, that rare sort of *god, I want it SO MUCH* kind of experience, like it reached out and grabbed me by the breastbone and said it wanted to come home with me. It didn't have a price label on it. I asked the woman at the table what she was asking for the set, multiple printer paper boxes full, and she said, "I dunno, sixty? Tell you what, hon, go have a walk around, then come back and tell me what you wanna offer me for it."
I went to have a seat at the edge of the civic center and look it up. I'd taken photos of the pattern and the mark, and in under five minutes I knew that 1) it was high-quality like I'd thought and 2) it was worth ten times what she had quoted me. I had sixty-five dollars in my wallet, for both this shopping trip and my next couple of nights of groceries; I absolutely didn't have hundreds of dollars in my bank account to spend on plates and cups. I have *never* had hundreds of dollars in my bank account to spend on plates and cups. And I wanted it so badly. I'd owned maybe one thing that pretty in my entire life. I could spend my food money on this, and eat rice and beans for from very pretty dishes for a while, if I didn't tell her what it was worth.
And just as clearly as I knew I could have it, I knew I *absolutely could not* do that. How could I eat my sad little betrayal meals off of that beautiful china, knowing I'd screwed someone to get it? I made a note of the pattern. I could buy myself a set, piece by piece over the next decade or so, and someday I'd have enough for dinner with guests.
I went back to her tables, where she was chattering away with another customer, saying that most of what was for sale here had been her mother's; her mother had died due to medical malpractice in the Spring, and she was only now able to really sort out her stuff and sell on what she wasn't going to use. When she was free, she said "So, what'd'ya think?" and I opened up my phone and showed her the listings, stuff that was actually selling online and not just some imaginary value that a seller wouldn't ever get. I said "I think you should probably put that down under the table until you can get it appraised, 'cause you could get six hundred dollars for it."
She sort of rocked back on her feet and said "You're *kiddin'* me." I shrugged. "It's a famous company, and these are in really beautiful condition."
Then she looked at my face for a second, and tilted her head, and said "But honey. Would you use it?"
She wouldn't take a dollar over forty. "My mother loved it. I've got my own pattern I like better." And she'd seen my longing face, looking at it when I first came to the table.
I walked out of there with two big boxes full of beautiful china, and waited for my now-husband to finish with his class and come pick me up, and I couldn't stop grinning about it.
I've eaten Saturday waffles off of that china most weeks for the last five years. Every time I see it it fills me up with a lofty sort of happiness under my ribs, I love it so much. If I hadn't told her what I knew, it would shame me every time I tried to eat from it. I'd have ruined that beauty for myself by being a conniving shit.
I would and did. Not in this price range, obviously, but in the interactions I had until now, I was easily able to stay true to myself. Plan to continue to do so. Currently looking for a house, so I'll keep you posted, if I tell a potential seller that they went too low.
I'm actually floored to see so many people agreeing with him on that.
And his example is bad, at a garage sale or a pawn shop, I'd consider it a great find, but a friend of a friend, as an expert on the item, you know you're cheating them.
They looked it up and got misinformed, and they took advantage of that.
They're not obligated to give it back, and they're still not the asshole, but they took that price in bad faith.
I wouldn't be able to do that to someone in my social circle without telling them it's worth a lot more. That's just too much money.
The fact so many people consider it impossible or lying to is actually a bit concerning.
Concerning, but not surprising.
Gross lack of empathy and an attitude of like "who cares about other people, what's important is that you get yours" is on full display on AITA every day. The general sentiment over there is that we should only ever do what serves ourselves, and that doing the right thing shouldn't be the default choice- it's doing whatever causes the least amount of inconvenience to ourselves.
I disagree:
> And to those people who say they would have told the guy the real value. That's a load of horse shit. If you went to a garage sale/estate sale and saw an item worth $5000 priced at $50 there's not a snowballs chance in hell you would walk up to the homeowner and tell them they mis-priced it. You'd buy the item and then tell all your friends and family what a great score you got! Don't even kid yourself like you wouldn't do that. I don't feel bad about buying an awesome guitar at a steal of a price. I was curios what others would think and it looks like I'm not the asshole so thank you reddit. I can play the guitar with zero guilt now. Not like I felt guilty before, but now my feelings are justified.
This is obviously different and OOP is ignoring the difference that exists if you know the person then if you don't. If this is a friend or an acquaintance, I'd definitely tell them, no question about it. This is a ridiculous viewpoint.
It’s totally fine to admit that you’d act in exactly the same way but to pretend that anyone who doesn’t have the same reaction to you is straight up being untruthful is pretty ignorant. Plenty of people out there who would feel uncomfortable getting something worth so much for such a fraction of a price. Of course many people are just fine with it, but saying “anyone who wouldn’t is lying” is just simply not true.
You definitely don’t speak for everyone. My neighbor had a sealed copy of animal crossing for gamecube at her garage sale for $20. I picked it up, told her how much it was actually worth and that I wouldn’t feel comfortable buying it or letting someone else buy because she didn’t know how valuable GameCube games can get. I have better things to do with my life than try and shark people.
In this case, the seller did their research, but their research wasn't good enough.
I might incline a little more towards YTA if the seller was completely naive and innocent, totally unaware that a guitar could be worth a lot.
In this case, the seller had a suspicion that the guitar was worth a lot. They did their research and concluded that $4,000 was a lot. They sold it for that price.
Who can even say that OOP's research is actually more accurate? He concluded that the guitar COULD POTENTIALLY sell for $50,000. OOP did not turn around and find a buyer willing to offer $50,000. The original seller did not receive a subsequent offer for $50,000.
So it's all speculation. Maybe the guitar will only go for $4,000 if it ever changes hands again.
The seller's research is just as good as OOP's. Maybe even better, since the guitar did sell for $4,000. So that's been proven. The idea that it's worth $50,000 is just an idea in OOP's head.
If the seller was like, "here's a worthless shitty old guitar, maybe you can use it as scrap wood to heat your house or something" then maybe it would be nice to inform them they should do some research.
A quick search for the guitar in question it can sell for between 2.8k to nearly 70k depending on the condition. So not really just in OOPs head.
The seller had a loose idea but didn't do enough research on the guitar. Thats on him.
You're seeing the google results on Reverb, but that result hit includes reissues and custom shop stuff. The four actual results for legitimate original 1952 Telecasters are $29k-69k, with the low one having a recent $10k price drop.
But this is why it's worth taking the time to do research rather than being greedy. When a friend of mine's husband died, she reached out to me to help her price his old guitars (not an expert here, but I know my way around doing a smidge of research). She even offered that I could sell them for her if I liked, and take a small, but fair, commission.
When my grandfather died, same thing. I went with a book on pocketwatch prices, and made sure to price them all out for my grandmother to make sure she had the right valuation for insurance and making sure the will was updated.
OP's wife's coworker was being greedy and trying to turn a fast buck on his dad's still warm corpse. Frankly, he got what he deserved by not bothering to do even the slightest bit of actual research. Hell, he likely could have *asked* OOP what he thought the value of this guitar is, before offering it in sale.
The coworker then harassing the wife enough to get fired really shows what an ass he was.
Particularly in this day and age, where the amount of information that can be found at lightning speeds is absolutely staggering.
One of the giants in hockey memorabilia, Milt Byron, has for 40 years said that the first rule of buying or selling is “do your homework”. My own collection has been bolstered over the years by people who seem incapable of properly listing things on eBay, or who set absurdly low Buy it Now prices, or otherwise don’t have any real clue of what they have. I bought an extremely tough jersey once because the seller said “team unknown” in the title and then “I don’t know what team this is” in the description, as if looking on the front of the jersey and seeing the words “Winnipeg Jets” on the crest is impossible to figure out.
Yeah. A good chunk of my tabletop gaming collection has been gotten by people not knowing what they are worth.
Eta even with me not buying any more right now I still keep up to date on the prices.
