HOLY COW Yard sale find!!!!!

[Aman619]

hey Towards.... whats gonna happen in 2112 that you are looking forward to?

 

The meek shall inherit the earth...

 

well - - they can try!

[ArAich]

hey Towards.... whats gonna happen in 2112 that you are looking forward to?

 

The meek shall inherit the earth...

Araich will be on his 3rd wife!

 

 

 

...and you will be on your 5th WW blow up doll...

[greggy]

hey Towards.... whats gonna happen in 2112 that you are looking forward to?

 

The meek shall inherit the earth...

Araich will be on his 3rd wife!

 

 

 

...and you will be on your 5th WW blow up doll...

Don't I have to work on the first?

[Proverbs22_2]

hey Towards.... whats gonna happen in 2112 that you are looking forward to?

 

The meek shall inherit the earth...

Araich will be on his 3rd wife!

 

Who's on her now ?

[greggy]

hey Towards.... whats gonna happen in 2112 that you are looking forward to?

 

The meek shall inherit the earth...

Araich will be on his 3rd wife!

 

Who's on her now ?

Her 2nd John of the day?

[garthgantu]

hey Towards.... whats gonna happen in 2112 that you are looking forward to?

 

The meek shall inherit the earth...

Araich will be on his 3rd wife!

 

Who's on her now ?

Her 2nd John of the day?

 

She should write him a 'dear John letter' and be done with it...

[RandomSidekick001-migratio]

If you remember I also pointed out that the two instances (your deal and the MH buy) vary ridiculously in SCALE, as has ben mentioned since, but not really in intent.

 

Ok, I know this thread has been going on forever, and you're all probably sick of it, but I read all 13 pages so I'm bloody well going to post my thoughts anyway!

 

People keep saying that garage sale diving and the Chuck/Church thing represent the same moral dilemma, just on a different scale. I disagree. I think the difference in scale changes the moral implications such that there is no dilemma regarding routine garage sale deals.

 

Here's my theory on garage sales, flea markets, etc.: In this day and age, pretty much everyone knows that collectibles have value. However, few people are willing to put in the time and effort it takes to determine which ones are valuable and which ones are not, so they just slap a tag on them and sell them at their garage sale. They know they might be forgoing potential cash, but value the time saved by not researching them more highly than the cash they expect they could make by individually pricing each item as a collector would. The collector, in turn, does spend a great deal of time doing the research, and the difference between what he pays at the garage sale and what he can get when he turns around and flips the item on Ebay is his compensation for that time. No one is being taken advantage of, as both buyer and seller have made conscious decisions about the value they place on their time and on the items themselves.

 

Now, I know what you're thinking: "By that logic, aren't you saying that buying a mint condition Action Comics # 1 from some old lady for $0.50 is perfectly acceptable?" The answer is no. That's where the question of scale comes in and changes the moral equation. As I said, when regular people put collectibles out at a garage sale, they're making a conscious choice to forgo the extra cash they might get if they took the time to research the items. However, they are assuming some moderate amount of potential value for the items, i.e. something in the tens or hundreds of dollars at most. They have deliberately and knowingly chosen to forgo that potential to save time, so a collector who buys a hidden gem in that price range is not taking advantage of any ignorance on the part of the seller. Hence there is no moral dilemma involved. On the other hand, anyone who offers to sell an Action Comics #1 for $0.50 clearly is ignorant of the potential value of the item, so the collector would be taking advantage of the seller's ignorance in that situation. That's why the Church deal is so different from regular old garage sale diving. The scale of the deal doesn't affect the scale of the moral dilemma. The scale is what creates the moral dilemma in the first place.

 

I know I've been on both sides of the equation too. I've bought comics that I thought were pretty good deals at garage sales. I've also sold things like old furniture and books, etc. at my own garage sales without doing any research on them first. If some antiques collector recognized and bought a $500 antique figurine from me for $5, good for them. I understood that possibility existed when I sold the thing, so I'm happy for them. On the other hand, if some collector recognized a $100,000 ultra-rare item and bought it from me for $5.00 instead of telling me what I had, well, then I hope the [!@#%^&^] rots in Hell.

 

- SK

[Proverbs22_2]

Well-spoken!

 

5 Stars for you!

 

-J

[Timely]

Just so we all know, what is the $dollar$ cut-off point where you are glad they got a good deal from you and when you want them to "rot in hell" for ripping you off? Is $4999.99 ok but $5000.00+ no good?

 

For me anyone who doubles their money on a purchase of $500 or more is fine, anymore than that and I would feel sad about my deal. If I sold an item for $1.00 I would be fine if the guy sold it for $500.00, but no more. It would not a be life altering loss.

 

Timely

[Rip]

I have no hard feelings making 2-4 times the cost of my purchase.

I've had people make 2-4 times off of me. Who cares, that's the business.

[RandomSidekick001-migratio]

Just so we all know, what is the $dollar$ cut-off point where you are glad they got a good deal from you and when you want them to "rot in hell" for ripping you off? Is $4999.99 ok but $5000.00+ no good?

 

For me anyone who doubles their money on a purchase of $500 or more is fine, anymore than that and I would feel sad about my deal. If I sold an item for $1.00 I would be fine if the guy sold it for $500.00, but no more. It would not a be life altering loss.

 

Timely

 

Well, to be honest, I really shouldn't have said I'd be "happy for them" if I unknowingly sold someone a $500 item for $0.50. I think my feelings in that case would best be summed up by the phrase: "Aw sh*t!". Still, when I'm the seller, I'd say anything in the range of a few hundred dollars is about what I have in mind in terms of potential losses by not researching the items I'm selling.

