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An ethics question...

Started by lighthouse,

How much do you charge him for the book?  

225 members have voted

  1. 1. How much do you charge him for the book?

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61 posts in this topic

ArAich

ArAich

Posted
Posted

First of all... I answered $5 on the first question since it is well within reason to get at least a little compensation for your time and if he turns around and sells it for a gadjillion dollars then more power to him...(to quote supapimp: "Don't hate...congradulate)...

 

And lastly...if this person is a real friend then he would at the very least make the offer that you keep the $20 since that is what he had agreed to pay in the first place...the actual burden should have been his in the first place...if you didn't feel comfortable with charging him $20 then that is when the $5 offer comes into play and then everybody is happy...

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COI

COI

Posted
Posted

From the sound of the question, this person sounds more like an aquaintance than a friend. In that case, if he offered to pay me $20, that implies that he is doing so inorder to compensate me for helping him, and that he's happy to pay it. That's why I answered $20.

 

And if he turned around and sold it for $60? Good for him! That's what Capitalism and the free market is all about. I'm a businessman, so I'd be a hypocrite to get angry. Business is based on one person profiting over another. I made $17 on the deal, and he made $40. It's all good.

 

Now, if he is a personal friend, meaning that we have a relationship that was not based or founded on business, I'd just charge him $3.

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Aces

Aces

Posted
Posted

$5 to cover what you paid plus a couple bucks extra so you don't feel like you were wasting the time looking

(or maybe)

$3 because that's what you paid and you wouldn't feel right asking for more

(if he had helped me out before) thumbsup2.gif

 

and

 

Figure it was your fault for not paying more attention to what the book was going for and let it go.

 

Too bad for me ain't it? tongue.gif

 

On $3 books it's seems silly to worry.

 

Now if someone was going pay $2000.00 to find XYZ and I found it for $300.00, that nice $1700.00 profit I just made will buy a nice new PC for little old me!

grin.gif

 

 

 

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Joanna

Joanna

Posted
Posted
I checked 10 but really I wamted to check 20 since that is what he offered that was what I intially thought.Really your in this as a business House charge him 20.00

 

Davidking623

 

True... it is a business... but there are guys here I would count as friends (some that I haven't even met in person like Darth) where not all the deals are entirely business, so I probably wouldn't charge $20... 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

 

Now if we were talking wingman services in the strip club, that's a whole other ballgame... smile.gif

 

What if the book was a gift from his mother? Huh? Did you ever think of that?

 

(btw, Mom says "thank you!")

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Aman619

Aman619

Posted
Posted

Light, I think your example should be tightened up a bit in order to really answer th equestion posed. I first read friend a a fellow collector who couldnt make it to the show. In that case I tell him it was $3 and charge him $3. Big deal. But I dont understand why you have him offering $20 for a $3 book??? You dont say that its worth $20 but that you got a crazy deal on it - - 85% off? Must have bought it at Chuck's Place!!

 

Next question: if I found out it was a $60 book, I wouldnt ask for more money, but I sure as heck would do my homework next time he asked. A friend would have explained the value of the book in question, at least so that I could use that info in buying the book for him. Nice to know whats what, right? So I wouldnt ask for a share of th evalue...but I wouldnt be so quick to do him a similar favor again!

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ArAich

ArAich

Posted
Posted
Light, I think your example should be tightened up a bit in order to really answer th equestion posed. I first read friend a a fellow collector who couldnt make it to the show. In that case I tell him it was $3 and charge him $3. Big deal. But I dont understand why you have him offering $20 for a $3 book??? You dont say that its worth $20 but that you got a crazy deal on it - - 85% off? Must have bought it at Chuck's Place!!

 

Next question: if I found out it was a $60 book, I wouldnt ask for more money, but I sure as heck would do my homework next time he asked. A friend would have explained the value of the book in question, at least so that I could use that info in buying the book for him. Nice to know whats what, right? So I wouldnt ask for a share of th evalue...but I wouldnt be so quick to do him a similar favor again!