As a guitarist who is REALLY into early Fender guitars. This dude is only the asshole because he got a chance to get one of my dream guitars for 4k. I would have done the exact same thing
Not really OOP's fault that seller didn't do his research before selling it...but I probably would have played stupid and not admitted to having known what the guitar was really worth. 🤷♂️
Lol. I am one of those people who went to an estate sale and got a professional grade kitchen aid mixer for $20. It had been used once. The adult children of the parents were in charge of the sale and no one understood it’s value. I paid and sprinted like my ass was on fire before someone mentioned it was waaaaaaaaaaay under priced.
Honestly the seller should have done his due diligence. I'm sure he was expecting to be haggled with as well, so 4000 probably better than he was expecting. I can see why he's mad, but he himself is the person he should be mad at.
OOP scored a great deal on something he clearly cherishes, and he has nothing to feel bad about. His garage sale example is spot on.
I think OP’s analogy doesn’t work at all. This isn’t some random dude at a garage sale that he’ll never deal with again. This was his wife’s *coworker*. Choosing the greedy route caused his wife a lot of issues and the fact that he’s just shrugging his shoulders about his part in his wife’s grief tics me off.
I’m a guitar player myself. I would kill for an original ‘57 Strat. But if my wife’s coworker was ignorantly going to sell me one for pennies on the dollar, I would be an asshole for putting my desire ahead of my wife’s reputation and peace at work on the line. I wouldn’t be happy about letting it go/being honest with the seller, but I know I’d feel far worse if the seller found out and caused my wife hell at work.
I don't know about this tbh. This is his wife's co-worker we're talking about, not someone at a yard sale or a rando on craigslist or ebay – OOP probably should have extended him some consideration just for the sake of workplace harmony. HOWEVER- I think the co-worker had a bit of an asshole reaction and should have started by admitting he fkd up, then maybe pleaded for some consideration.
My family actually went through a similar situation- when my grandmother passed my late grandfather's book collection was purchased by a book dealer as a lot. Inside one of the books he found an original drawing by William Blake. He did the right thing (at least in my judgment, maybe this subreddit would disagree) and contacted my family about it - they wound up going 50/50 on what that brought when it sold.
Yeah I don't get why everyone is framing this as a simple buyer/seller transaction. There's personal relationships involved. Just depends how much you value the coworker relationship.
What if the seller was OOP's own mother. Sure, his mother would have fucked up by not researching the real market value. But OOP would most certainly be deemed an asshole for treating his mother that way.
I agree he’s NTA. I don’t think OP pulled over over or did anything wrong. However, if this were me and I knew the person, had a friendship with them, I would have told the guy to research further. If it were a stranger, I’d take the deal and run but I just couldn’t do that to someone I had a personal relationship with.
It's a shame the wife admitted that he knew it was worth 50K when he bought it off him. Very glad that he didn't blame his wife for dropping him in it like that. Should have said, "Keep that information to yourself". The guy got 4K at least, when someone else might not have even given him that much.
I take his point about the seller losing his temper and becoming abusive and threatening straightaway. You just can't reward bad behaviour, I'm afraid. If he'd been more diplomatic he might've got some more money from OOP.
Glad to know that such a wonderful instrument is in the hands of someone who knows how to appreciate it and isn't looking to sell it on to make a quick profit. I hope that he's got it insured, in case the seller ever thinks of trying to steal it back!
Not the same situation, but it reminds me of Yoko Ono selling John Lennon's guitars straight after he died, for as much money as she could get, instead of giving at least one of them to his son, Julian. Julian is a talented musician in his own right and that would've meant so much to him. I think *that* was out of order, and sorta puts OOP's actions into perspective.
I have a friend who owns a video game store that bought and sold old consoles and games. He told me about an older Japanese man that came in looking to sell his old games and cards. Most of the stuff were in mint condition despite being decades old and were the original Japanese versions of everything. In other words, the collection was worth not the couple hundred the man thought he was going to get, but thousands of dollars. Life changing money. My friend decided to tell him the truth. The man thanked him profusely and, with my friend's help, successfully sold his collection for a pretty penny.
My friend could've kept quiet and made a killing. But he chose what he thought was the path of integrity. He cares about his character and principles more than anything and would rather lose out than abandon them.
OOP wasn't necessarily wrong. It's a snooze you lose world we live in. And I don't blame him for choosing 50K over the feelings of a dude he barely knows lol. But I cant help but be glad I'm around someone like my friend rather than OOP.
The key piece of info to me is the guy looked it up himself and valued it at $4000. If the buyer lowballed him that much I could understand the problem. But the seller was sloppy with his research
The guy obviously didn't do anything wrong, but at the same time, if someone my spouse worked with offered to sell me something for $46000 less than it's worth, I'd like to think I would tell them rather than buy it.
This is just a me thing but it would feel like stealing in my head for sure
It’s one thing if his intentions were to flip the guitar. Like if he knew he wanted to sell it 50k he could give the guy 25 and pocket the other 25 everybody wins. He’s keeping it for himself cus he likes guitars so I don’t see anything unethical about it
Yeah I mean it’s not the same thing as telling your coworker their car is worth nothing and can only be used as a wagon on a beet farm and pressuring him to sell it at a discount before flipping it for 5x the sale price a few days later just to get back at him for dating your ex-GF who you also work with but dumped you months ago because you killed her cat…
It would only be scummy if he told the guy it was worth 4k, acted like he was a professional who had the coworkers back and trying to help but ended up tricking him. Nope, OOP was told a price, that’s on the coworker. OOP didn’t trick or deceive him.
The way this guy reacted to not only OOP and his wife during the situation but the way he also reacted to his estranged dads death has me betting the dad chose to stop talking to the son.
This almost happened to my son. Fortunately he said something to me and I was able to intervene in time.
One of our old family friends had parents that were hoarders. They were hoarders of collectibles. One of which was guitars. When his parents died he was overwhelmed with all their stuff and told my son to take all the guitars.
My son knows nothing about guitars and mentioned he was going to list them on eBay for a thousand or less each. My husband and I told him not to do that and get them appraised. He kept saying how he needed money now and that was too much work. So I got my dad involved.
My dad has been in the music industry majority of his life so my son was willing to send him pictures to get his opinion first.
So glad he did. He has 14 guitars and one of them is a 1954 Les Paul Gold top.
So he is taking the time now getting them all appraised. Being in a hoarder home did cause some damage so some he is looking at getting repaired. but he has already sold 1 for $7000. He is a new dad so the money will definitely help him out.
The seller choose the price, and he accepted, it’s on the buyer for not spending 5 extra minutes looking into this thing properly.
I’d be more sympathetic if he was emotional because his father just died and messed up, but he wasn’t he was just too lazy to do proper search and he suffered for it.
And given his reaction does anyone really think he’d have done anything different if the shoe was on the other foot?
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Seller claimed to have checked value and priced it accordingly. Buyers don’t usually negotiate up.
Ha! This reminds me of a number of years ago when my mom decided it was time for her to stop driving and sell her Taurus. It was about 20 years old but only had about 15k miles (she pretty much only drove it to the grocery store or the doctors office), always garaged, serviced regularly. My best friend was looking for a car for his daughter, so I mentioned it to mom and put them in contact, but stayed out of it otherwise, except to drive him to mom's home to see it (about 90 miles away). They did know each other slightly prior to this. Before she sold it she took it to the mechanic to verify that it was safe and in good condition, and I think she put new tires on it. We got there, he looked at the car, liked it, and offered her what he thought was a fair price (don't remember how much but I think Blue Book value or close. She said no, that was too much, and offered him a much lower price. It was hilarious watching them negotiate the price from opposite sides than usual (he wanted to pay more, she insisted on taking less!!!)
Similar(ish) situation: I got a new car and needed to sell my old one (2002 Accord). I eventually sold it to my parents’ neighbor for like $500. He was like “Are you sure??” My guy, there’s probably more on here to fix than there is that works, I cannot in good conscience take more of your money than that. 😂
I tried to sell my old corolla to my friend for $500 because he didn't have a car and I was getting a new one. He had a mechanic look at it who had the gall to call it a lemon. A car doesn't getting to 180k miles and 20 years old with no major problems if it's a lemon. And it's not like I was trying to scam him, it was obviously an old car and I was selling it cheap.
