some advice please, lawyers please chime in.

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Posted By: marty q

o.k, my friend calls and says he has a friend who knows somebody who wants to sell his brothers baseball card collection because he dont want it anymore. i say ok great what is it, real old i am told, now many think real old is 1995, he says "no like 80 years old and stuff " wow i say to myself, i need to take a look, my friend gets him my # and he calls, we meet at a public place in staten island n.y., my old home town and right over the bridge for me, we meet shake hands and already i judge him, looks like he hasnt washed in weeks, very dirty and jumpy, i look at a binder full with about 60 pages, about 15 prewar pages and the rest 50's and 60's mostly, with some goudeys and etc etc, the pre war is beat up stuff p/g,(and thats being nice) with a red cobb and a port. young, as i ask questions he knows nothing?? zero, his brother told him to take it he dont want them anymore.??? nice brother i say to myself.....the rest were alot of h.o famers, vg-ex stuff, mantle aaron all of the stars from those era's.



i do think with all my heart that this was stolen goods!! i did not buy it, but i did lead him on that i was very interested, he wanted 4k, why that # i dont know, was it worth it, maybe, lots of cards with problems, you would need to sit and look over more closely, i would be sick if this was someones life long collection and it was stolen, alot of thoughts went throgh my mind, buy it and bring it to the police and see if they know of any stolen b.b. cards, buy it and put an add in the paper and see if someone claims it, (pretty sure my phone would have rang off the hook with that one) or tell him i would love to buy them give me a few days to see if i can get the money up,( just to by myself time) until i knew what way to go. again i have no doubt these are stolen, and it makes me sick for that person or even a kid who he and his dad have been building this for years.



anyone have advice or ( iknow it's a long shot) expierence with something like this??? or maybe i am ""dead"" wrong, crazier things have happened..

thanks fella's.....marty q.

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

In some jurisdictions it is a crime to buy something that you knew, or should have known, to be stolen. Here it is called 'receiving stolen property', and at the $4k level it would be a felony. So if you know it's hot, don't get burned.

If you have piles of money you could buy it and tell local law enforcement what you did, that way if the rightful owner materializes then you could hand it over to him. This route could lead to you informing police about your 'friend' which you may want to avoid.

Hmmm... when you returned from meeting with your friend what would you think if you had a ring binder of similar cards missing, how would you want them dealt with?

Don't get burned.

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Posted By: boxingcardman

Run away. Simple rule that will rarely steer you wrong. The fact that you are worried about this guy and his story answers the question. Life is too short to get involved with some raggedy-ass bum over some crappy condition cards.

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Just remember that even if you unknowingly purchase stolen merchandise, it's not yours no matter how much you paid and the rightful owner can demand it back with no requirement to pay you a penny. You would then have to try and get a refund from the seller-- a refund you would have a right to, but one that may or may not be a walk in the park to obtain. Owning stolen merchandise is an oxymoron, as stolen means the person who has it isn't the owner.

If you thought the stuff might be stolen from the start, your trouble could be worse than trying to get a refund.

Duly note that I'm not a lawyer, but an art historian versed in the issues of stolen art.

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Posted By: Fred C

Why don't you ask your friend, that steered you to the seller, what he knows about the guy? Maybe he can tell you more about the person. Deep down if you're gut tells you that there's something wrong then just walk away. If you feel you want to fight crime then tell the guy you'd like to take a few pictures of some of the more valuable cards to show to a few people that may be interested in the cards. Maybe it will help solve a crime later and maybe, just maybe it will lead to returning the cards to the rightful owner (if that happens to be the case).