 

As for the times when I'm the buyer, it's definitely a gray area. Something in the same "few hundred dollar" range I use for myself seems like a good approximation, but there are so many factors besides dollar amount that go into it too. Am I buying from a flea market owner who does bulk sales like this all the time and thus knows what he's doing, or is it a 90-year-old widower selling her late husband's possessions so she can afford her medication? Is the amount involved potentially life-altering for me and/or the seller? Does the seller seem like a cheat himself, or like an honest guy? And so on, and so on. With all that in mind, I don't think I could ever put a precise dollar amount on my "moral cutoff point". It's like the Supreme Court's definition of pornography: "I know it when I see it".

 

Of course, that leaves alot of room for rationalization if I ever do find that copy of AF #15 in the bargain bin at some flea-market run by a first-class jerk!

 

- SK

[PovertyRow]

For me anyone who doubles their money on a purchase of $500 or more is fine, anymore than that and I would feel sad about my deal. If I sold an item for $1.00 I would be fine if the guy sold it for $500.00, but no more. It would not a be life altering loss.

 

I tend to frequent antique stores, antique co-ops and flea markets. All three hold a similar concept: space is paid by people who sell goods. In the case of the flea markets and antiaque stores/co-ops, the vast majority have obtained their wares by buying from others - often in attic/cellar/house cleanings, at yard sales, estate sales etc.

 

I go into these venues with the simple assumption that ANY price one of those dealers OKs me is going to reflect a decent profit on their side. In these venues, they may well have paid $5 for a $10,000 comic (or movie poster), and sold it for $30. They made 6 times profit and obviously made absolutely NO effort to understand what they have. So what? I am going to sit down and educate them?

 

They are in business. They pay for space to sell. They buy cheap and sell high in relation to what they paid.

 

And now the bottom line - take something YOU own worth many dollars and see how much they offer you.

 

yah yah - typo edit whatever!

[RandomSidekick001-migratio]

Ya, my conscience doesn't speak up about getting a great deal at flea markets nearly as often as it would at garage sales, since, as you pointed out, they're professional "buy low, sell high" people themselves.

 

- SK

[THE_BEYONDER]

When I was still in grade school, I got fleeced for most of my Iron Man collection.......

 

If I could locate the two guys that took advantage of my ignorance back then......I'd give them the savage beating they deserve.

[Aman619]

Random - - that was a well-written summation. Way back when, I was the one who first compared what was done in the flea market and to Chuckie's actions, and even allowed that there was a big difference in scale involved.

 

But my reason for commenting on the original post of the flea market "score" wasn't the deal itself, but the tone of bragging in the post. The coming on here and gleefully boasting of how he got over on the guy in the sale. Most of us have ridiculed and criticized Chuck for his handling of the Church deal. Therefore I pointed out the "hypocracy' of one of us then coming on here and talking about doing the same thing to some other old guy.

 

What about this aspect of this situation, in your opinion?

 

 

(edited after actually going back and reading my first post!)

[RandomSidekick001-migratio]

Thanks aman!

 

I wasn't privy to any of the earlier threads about the Church deal, so I can't really comment on any specific charges of hypocrisy (nor would I, to be honest, even if I could). Personally, I probably wouldn't post my garage-sale finds without a rather long-winded explanation of my thought-processes, like the one I provided earlier, because I'd be worried it might come across as bragging about taking advantage of someone. With that said, however, I really didn't take offense at the original poster's tone. I guess I just assumed he went through a similar thought process to mine, made his purchases accordingly, and then wanted to share his excitement with other members of the collecting community here on the boards. I don't know. Maybe I'm being naive, but I think most people tend to be reasonably well-intentioned, so I like to give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

- SK

[PovertyRow]

When I was still in grade school, I got fleeced for most of my Iron Man collection.......

 

If I could locate the two guys that took advantage of my ignorance back then......I'd give them the savage beating they deserve.

 

Well, I am sorry to hear that. But I assume you hadn't owned an antique store, a section of a co-op or bought a table at a flea market?

[THE_BEYONDER]

When I was still in grade school, I got fleeced for most of my Iron Man collection.......

 

If I could locate the two guys that took advantage of my ignorance back then......I'd give them the savage beating they deserve.

 

Well, I am sorry to hear that. But I assume you hadn't owned an antique store, a section of a co-op or bought a table at a flea market?

 

Someday......when I'm no longer bitter.....I'll tell you the story.

[PovertyRow]

When I was still in grade school, I got fleeced for most of my Iron Man collection.......

 

If I could locate the two guys that took advantage of my ignorance back then......I'd give them the savage beating they deserve.

 

Well, I am sorry to hear that. But I assume you hadn't owned an antique store, a section of a co-op or bought a table at a flea market?

 

Someday......when I'm no longer bitter.....I'll tell you the story.

 

Ack! I was just gonna come back on and ask you to retell the tale.

[THE_BEYONDER]

It all happened back in the 3rd or 4th grade.....

 

Our school was having a " garage sale/flea market" in the gym. I got together with a friend of mine, and we put together a box of comics that we no longer wanted....and rented a table.

 

I can't remember what books we had decided to sell.....but I think we did all right .

 

During the sale, I was approached by two older kids who asked if we "had any other comics for sale". We arranged a meeting at my house, and started going through some books that I might be interested in selling.

 

Eventually they decided that they were interested in my IRON MAN COLLECTION . As we started going through the prices for each book, these kids started feeding me all kinds of [!@#%^&^] about " buying comics in lots ", and how " if we're buying 20 issues, the price should be broken down to a per comic basis....

 

I can't remember the exact issues that I had, nor the final price that we " AGREED " on.......but they practically STOLE my comics.

 

Tell me......should I have known better ?