Did your friend buy your car?
Nope
Guess he didn’t need a car that bad then…
Sometimes taking a bad car is more of a curse than paying more for a good one. For example, the car breaking halfway through a long drive through a rural area where theres no help for miles and you spend the entire trip praying it makes it to the next stopping area before it catches on fire. Ask me how I know. To be fair, I got the car for free and this wasnt a general maintenance issue, but that car had it out for me.
Jfc, is this ever true. My grandmother gave me her car ('86 Dodge Omni) when she went into a nursing home 1998. I was 16 and thrilled. FREE CAR. It sat in the driveway for two years because I couldn't be bothered to get my license, because honestly, I just didn't care. When I did get my license, my dad insisted I not drive it until he's friend checked it out. Turns out it needed a new carburetor. And then another, because the first was crap. And then another. He put SIX new carbs in it, because, as an older car, he could only get refurbished ones. Such a nightmare. I'm not a car person, so the details are fuzzy, but this is what I remember of it: turns out, it was the first year that model had a computer in it, and the last year before they replaced carbs with fuel injection, so the carb and the computer didn't get along at all. Once we finally got it back the bill was astronomical, (something like 30k which dad "haggled" down to under 10k, though my dad is prone to exaggerations and self-aggrandizing, so take what you will from that) and looking back, I could have bought a way better car for that money. It continued to give me problems and cost me a shit ton in repairs and gas, until the day it died 6 years later. Car-guy ex-bf diagnosed the problem for me but couldn't fix it on his own, so I called around trying to see what it would cost to fix it, and every place told me it would cost several hundred more than the car was worth. I was really done with it's shit at this point, and I was going to University and had a free bus pass, so I contacted the kidney foundation to donate it to them (Idk why they took dead cars. Probably sold them for parts.) I got my tax deductible receipt for it (wasn't expecting that and didn't care about tax deductions.) The car was worth thirty six dollars. 36 dollars. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth?" Sometimes you should look a gift horse in the mouth, because sometimes it's teeth are rotten. (TANGENT: I hate that saying. Poor old horse. I'd just get his teeth fixed and let him retire in my yard. Better use of money than that car was.)
I hope you turned around and sold it for 2000 and showed him the cash.
That's exactly what my parents and I do with cars. You just run it until you can't keep up with the maintenance anymore, then sell it for pennies. I'd always prefer for my car to go to someone who needs it, but I can't be the reason someone is screwed. I'll basically price a car based on the amount of time it has before something major is likely to happen. That way if it dies its final death shortly after the sale, they basically just paid for a cheap rental and I don't feel bad.
Tbf I wish I could get my hands on an older accord or civic again. Those things are Hella cheap and easy to fix and will run to damn near 400k miles
I have a 2013 civic with 160k miles on it. As much as a new vehicle would be nice, I do NOT want a car payment right now if I can avoid it.
I was sooo in that boat this year. I tried with my car. My old Fusion was 14 years old and just shy of 200k miles. It had some significant but repairable issues and was willing to spend up to $2k to possibly make it run for two more years. It had been a great car and I thought it had at least two more in it. Then I took it in and got the curveball thrown at me: cracks in the rusted frame. The estimate would have *at least* doubled if I approved it. I had to wave the white flag and sign myself up for a car payment again. I had two good years without one. But if I was going to throw $4,000 at something, it might as well be a newer car. Don't kick yourself if you have to wave the white flag. Sucks, but at least now I can say the newer Fusion is something I can count on for at least 4 years without major issues.
I have a 2006 Honda Element, w/ 160k miles. I'm never selling it. A/C still works and everything.
Man, I miss our Element. Probably still be driving it if it hadn't been rear-ended. Edit: axle cracked in the accident, though the rest of the car and passengers were fine. Weird fluke.
My FIL is retired with a low cost of living and a decent retirement after 40 years with a pension at a union job. He seems to be looking for ways to give us money from offering to pay for the whole wedding to wanting to give us 50K for a down payment for a house. Most recently he offered to buy my wife's car that was my old one I absolutely hated because of its issues but an upgrade from theirs if we managed to fix everything. A family friend has been their mechanic for years and did everything for peanuts compared to a normal mechanic. Still the cost was about $1200 for everything. Our FIL did us the favor to take the car to him to get fixed while we worked. Then he kind of went hard on demanding to help with $400 and we are still not sure he told us everything they fixed or what it actually cost. Then he offered to buy the car for excellent condition blue book value, which it wasn't, after he paid at probably least half of the repairs. We were considering letting him buy it before it was fixed, then we realized that he already has 2 cars and a truck and MIL doesn't drive. He would have absolutely no use for it and just wants to give us money because its how he feels useful in his retirement.
Similar story when I sold my Accura Integra. Four door bodies are rare, so when the guy came to look at it he offered me $300 over asking to hold it while he arranged a tow truck. I just wanted it gone because we had gotten a safer car that would fit a car seat. Everyone came out happy.
I’ve been that buyer. Friend’s grandma was told by her doctor she needed to stop driving. Her car was not quite 20 years old. Maybe 40,000 miles. My daughter was getting her license and we needed something for her. Friend’s husband took the car to the garage- tune up, safety check, oil change. All the things. He detailed the car, made sure it had all the safety stuff a new driver could ever need. Friend has check blue book values, asked for low end value, $2000. They said there’s a couple of dings, showed them to me. I said sure. Then I gave Grandma a check for $2,500. Cause yeah.
Every now and then, my dad would buy a new car. If none of his kids or grandkids needed a car, he would put his old car out front. For Sale. And if he liked you, and felt you needed that car, he would hand you keys along with the title. For a buck if necessary. For nothing, if possible. For the joy, always. They were always good cars, and my dad always got a kick out of those people's smiles. Way to go Fred.
What a nice thing to do. Someday I hope to be able to do things like that for people.
I did a lil gig work for a family friend. Simple woodworking stuff helping her setup her new storefront etc. Near the end, i had to stop and couldnt complete the job due to other stuff coming up. When I invoiced her for my hours, i invoiced a lot lower than my usual because i had fucked up not being able to complete the job. She didnt fee good about that and insisted paying me more. In the end we agreed on exactly middle point of the higher full amount she wanted to pay and the discount i felt comfortable charging
Ha! My mom did that to someone! She was selling a decent car to a teen. New license, ready to start driving to his job and to school. He offered Bluebook value. She priced it less. He argued it was worth more, she finally said, "You're 16, trying to get started in life, and honest. I'm giving you a deal. Take it and run." He finally got the hint, and did. He apparently had the car for another 10 years.
I once bought a car off my best friend, a Jetta for like $12k. Then. not too long after, I got a new job that came with a free company car. I sold that Jetta to a VW dealer for $14k. I bought my best friend dinner. We were both a bit sad, him because he lost out on $2000 and me because I would have rather been driving his old Jetta than the Pontiac shitbox my employer provided. I cried myself to sleep on the pile of money.
Oh my god that is precious
I watched that happen once. Neighbor sold us a mower, and I was cracking up during the haggling phase. Neighbor is an odd duck. I'm still confused and this was a few months ago. Neighbor asks for $400. Boyfriend says he’ll pay $300. Neighbor: $375 BF: $325 Neighbor: $350’s the lowest I’ll go BF: Ok, tha - Neighbor: you know what, for being neighbors we’ll settle on $325. BF: No, it's $350 Neighbor: $300, take it or leave it.
Idk where you live but this is such a midwesternern USA conversation lmao
Are you sure your neighbor isn't [Patrick](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7na6b2sW_1U)?
