France/Gabon mask redux, but this time with cards

[raulus]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

As I recall the earlier hypo was would you give someone $100 for a Wagner. Very different. I doubt anyone has an issue with the Mays.

Just to dig deeper here: What makes the difference? Is it the fact that it’s worth $1M+ and you’re only paying 0.01% of that? Or is it because the Wagner is such a world-renowned piece? Or maybe both?

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by raulus

Just to dig deeper here: What makes the difference? Is it the fact that it’s worth $1M+ and you’re only paying 0.01% of that? Or is it because the Wagner is such a world-renowned piece? Or maybe both?

With the Wagner you'd be depriving someone of life-changing money and IMO the disparity between purchase price and value is unconscionable. Here, you just got a very good deal on a piece in the scheme of things not that big.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

With the Wagner you'd be depriving someone of life-changing money and IMO the disparity between purchase price and value is unconscionable. Here, you just got a very good deal on a piece in the scheme of things not that big.

Fair enough. And I don't disagree with that analysis.

I do think that you could tweak your facts in a way that the percentages align closer. For example, if you paid $10k for the Wagner, instead of $100.

But there's no getting around the fact that the raw dollars are so significant that it should be shocking to the conscience to acquire a 7-figure piece for even 1% of the value.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

With the Wagner you'd be depriving someone of life-changing money and IMO the disparity between purchase price and value is unconscionable. Here, you just got a very good deal on a piece in the scheme of things not that big.

An interesting line of inquiry comes to mind from this comment.

Assuming buyer and seller are people for whom the card is a life-changing windfall, and there is no nefarious conduct on the part of the buyer--let's say the card is in a lot of junk that the buyer purchases at a flea market--why is the seller's quality of life more important than the buyer's? How is that decision determined? Is that a universal rule and if so, how was it determined?

Are the relative circumstances of the buyer and seller relevant? For example, would it change the analysis if the seller was a billionaire and the buyer had a family he was struggling to feed? Would it matter if the seller found the card in the trash and was thrilled to get his asking price for it?

Why is a 10x disparity ($2500 card for $250) OK but a 10,000x not? Is there a bright line demarcation for this and if so, how is it derived? Isn't whatever number we use ultimately just as random as any other?

Isn't this sort of deal precisely the goal of every good capitalist, to make as much money as possible? As a capitalist society, shouldn't we applaud someone who recognizes value and makes a mint?

Is the raw number itself the problem rather than the concept? Say I fish a $50,000 card out of a $0.50 box, is the analysis the same? What if I pay $50,000 for a $1,000,000 card? Is that better?

I remain troubled by the idea that the buyer can purchase the card in an arms' length transaction yet still get called out.

[Rhotchkiss]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I remain troubled by the idea that the buyer can purchase the card in an arms' length transaction yet still get called out.

+1

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

With the Wagner you'd be depriving someone of life-changing money and IMO the disparity between purchase price and value is unconscionable. Here, you just got a very good deal on a piece in the scheme of things not that big.

I would think of it more from the perspective of the Wagner being well known even to people who don't collect.

I only get by in hobbies by knowing what something is or isn't. That someone else can't or won't make the connection or notice a detail is important.
Most of my "good" pieces are buys like this one, a better item that a seller just didn't know something about it.

Some are just too obscure for a dealer to bother with. The one time I did mention it was a dealer I consider more of a friend after almost 40 years.
I mentioned one of his dollar postcards was probably a bit special and should be more. He told me that I should just buy it if I thought it was better. So I did, and looking a couple things up it turns out I was right. (Not a super expensive item, but cool)