I got a big announcement!

[SMPEP]

I'll wade into the ethical obligation debate by mentioning my "original owner" standard.

If the person selling the 1952 Topps grey back is someone selling the cards their grandfather had as a kid, and they have no idea what they are selling, I'll educate them (and make a fair offer).

If the person selling the item is a professional card dealer who doesn't know what he has (which happens much less than it used to but some professionals would be shocked how many of these they sold), I won't say a thing and just buy it. Why? Well let me ask the dealer a question, did YOU Mr. Dealer give the original owner the fair market value of the item? The answer is No. You paid a faction of what you intend to sell it for. So the dealer put a price on the card that reflects the mark up from the price he gave the original owner.

In my mind, if anyone deserve the windfall profit, it's the original owner, not the dealer who didn't know what he was buying (and therefore didn't make a fair offer in the first place).

So if my professional knowledge is better than your professional knowledge Mr. Dealer, I EARNED that extra value. You didn't. And you still get the profit that your knowledge and skill earned from your original purchase. The original owner has a right to be peeved because he was taken advantage of - but not by me. It's the dealer that screwed him.

Cheers,
Patrick