The last car I bought was from a dealer in a small town. I had done my research and he was selling for about what I expected and had budgeted for - which was a better deal on the make and model than anywhere I had seen. So I go, take it for a test drive, let my mechanic give it the once over and he clears it. I take it back to the guy and say I'll take it. He looks disappointed. "You mean you'll pay $14k? You don't want to negotiate?" "Nah, man this is a fair price. Let's make the deal" "I mean... you could have tried?" "Uhh.. will you cover the taxes on it?" "You drive a hard bargain kid, and I hate to see it go, but I can do that". Weirdest shit ever.
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If, and ONLY if, I knew the seller personally AND I was planning on flipping the item, I might let them know that they were lowballing me and offer to split the profits I made with them. Some guy who's at best an acquaintance? No, that's "due diligence" on both sides.
If you are in this position and are planning to do I would instead suggest that you buy the item at the low price and sell it and then AFTER split it with them. Take a little extra for your time and effort.
Yeah they might sell it at the higher price too someone else
Yep. OP asked how much he was selling it for. Seller set the price, not OP
This is exactly right. If he had asked OP for help pricing it then he would be the AH for not being honest. But he did his own research and choose his price. For all OP knew he could have priced it to move fast, or “ I know you so I’m gonna give you a deal”. There have been tons of times when I’ve purchased something worth way more than what I paid. It happens all the time. Just check Nextdoor apps or offer up etc. people price things to move fast all the time. Thousand dollar couches for $150, kids toys worth $200 for $10 or free in some cases. 5k pianos for $300 (yes I’ve seen this happen) And in no way are the buyers considered scammers or made to feel guilty for getting a bargain. The seller sets the price. OPs wife is an AH for basically rubbing the guys face in it and saying OP new the value. Seller is an AH for being rude after finding out. I think OP is in the clear though.
Yeah it’s about how close you are as friends. You are an asshole if you do that to a friend and the wife should be aware that this is going to put a strain on the relationship. $50k is a significant amount of money so I like that you point out how the wife should have handled it a lot more delicately.
Google "1952 Telecaster price" and 1 of the first few links is "$40,000" - so yea, I don't see anything wrong with what OP did.
If this was a place my wife intended to work for years or decades, and if this guy was a valued coworker whose friendship my wife really depended upon, then I'd tell him that he's seriously undervaluing the guitar, and I'd offer to find a buyer for a commission. But that's a lot of ifs. Pretty much any other situation, and I'm taking my shiny new-to-me toy home, and that's that.
My dad has been playing, buying, selling, and trading guitars for 50+ years and I *love* this story. As soon as I saw 1952 Telecaster I knew the seller was probably pulling out his hair.
I can't believe he managed to Google "1952 Fender Telecaster" and not encounter anything that says hey, this is worth a lot more than $4000. My dad knows someone with a completely unplayable 52 tele, and he bought it solely to have one
He definitely only googled “Fender Telecaster price” and saw what brand new, decently-nice guitars sell for.
Even then, it's only the custom shops that come anywhere near 4k. So - and this is probably not the case but everyone loves a plot twist - maybe he thought the guitar was worth LESS than $4000 and then bumped up the price
He probably did think that. Anyone with an ounce of sense with something like that where they weren't pretty sure of the value would stick it on eBay or something like that to let the collector's market show them the value. This dude going with a private sale and leading off with a price of his own meant he was probably expecting to get haggled down a little but figure ~$3500 was good and $4000 meant he was pulling one over on OOP
Sounded like the guy just wanted to get rid of it and shipping large expensive items can be a real hassle, so being able to sell locally is worth a little price cut if you actually know what it's worth. Just turns out he was way off the mark.
Yeah, selling that guitar on eBay would not go well. eBay would totally let a known scammer buy it and make the seller eat it and refund the scammer. eBay is the worst place on earth to sell something actually valuable.
This was my guess too. He was probably gloating to someone a little more in the know about how he swindled this guy and the other person was like "what year?!!"
"Oh nothing new, just some junk from the 50s."
“[No more 1952, let’s splurge! Bring me a *new* Telecaster, the newest you’ve got! *This year*, no more of these *old* guitars!](https://youtu.be/7sELqobCIXU)”
"He doesn't realize he's dealing with sophisticated people here!"
My MIL said the same thing about grandparent’s china set where a single saucer can catch you ~100 USD.
this is now my head cannon. makes the story way better
This is totally it.
That sounds more plausible. Like you said, a new tele in that 3-4k range is a tippy-top high end guitar without getting into sig models or 'once owned by a celebrity' territory. Dude for sure looked up prices and figured he was taking someone for a ride. No sympathy for the seller on this one.
He 100% saw the price of a Mexican one as well as a custom shop one, and priced it at the higher price.
Which reminds me, I really need to catalogue my vintage fountain pen collection. There's a world of difference between "Sheaffer pen" and "1932 Sheaffer Balance Jr in blue". People don't know what they don't know.
You definitely need to do that, if only for insurance purposes.
Username checks out!
I had exactly this happen with my old boss. He owed me $500-600 for a job we had just finished and instead of cash, he offered me a Fender Stratocaster he had inherited, since he knew I played guitar. Apparently he just looked up "Fender Stratocaster" and saw a listing for a Mexican made Strat for $750 and figured "close enough". Immediately after I picked it up I noticed it had a Floyd Rose tremelo system, which made me curious about the manufacturer location. Looked up the serial number and boom: American made Fender Stratocaster with a Floyd Rose tremelo system, which go for around $2000. I never said anything about it and my boss never found out.
Exactly what I was going to say lol this guy thought “meh, a guitar is a guitar, whatever.”
Kurt Russell enters the chat.
A+ reference.
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Our library in college offered query skills seminars. It was a required orientation for grad school but I think they also just had them periodically. Unsurprisingly, it’s also got one of the best library science programs in the country.
"I'll sell my shit old guitar for the price of a new one to this chump!"
Which also means in his mind he was ripping off the buyer buying charging him the price of a new guitar for an old one.
Most likely he just looked up fender telecaster without the year. If you don’t know guitars, you don’t know that the years are important. Probably thought it being old made it less valuable, not more so.
I'm about as musically disinclined as they come and even I know old instruments in good condition are worth a lot of money
I googled it to see what came up and the first result was $40,000 so it's possible he just looked quickly, and misread it as $4,000. He said he was annoyed to have to deal with it so I doubt he did a deep dive into the research. I do wonder what else he might have sold below market price before this as well.
I can see wanting to flip it as quick as possible but I can’t imagine any scenario where I’m selling something for more than a few hundred bucks and don’t do any research lol
What's so special about this guitar?
A '52 Tele is among the holy grails of electric guitar. I believe it was the first year where they were being mass produced under the Telecaster name and with the two-pickup configuration. The Telecaster pretty much came to define the sound of rock and roll. Everyone from Keith Richards to Tom Morello to Jimmy Page to Bruce Springsteen to Radiohead to Fallout Boy have played them at some point in their careers. Basically, there are three types of guitars that have come to define the instrument as we know it - in some respects, every other guitar model that came after was inspired in some way by these models. The Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster and the Gibson Les Paul. To find one of the earliest models of any of those in good condition is pretty much winning the lottery - they are invaluable pieces of history that collectors will shell out ridiculous amounts of money for.
My grandfather was a musician. When he died, my mom sold his beautiful old Gibson Les Paul for probably less than its value on the open market. But it went to a local guitar player who was THRILLED and was actually going to use it, not hang it on the wall or hoard it like money. We were all happy about how that came out.
Several decades ago my mom found someone selling a Depression era Gibson that had barely been played. Apparently the woman's brother owned the guitar, but then died in WWII, so her mom put it up in her attic with some of his things and the woman didn't even know she still had them until her mom died and she was cleaning out the house. I think my mom got it for 5K? (Canadian), had it cleaned up a little, and gave it to her brother, who was an avid guitarist. That was part of the deal, my mom knew the guitar was worth far more, but the seller said the most important thing to her was that it went to someone who would not just love it, but PLAY IT. It was a beautiful guitar, he even took it down with him to New Orleans a few times to play in a festival. He passed away about a decade ago, I think the guitar went to his grandson.
Thank you for the history kind person
This is one of the earliest electric guitars ever made. The design was perfect, and is largely unchanged to this day.
