OT: Would You Spend $400,000 for cards that you have not seen?

[Buythatcard]

Interesting story about a man who spent $400,000 on a storage shed full of baseball cards sight-unseen.

I wouldn't even buy 1 card without first seeing it.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/08/22/70662.htm

[ullmandds]

uuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhh...NO!

[drcy]

The standard buyer's question of course should be if it's worth $11 million that the seller claims, why would he sell be selling it for $400,000?

The seller probably told the buyer he had $150 in library fines due at the end month and needed the money quickly.

[darwinbulldog]

Maybe the buyer figured they were stolen and had to be moved quickly. That's what I generally assume when people sell me millions of dollars of goods out of a storage facility for pennies on the dollar. Maybe I'm too suspicious.

[drcy]

Hadn't thought of that angle.

My natural assumption in such cases appraisal versus offered price cases is that the appraisal is off-- often by multiple times.

A favorite ebay description was the guy selling a card and said (paraphrase): "If this card was graded it would be worth $10,000. But I don't want to pay the $20 grading fee so am offering the card for $500." The funny thing is the some buyers don't see the gaping hole wide enough to drive a six wheeler through in that financial logic, and scammers bank on them.

As I advise in buying, "Use common sense." Another saying is "When the buyer thinks he's getting a steal and there's an ignorant rube involved in the deal, there often is an ignorant rube involved and it's often the buyer."

I remember watching a Shop at Home late night huckster say "I could sell this for $2,000 but am offering it to you for $799." My response was "If you could sell it for $2,000 you'd sell it for $2,000."

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Maybe the buyer figured they were stolen and had to be moved quickly. That's what I generally assume when people sell me millions of dollars of goods out of a storage facility for pennies on the dollar. Maybe I'm too suspicious.
At least that would mean the buyer wasn't a complete idiot, definitely unethical.

[bwbc917]

Was he also offered the Brooklyn Bridge? That woulda sealed the deal for me.

[packs]

I used this example in the other thread, but I really have no idea what kind of a person falls for this ruse.

If someone offered you a hundred dollar bill if only you traded him your twenty dollar bill instead, would you ever make that trade?

[ls7plus]

A fool and his money...

Best wishes,

Larry

[Brian Van Horn]

Howard,

Not meaning to steal your thunder, but Steve A also had a post on this matter:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=192924&highlight=Brooklyn