 

This is why I think the intial "ethical" question that LH posed should be more on the side of "What should the friend do?"...instead of the other way around...

 

In other words...ethically...all the options are acceptable...it's what the friend does that poses the actual ethical question of..."How much am I obligated to pay him?"...

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JLA_ALL_THE_WAY

JLA_ALL_THE_WAY

Posted
Posted

I answered $10 because House made it sound like he wasn't THAT much of a friend.

 

Now, if he was one of my true buds, I'd charge the full double saw-buck ($20), then roll the ish up & rap him on the nose with it.

 

"Bad friend, bad! You didn't tell me this book is under-valued? Bad! ...dude, are you crying? What for?! I'll give ya something to cry about!"

 

Whoah! Those flashbacks are returning more & more often.

 

Thanx Dad.

 

Rick

 

 

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awe4one

awe4one

Posted
Posted
1. I sell it to him for $3. I'm not an [!@#%^&^], and my comic friends are looking for stuff for me all the time.

 

2. He sells it for $60? Good for him. What do I care.

 

Exactly! Why should I care if my friend is selling the comic for a profit on eBay? He asked if I could get a comic for him and pays what I pays. If you don't collect the title, it really shouldn't make a difference. Trying to charge him a premium for the favor seems underhanded and it calls into question if you're friends to begin with....

 

Jim

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greggy

greggy

Posted
Posted
Where's the Greggy Option:

 

Tell him you had to pay Triple Guide+, and charge him $60.

confused.gif I would charge him the $3!!! 893frustrated.gif

 

Admit it greggy.....you would give it to me...I mean him ...for free. cloud9.gif

 

Like that POS GS Dracula 5 that I sent you? shocked.gif
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143ksk

143ksk

Posted
Posted

My take on this involves what exactly was said in the initial "contract" with the friend/customer/whatever.

 

If the phrase was "If you can find this book for me at the show, I'll pay $20 for it," I would charge him $20 ($3 if he was really a friend and not just an acquantance).

 

If he said "If you can find this book at the show, I'll pay up to $20 for it," then I would charge him whatever I paid for it.

 

HOWEVER, if I was a full time dealer (ie making my living off of selling comic books) and this person was not a close personal friend of mine, then I think making a profit for the search is appropriate. I'll leave it up to the full time dealers to know what "appropriate" is given their expenses.

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burntboy

burntboy

Posted
Posted

aman's response comes the closest to my thinking. based on the story line i voted 3$ and am happy he made a tidy profit. it's just too little cash to worry about - and i like the rocketeer's Karma angle, as well........... cool.gif

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Bonds25

Bonds25

Posted
Posted
it was chilly here dropped down to 41 degrees one night, 27_laughing.gif

 

Yeah, I ALMOST had to turn my defroster on this morning. Man, those Florida nights can be real bears. grin.gif

 

I know what you're talking about! It got down to nearly 50 degrees here in San Diego last night! smirk.gif

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ArAich

ArAich

Posted
Posted
it was chilly here dropped down to 41 degrees one night, 27_laughing.gif

 

Yeah, I ALMOST had to turn my defroster on this morning. Man, those Florida nights can be real bears. grin.gif

 

I know what you're talking about! It got down to nearly 50 degrees here in San Diego last night! smirk.gif

 

Ah shaddup... makepoint.gif...my freakin' bones are aching due to the sub-zero [!@#%^&^] outside... 893frustrated.gif

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THE_BEYONDER

THE_BEYONDER

Posted
Posted
Where's the Greggy Option:

 

Tell him you had to pay Triple Guide+, and charge him $60.

confused.gif I would charge him the $3!!! 893frustrated.gif

 

Admit it greggy.....you would give it to me...I mean him ...for free. cloud9.gif

 

Like that POS GS Dracula 5 that I sent you? shocked.gif

 

Yup. flowerred.gif

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