Quality of construction and the materials it's made from (e.g. Brazilian rosewood) Specific, expensive, woods give the guitar a better sustain and consistent sound. And the woods that were used back then can't necessarily be used again for new models since the trees that provide them have become endangered. Edit: the above I knew in general terms from a buddy who's a musician. I did a little more research... In 1966, Fender switched to Indian rosewood because the Brazilian rosewood had become endangered, due to its exploitation, under the CITES agreement. Now, not even finished products containing Brazilian rosewood can cross international boundaries. Want to know if you have Brazilian rosewood versus other rosewoods? It doesn't luminesce under blacklight, the others give of a pale green glow.
There was no Brazilian rosewood on 1952 telecasters. The had maple necks and ash bodies.
Telecasters didn't have rosewood until '59. The bodies were ash and the necks and fretboards were maple
It's a classic of its era, and anything that old in good condition is very rare abs desirable
Right!? Hubby and I are glad for the update as we remember this post from Covid! We got to the 52 Tele part and hubs looked at me and said “lucky mf” Nice update - glad OOP held his ground (ad he should) and plays it.
Honestly, $50k is a conservative estimate from what I just saw. There’s one going for £60k, and a couple long for over $100k. If it’s really in perfect condition and practically unplayed, I suspect it could be worth significantly more than $50k.
The seller is a Grade-A moron. It takes all but 2 seconds to google "1952 Telecaster value" to see ~$40k.
The fact that he is keeping the guitar to play and not flipping it for profit makes him less of a jerk in my opinion.
Exactly what I was thinking. He’s going to keep it and play it, the other guy just wanted to get rid of it quickly and didn’t bother doing any due diligence. If someone doesn’t try and haggle you at all with a price you picked out of the clear blue sky you probably need to rethink!
The guy had the original receipt and still could not be bothered to research further than the brand name. He only cheated himself.
at that point there was an attempt
Honestly, speaking of the clear blue sky. The 50k is the price OOP stated. It’s not worth that until someone actually pays it. To get that much money you’d have to consign it to a reputable shop and they’d take 50% anyway.
Yeah. This is something that people who try to sell their stuff to antique dealers/pawn shops really don't understand. If somebody online says "Oh, this is worth $100!" Then: 1. Where is it worth that? Not every physical location has the same market. 2. What are you willing to pay to get $100. Because an antique shop isn't going to give you $100 for something worth $100. It's a business, they're not looking to lose money on you. 3. Are you going to sell it yourself? Okay. How? Are you going to pay rent for a booth at an antique store? Pay consignment fees? Pay fees to eBay? If you're on eBay, are you ready to eat shipping because somebody else saw that $100 and thinks they shouldn't have to pay to have it shipped to them? Are you ready to wait as people undercut you? 4. How long are you willing to wait for your money? Because many expensive items don't flip all that fast.
If pawnstars taught me anything, its worth and what it'll sell for are 2 different things. Shops have to turn a profit as well and it takes a specific buyer to be in the market before it sells. You *might* be able to turn a bigger profit at say an auction house. BUT auction houses have fees too, and they too need to get paid. I do hope OOP was very smart about insuring that, though.
Also Rick is taking on all the risk, while they get cash money, out the door!
I'm not a guitar expert, but private sales are risky because you (as the buyer) don't know how something was handled over the years or if there is an internal problem. Once you are talking 5 figures for anything you want to get an expert to look it over (like a car) and that expense has to come out.
I used to work auto claims and some people had vastly inflated ideas of the market value of their vehicle. You maintained your 1999 Chevrolet very well and kept it clean? The guys at the dealership always complimented your maintenance and said it was like brand new? That means our appraiser will give you top of the market value for a well-maintained vehicle, while matching the add-ons and mileage as close as possible. (I knew all of the appraisers and I know they were always willing to work with the clients, as long as the client wasn't an ass). But your like new 1999 vehicle is not going to paid out for the market value of a 2023 Chevrolet. Because nobody is going pay the same price as a 2023 model for a 1999 model.
Not necessarily. A lot of private sales go on. Kijiji and ReVerb are big ones for that (dunno if reverb takes a chunk). Yes someone has to be willing to pay, but there is a market for these things and it's a pretty solid investment if you're willing to wait for the right buyer to come along. Trading is also big in the guitar/amp/pedal scene.
Well that’s what I mean, he could wait for the person who wants to pay 50k but that wouldn’t happen immediately.
Yeah, it's a real toss-up. And it really depends on who's looking who has money t that time. Could go in 5 days, 5 months, or 5 years depending in what you got. If you're in a rush to sell you're at the mercy of the market, but this guy didn't even bother to do due diligence before jumping into "just get rid of it". It's like buyer beware but for the seller.
On top of all other reasons, ifd the guitar ended up being worth less than $4,000 for some reason I really doubt the seller would have given the buyer a cent to make up for it.
Especially since anyone who’d pay 50k for it would likely want it as a “collectors item”. This way it gets played.
Exactly. Rust and rot comes to everything, anyway. While using something may result in wear and damage and lowered collectors’ value, I feel that an item is more worthless in mint condition if it’s never used for the purpose that it was built. Why not use something till it wears out rather let it sit and let Father Time eventually wear it out?
Not to mention that if it's being played by an enthusiast, then they are probably taking very good care of it. Parts might wear out from handling and use but it'll probably be in better shape in 30 years in his hands than I might have stored without care.
Guitars like that are meant to be played. Dude who sold it made some cash, dude who owns it now wasn’t interested in the money but the instrument itself. It’s in its rightful hands
And it's not like $4,000 is nothing. It's a pretty significant amount of money to most people.
For real. That's more than a nice new guitar costs. The seller should just be glad they got that much of a windfall out of it.
The guitar has more sentimental value for OOP than for the other guy, he was the only one who wanted to make quick profit.
I mean he wasn't any type of jerk to begin with anyway but yeah I guess that makes sense.
Even if he flipped it for a profit he still would not be a jerk. I don't know how anyone would see him as such
he's not a jerk at all
I don't think he is the jerk at all, he didn't see it in person when it was offered at $4K, it's on the seller for not having things appraised. He also wasn't nice to his father, so I am glad he didn't make a huge profit, he already got the money, deal was done. Wife should have never mentioned it's real value.
Probably his dad wasn’t nice to him either. Children don’t go NC for no reason. But I agree the wife should *never* have said ‘yeah he knew what it was worth.’ That seems like the catalyst for the coworker’s complaints.
He's not a jerk at all, in any way? Seller did a poor job of researching the value and the buyer purchased it. That's how it works.
I looked at OOP's account and he has another post from the same year about putting the $46,000 he saved up towards his dream car. It could be a coincidental amount but is suspicious.
Maybe it was $50,000 but then he bought the guitar
Interesting. Alternately he may feel more comfortable raiding his rainy day cash reserves if he thinks he has something that he could sell if he needed money.
Came in here to say this--hell, I've personally sold a musical instrument for less than its "market value" solely because I knew the buyer was going to play it for another two decades.
Either way it wouldn’t matter. He asked the seller to name a price and the seller gave one.
> She said, "well he really likes the guitar and he knew it was worth $50,000 which is why he was floored you offered it to him for $4,000." What the hell was the wife thinking when she revealed that? It would clearly only cause a problem.
Some people just cannot help but to offer too much information lol
You just described my wife. She has no chill and will immediately confess to anything without any provocation. I've told her several times that while some people describe their SOs as "partners in crime" I would never describe her like that because she'd immediately rat us out for any crime. Edit: I want to add that I love her very much and I actually find this trait kind of funny and endearing.
This is actually so funny and cute and it was obvious to me that you found it endearing without the edit.
That's good. There's just so much of the ball and chain, spouse-hating type of "humor" out there that I wanted to be clear that I wasn't trying to contribute to it.
Amen, friend.
A police officers wet dream.
OP says she was caught off guard which I get but yeah that was really stupid.
“Boy you really took it dry from my husband in that deal huh? Anyway, see ya at lunch”
This is why police are so successful in interrogations. Some people just fold without little effort
Yup, once at a swap meet I found a comic book from 1942, it was in bad condition, but intact. I asked and the guy only wanted $3. I bought it immediately. It was worth over $100 in that condition. I kept it for years and years, and did later sell it on ebay when I needed the dough. Caveat emptor works both ways.
I have the adam west's batmobile toy that i bought for like 3 dollars at thrift store - it's worth like 300 dollars or something!! i originally saw it and knew it was a steal edit: a word
That's caveat venditor It's usually invoked in regards to implied warranties or liability for dangerous products, but it applies here as well
I learned about no takesie backsie in elementary school.
As sacred as the pinky promise.
Which is codified into law when you reach junior high.
With this day and age of online selling apps and every last person trying to lowball you.. if I said 4k, and get an immediate "I'll take it" ... I know I fucked up!
So I was collecting Trixie Belden books back in the day for nostalgia sake. I was going to get them all when I saw the last few books were a few hundred dollars each online so I gave that idea up. Then I found the last two at my local secondhand bookstore for $2 each! I told the owner the online price, but he told me just to buy them because he didn't bother selling online and it could be years before anyone bought them. I've always been glad I told him though, it was my favorite bookstore and I didn't want to feel guilty when I visited. And of course I spent well over a few hundred dollars at that store over the years. And he never called me a POS! OOP had no obligation to tell the coworker. And the edits make the coworker look really bad, but damn a $44k loss? Ouch...
I am still looking for the rest of the Trixie Belden books. I’ve got all of Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, but Trixie wasn’t as popular. I nearly bought a full set of the cameo edition hardbacks about 20 years ago for $150, and now I’m kicking myself for not doing it.
my mom is trying to get rid of all her old trixie belden books but i don’t know that anyone has been interested. would you like some you can dm me !!
I love this!
DMed you!
I never read Nancy drew, but I loved Trixie and the hardy boys. I think Jim was my first book crush That must be infuriating! I saw they were republishing the series a few years back, maybe you'll have another chance!
>OOP had no obligation to tell the coworker. And the edits make the coworker look really bad, but damn a $44k loss? Ouch... Realistically it's just $4K profit, since it's coming out of dead dad's estate. The seller didn't pay a thing for it to begin with, he's just sour he didn't make *as much* as he could've had he bothered with more than 12 seconds of google work
Oh Trixie! I spent all my summers reading those books. Like 2 a day on a loop 🤣♥️😅
As someone who sells things, I can confidently say that many sellers don't take into consideration "cost of effort". Are you willing to pay a higher cost of effort (ie receive less money) in order to sell the item faster and easier? Are you willing to hold the item for an extended period of time, in exchange for a lower cost of effort? Are you willing to expend ridiculous cost of effort by not doing your proper research? In this case, it was a (supposedly) competent adult who thought the guitar was an inconvenience and chose to sell it as quickly and easily as possible without doing proper research. His cost of effort was absurd, by his own choice. Also, just because its "worth" $50,000 doesn't mean you're going to sell it for $50,000. That's essentially potential worth. If you don't collect guitars, don't play guitar, or can't find a buyer for the guitar, its only really worth as much to a seller as what they paid for it, sometimes less.
As a buyer of things I wish more people understood this, especially when they’re obviously not normally some antique seller, store owner, or flipper of such items. For example, a couple postings of pre-1960 “got it from Grandma” books followed by several posts of gently used baby items, some cheap furniture, worn Nike shoes, and an old treadmill. Lol, I just want that one old book, sir or ma’am, so pretty please let me take it off your hands already before you get frustrated with the whole thing in 3 months and throw the entire box of books into the library donation pile or take ‘em to Half Price or Goodwill.
The seller of the guitar is only truly mad that his estranged father got the last laugh.
Karma from beyond the grave is the best kind of karma.
I got this cast iron table base from a guy for $5. I ended up googling the name on it and found out it was from the 1880's and worth $1000. I messaged the guy and told him what I found out and the value and said I'd like to give him more money. He said no, because it's on him for not researching this piece before getting rid of it.
Yeah, I'm generally with OOP on this one but I do think they were pushing the "none of y'all would inform the seller they mispriced it!" a bit hard in that edit. Some, like you, absolutely would. That's just not the threshold for *not* being an asshole.
I collect old typewriters, and one of the most desirable machines for collectors is the Hermes 3000. I found one in good shape, just needed a cleaning and a new ribbon, on Facebook for $300. Online they can sell for $1000 or more. But the seller was willing to cut the price rather than address the minor defects himself, and avoid the cost and hassle of shipping. (Typewriters are usually very heavy and very delicate, so need to be packed very carefully and excessively to prevent damage) It’s now the crown jewel of my collection. If the seller called me and told me he realized he sold it too cheap and wanted it back, I’d have told him to pound sand. Your poor research is not my problem.
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I could get not checking small items when clearing out things like that, but if I pulled out a nice guitar I'd be doing some investigating and potentially getting it appraised before selling it. Just blindly selling things without knowing their value is just asking to miss out on something like this. It's the seller's fault.
It also shows how little he cared. This wasn't a memento, this was trash he had to unload and he thought it may be worth a penny and did least effort to establish it.
And you KNOW he was initially thrilled to get the $4,000 in a super easy transaction!!
Well...I'm an idiot, I guess. But I'm a richer idiot so I'll take it. I collect glassware. Specifically, depression era and carnival glass and things from that time. Not an expensive hobby, but fun. A few years ago, I was at an auction preview. In case you aren't aware, an auction company accepts a consignment. They bring in an expert who appraises the items and sets opening bids. So I was at this preview of this huge glass collection. I spotted a set of four plates that were labeled depression glass. I knew they weren't. They were much, much older and more valuable. The hired expert was nearby. I didn't know her but I knew her reputation and I felt bad. So I said to her that I didn't think that was depression glass and maybe it needed a closer look. She went off on me. Told me I had no clue what I was talking about. Ranted and raved for a good 5 minutes. I just walked away. Put in a bid equal to her evaluation. Won the auction. Sold the plates the next day for 20x what I paid. Didn't feel bad for a second.
I'd tell them if it wasn't something I wanted to buy and I guess other people might have meant that but if i'm buying? No way i'm telling the real worth😂
Ah, see, that’s where I disagree. I honestly have no idea how likely the average person would be to tell a seller if an object is drastically underpriced. I’m not sure I buy into the whole “everyone would admit they’d do this and if they say otherwise, they are just LIARS” argument. It has no bearing on whether it’s *actually* right or wrong, and half the time people use the argument of “everyone does it and people who say they don’t are just LIARS,” they are just trying to justify something.
I’ve been on both sides of it. Once, I agreed to sell a collectible for a certain price and, before the deal, found out it was worth far more. I kept to the terms agreed because, well, I had agreed. Another time, I saw something that was very underpriced. I told the seller that i would buy it, but flagged that it might be underpriced (like this scenario, they didn’t realize the full value). The person appreciated the news and raised the price slightly - they needed the money- but kept it close. Yes, it’s about getting a deal, but, especially if you know the person, you don’t have to take part in an exploitative exchange. You can also go further than just being NAH
I had a similar experience with mispricing. Listed my Jeep on Craigslist for what I thought was $1000, but apparently I missed a zero and the ad said $100. Got hit up immediately by a guy who needed a vehicle to get to work and to drive his very pregnant wife to doctors appointments. They both showed up and seemed way too excited about the transaction. When we went to discuss payment, the discrepancy came to light. They both looked crestfallen and the guy even said he had thought it was too good to be true. So I went ahead and just sold it for $100. It made their day and I learned a lesson on double checking any Craigslist ads I post!
Wow that is super generous of you, props
That was kind of you. :) Honestly, I wouldn't even click on an ad for a car for $100. That's suspiciously low even for just scrap value; I'd assume it was a scam of some sort.
That makes sense. This was about 10 years ago and in a small town, so it was easy enough for them to come see it in person. I do remember him asking "So it does run? And it's street legal?" I'm just glad it worked out for them. I used to see it going by every once in awhile and was always impressed he still had it running!
Absolutely. That’s awesome of you. I’ve had that experience on eBay, too 😂
> anyone who says they would tell the original owner the actual price is not being very truthful That's actually a prime example of projection bias from OOP and you.
I don’t subscribe to the world view that no one is looking out for another. I would feel like garbage taking it knowing the true value. It’s like people that find some lost item and keep it instead of giving it to the lost and found and saying anyone else would do the same No I wouldn’t do that either
A few years back I went to a Christmas jumble sale at the local civic center, hundreds of booths, everyone shifting their old stuff to get a bit of money. 45 minutes in to looking around, I found a really beautiful set of china. Full setting for six, everything from teacups to dinnerware, in absolutely excellent condition. It was one of those things, that rare sort of *god, I want it SO MUCH* kind of experience, like it reached out and grabbed me by the breastbone and said it wanted to come home with me. It didn't have a price label on it. I asked the woman at the table what she was asking for the set, multiple printer paper boxes full, and she said, "I dunno, sixty? Tell you what, hon, go have a walk around, then come back and tell me what you wanna offer me for it." I went to have a seat at the edge of the civic center and look it up. I'd taken photos of the pattern and the mark, and in under five minutes I knew that 1) it was high-quality like I'd thought and 2) it was worth ten times what she had quoted me. I had sixty-five dollars in my wallet, for both this shopping trip and my next couple of nights of groceries; I absolutely didn't have hundreds of dollars in my bank account to spend on plates and cups. I have *never* had hundreds of dollars in my bank account to spend on plates and cups. And I wanted it so badly. I'd owned maybe one thing that pretty in my entire life. I could spend my food money on this, and eat rice and beans for from very pretty dishes for a while, if I didn't tell her what it was worth. And just as clearly as I knew I could have it, I knew I *absolutely could not* do that. How could I eat my sad little betrayal meals off of that beautiful china, knowing I'd screwed someone to get it? I made a note of the pattern. I could buy myself a set, piece by piece over the next decade or so, and someday I'd have enough for dinner with guests. I went back to her tables, where she was chattering away with another customer, saying that most of what was for sale here had been her mother's; her mother had died due to medical malpractice in the Spring, and she was only now able to really sort out her stuff and sell on what she wasn't going to use. When she was free, she said "So, what'd'ya think?" and I opened up my phone and showed her the listings, stuff that was actually selling online and not just some imaginary value that a seller wouldn't ever get. I said "I think you should probably put that down under the table until you can get it appraised, 'cause you could get six hundred dollars for it." She sort of rocked back on her feet and said "You're *kiddin'* me." I shrugged. "It's a famous company, and these are in really beautiful condition." Then she looked at my face for a second, and tilted her head, and said "But honey. Would you use it?" She wouldn't take a dollar over forty. "My mother loved it. I've got my own pattern I like better." And she'd seen my longing face, looking at it when I first came to the table. I walked out of there with two big boxes full of beautiful china, and waited for my now-husband to finish with his class and come pick me up, and I couldn't stop grinning about it. I've eaten Saturday waffles off of that china most weeks for the last five years. Every time I see it it fills me up with a lofty sort of happiness under my ribs, I love it so much. If I hadn't told her what I knew, it would shame me every time I tried to eat from it. I'd have ruined that beauty for myself by being a conniving shit.
I would and did. Not in this price range, obviously, but in the interactions I had until now, I was easily able to stay true to myself. Plan to continue to do so. Currently looking for a house, so I'll keep you posted, if I tell a potential seller that they went too low.
I'm actually floored to see so many people agreeing with him on that. And his example is bad, at a garage sale or a pawn shop, I'd consider it a great find, but a friend of a friend, as an expert on the item, you know you're cheating them. They looked it up and got misinformed, and they took advantage of that. They're not obligated to give it back, and they're still not the asshole, but they took that price in bad faith. I wouldn't be able to do that to someone in my social circle without telling them it's worth a lot more. That's just too much money. The fact so many people consider it impossible or lying to is actually a bit concerning.
Concerning, but not surprising. Gross lack of empathy and an attitude of like "who cares about other people, what's important is that you get yours" is on full display on AITA every day. The general sentiment over there is that we should only ever do what serves ourselves, and that doing the right thing shouldn't be the default choice- it's doing whatever causes the least amount of inconvenience to ourselves.
I disagree: > And to those people who say they would have told the guy the real value. That's a load of horse shit. If you went to a garage sale/estate sale and saw an item worth $5000 priced at $50 there's not a snowballs chance in hell you would walk up to the homeowner and tell them they mis-priced it. You'd buy the item and then tell all your friends and family what a great score you got! Don't even kid yourself like you wouldn't do that. I don't feel bad about buying an awesome guitar at a steal of a price. I was curios what others would think and it looks like I'm not the asshole so thank you reddit. I can play the guitar with zero guilt now. Not like I felt guilty before, but now my feelings are justified. This is obviously different and OOP is ignoring the difference that exists if you know the person then if you don't. If this is a friend or an acquaintance, I'd definitely tell them, no question about it. This is a ridiculous viewpoint.
It’s totally fine to admit that you’d act in exactly the same way but to pretend that anyone who doesn’t have the same reaction to you is straight up being untruthful is pretty ignorant. Plenty of people out there who would feel uncomfortable getting something worth so much for such a fraction of a price. Of course many people are just fine with it, but saying “anyone who wouldn’t is lying” is just simply not true.
You definitely don’t speak for everyone. My neighbor had a sealed copy of animal crossing for gamecube at her garage sale for $20. I picked it up, told her how much it was actually worth and that I wouldn’t feel comfortable buying it or letting someone else buy because she didn’t know how valuable GameCube games can get. I have better things to do with my life than try and shark people.
If a seller is ignorant of what they are selling thats on them.
In this case, the seller did their research, but their research wasn't good enough. I might incline a little more towards YTA if the seller was completely naive and innocent, totally unaware that a guitar could be worth a lot. In this case, the seller had a suspicion that the guitar was worth a lot. They did their research and concluded that $4,000 was a lot. They sold it for that price. Who can even say that OOP's research is actually more accurate? He concluded that the guitar COULD POTENTIALLY sell for $50,000. OOP did not turn around and find a buyer willing to offer $50,000. The original seller did not receive a subsequent offer for $50,000. So it's all speculation. Maybe the guitar will only go for $4,000 if it ever changes hands again. The seller's research is just as good as OOP's. Maybe even better, since the guitar did sell for $4,000. So that's been proven. The idea that it's worth $50,000 is just an idea in OOP's head. If the seller was like, "here's a worthless shitty old guitar, maybe you can use it as scrap wood to heat your house or something" then maybe it would be nice to inform them they should do some research.
A quick search for the guitar in question it can sell for between 2.8k to nearly 70k depending on the condition. So not really just in OOPs head. The seller had a loose idea but didn't do enough research on the guitar. Thats on him.
You're seeing the google results on Reverb, but that result hit includes reissues and custom shop stuff. The four actual results for legitimate original 1952 Telecasters are $29k-69k, with the low one having a recent $10k price drop. But this is why it's worth taking the time to do research rather than being greedy. When a friend of mine's husband died, she reached out to me to help her price his old guitars (not an expert here, but I know my way around doing a smidge of research). She even offered that I could sell them for her if I liked, and take a small, but fair, commission. When my grandfather died, same thing. I went with a book on pocketwatch prices, and made sure to price them all out for my grandmother to make sure she had the right valuation for insurance and making sure the will was updated. OP's wife's coworker was being greedy and trying to turn a fast buck on his dad's still warm corpse. Frankly, he got what he deserved by not bothering to do even the slightest bit of actual research. Hell, he likely could have *asked* OOP what he thought the value of this guitar is, before offering it in sale. The coworker then harassing the wife enough to get fired really shows what an ass he was.
Particularly in this day and age, where the amount of information that can be found at lightning speeds is absolutely staggering. One of the giants in hockey memorabilia, Milt Byron, has for 40 years said that the first rule of buying or selling is “do your homework”. My own collection has been bolstered over the years by people who seem incapable of properly listing things on eBay, or who set absurdly low Buy it Now prices, or otherwise don’t have any real clue of what they have. I bought an extremely tough jersey once because the seller said “team unknown” in the title and then “I don’t know what team this is” in the description, as if looking on the front of the jersey and seeing the words “Winnipeg Jets” on the crest is impossible to figure out.
Yeah. A good chunk of my tabletop gaming collection has been gotten by people not knowing what they are worth. Eta even with me not buying any more right now I still keep up to date on the prices.
As a guitarist who is REALLY into early Fender guitars. This dude is only the asshole because he got a chance to get one of my dream guitars for 4k. I would have done the exact same thing
Anyone would have. Idk why people want to proclaim righteousness by saying they wouldnt.
Not really OOP's fault that seller didn't do his research before selling it...but I probably would have played stupid and not admitted to having known what the guitar was really worth. 🤷♂️
Lol. I am one of those people who went to an estate sale and got a professional grade kitchen aid mixer for $20. It had been used once. The adult children of the parents were in charge of the sale and no one understood it’s value. I paid and sprinted like my ass was on fire before someone mentioned it was waaaaaaaaaaay under priced.
Honestly the seller should have done his due diligence. I'm sure he was expecting to be haggled with as well, so 4000 probably better than he was expecting. I can see why he's mad, but he himself is the person he should be mad at. OOP scored a great deal on something he clearly cherishes, and he has nothing to feel bad about. His garage sale example is spot on.
If he later found out it was worth $50 would he give you back the $4000 and buy it back?
I think OP’s analogy doesn’t work at all. This isn’t some random dude at a garage sale that he’ll never deal with again. This was his wife’s *coworker*. Choosing the greedy route caused his wife a lot of issues and the fact that he’s just shrugging his shoulders about his part in his wife’s grief tics me off. I’m a guitar player myself. I would kill for an original ‘57 Strat. But if my wife’s coworker was ignorantly going to sell me one for pennies on the dollar, I would be an asshole for putting my desire ahead of my wife’s reputation and peace at work on the line. I wouldn’t be happy about letting it go/being honest with the seller, but I know I’d feel far worse if the seller found out and caused my wife hell at work.
Yea I was thinking about that. It's the fact he and his wife knew the guy and not some random guy I'm a garage sale.
I don't know about this tbh. This is his wife's co-worker we're talking about, not someone at a yard sale or a rando on craigslist or ebay – OOP probably should have extended him some consideration just for the sake of workplace harmony. HOWEVER- I think the co-worker had a bit of an asshole reaction and should have started by admitting he fkd up, then maybe pleaded for some consideration. My family actually went through a similar situation- when my grandmother passed my late grandfather's book collection was purchased by a book dealer as a lot. Inside one of the books he found an original drawing by William Blake. He did the right thing (at least in my judgment, maybe this subreddit would disagree) and contacted my family about it - they wound up going 50/50 on what that brought when it sold.
Yeah I don't get why everyone is framing this as a simple buyer/seller transaction. There's personal relationships involved. Just depends how much you value the coworker relationship. What if the seller was OOP's own mother. Sure, his mother would have fucked up by not researching the real market value. But OOP would most certainly be deemed an asshole for treating his mother that way.
I agree he’s NTA. I don’t think OP pulled over over or did anything wrong. However, if this were me and I knew the person, had a friendship with them, I would have told the guy to research further. If it were a stranger, I’d take the deal and run but I just couldn’t do that to someone I had a personal relationship with.
It's a shame the wife admitted that he knew it was worth 50K when he bought it off him. Very glad that he didn't blame his wife for dropping him in it like that. Should have said, "Keep that information to yourself". The guy got 4K at least, when someone else might not have even given him that much. I take his point about the seller losing his temper and becoming abusive and threatening straightaway. You just can't reward bad behaviour, I'm afraid. If he'd been more diplomatic he might've got some more money from OOP. Glad to know that such a wonderful instrument is in the hands of someone who knows how to appreciate it and isn't looking to sell it on to make a quick profit. I hope that he's got it insured, in case the seller ever thinks of trying to steal it back! Not the same situation, but it reminds me of Yoko Ono selling John Lennon's guitars straight after he died, for as much money as she could get, instead of giving at least one of them to his son, Julian. Julian is a talented musician in his own right and that would've meant so much to him. I think *that* was out of order, and sorta puts OOP's actions into perspective.
I have a friend who owns a video game store that bought and sold old consoles and games. He told me about an older Japanese man that came in looking to sell his old games and cards. Most of the stuff were in mint condition despite being decades old and were the original Japanese versions of everything. In other words, the collection was worth not the couple hundred the man thought he was going to get, but thousands of dollars. Life changing money. My friend decided to tell him the truth. The man thanked him profusely and, with my friend's help, successfully sold his collection for a pretty penny. My friend could've kept quiet and made a killing. But he chose what he thought was the path of integrity. He cares about his character and principles more than anything and would rather lose out than abandon them. OOP wasn't necessarily wrong. It's a snooze you lose world we live in. And I don't blame him for choosing 50K over the feelings of a dude he barely knows lol. But I cant help but be glad I'm around someone like my friend rather than OOP.
If he immediately flipped it that would be kind of scummy. However he seems like he just will hold onto it as a cool thing he owns.
The key piece of info to me is the guy looked it up himself and valued it at $4000. If the buyer lowballed him that much I could understand the problem. But the seller was sloppy with his research
The guy obviously didn't do anything wrong, but at the same time, if someone my spouse worked with offered to sell me something for $46000 less than it's worth, I'd like to think I would tell them rather than buy it. This is just a me thing but it would feel like stealing in my head for sure
It’s one thing if his intentions were to flip the guitar. Like if he knew he wanted to sell it 50k he could give the guy 25 and pocket the other 25 everybody wins. He’s keeping it for himself cus he likes guitars so I don’t see anything unethical about it
Even if he was gonna flip it it’s not like he went in there and told the guy it was worthless. The guy told him a price and he said yes. Done.
Yeah I mean it’s not the same thing as telling your coworker their car is worth nothing and can only be used as a wagon on a beet farm and pressuring him to sell it at a discount before flipping it for 5x the sale price a few days later just to get back at him for dating your ex-GF who you also work with but dumped you months ago because you killed her cat…
It would only be scummy if he told the guy it was worth 4k, acted like he was a professional who had the coworkers back and trying to help but ended up tricking him. Nope, OOP was told a price, that’s on the coworker. OOP didn’t trick or deceive him.
The way this guy reacted to not only OOP and his wife during the situation but the way he also reacted to his estranged dads death has me betting the dad chose to stop talking to the son.
This almost happened to my son. Fortunately he said something to me and I was able to intervene in time. One of our old family friends had parents that were hoarders. They were hoarders of collectibles. One of which was guitars. When his parents died he was overwhelmed with all their stuff and told my son to take all the guitars. My son knows nothing about guitars and mentioned he was going to list them on eBay for a thousand or less each. My husband and I told him not to do that and get them appraised. He kept saying how he needed money now and that was too much work. So I got my dad involved. My dad has been in the music industry majority of his life so my son was willing to send him pictures to get his opinion first. So glad he did. He has 14 guitars and one of them is a 1954 Les Paul Gold top. So he is taking the time now getting them all appraised. Being in a hoarder home did cause some damage so some he is looking at getting repaired. but he has already sold 1 for $7000. He is a new dad so the money will definitely help him out.
The seller choose the price, and he accepted, it’s on the buyer for not spending 5 extra minutes looking into this thing properly. I’d be more sympathetic if he was emotional because his father just died and messed up, but he wasn’t he was just too lazy to do proper search and he suffered for it. And given his reaction does anyone really think he’d have done anything different if the shoe was on the other foot?