Seller sues dealer/buyer for a high flip

[Peter_Spaeth]

Well you're now down to talking about a majority and a minority. I might agree with you there, but before you were suggesting no one would turn it down. I believe a very sizeable minority would.

I don't know what your experience of the world has been, but mine apparently is otherwise.

[Snapolit1]

My mom has a condo down in Vero Beach. I thought it would be really cool to take out some classified ads in the local papers (see them all the time) about how I am buying cards, sports memorablia, Dodgers stuff, etc. Would be fun to pop into people's homes and check stuff out. But ultimately I don't run an auction house, and the business model would basically be premised on me fleecing ignorant widows of what they have. No. Not how I see my life playing out.

If Rick Probstein misprices something, that's one thing. If Mary O'Ryan, age 90 does, that's a totally different story.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

My mom has a condo down in Vero Beach. I thought it would be really cool to take out some classified ads in the local papers (see them all the time) about how I am buying cards, sports memorablia, Dodgers stuff, etc. Would be fun to pop into people's homes and check stuff out. But ultimately I don't run an auction house, and the business model would basically be premised on me fleecing ignorant widows of what they have. No. Not how I see my life playing out.

If Rick Probstein misprices something, that's one thing. If Mary O'Ryan, age 90 does, that's a totally different story.

Is there some profit margin where you would still make enough to justify your effort, but not so much that you felt like you were shearing the sheep?

70%? 50%? 30%? 10%?

Seems like somewhere in that range you probably find you can sleep at night. But maybe the margins would drift down to the point where it no longer made sense.

[Snapolit1]

Good question.

I guess my answer to a friend or family member would be "It depends. Speak to Al at Love of the Game Auctions." And if I didn't say that to someone else it would probably be a little disengenous at best.

Originally Posted by raulus

Is there some profit margin where you would still make enough to justify your effort, but not so much that you felt like you were shearing the sheep?

70%? 50%? 30%? 10%?

Seems like somewhere in that range you probably find you can sleep at night. But maybe the margins would drift down to the point where it no longer made sense.

[D. Bergin]

I like to think I’m pretty savvy at stuff like this, but if I found that mask among my grandparents belongings, I’d probably be the idiot who’d be happy to get $157 for it.

Not my wheelhouse man…not my wheelhouse.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Well you're now down to talking about a majority and a minority. I might agree with you there, but before you were suggesting no one would turn it down. I believe a very sizeable minority would.

I don't know what your experience of the world has been, but mine apparently is otherwise.

I stated in favor of "very few" (40), that it would be "exceptional" (52), that there are not a "great or sizable number" (58), "in a minority (58), and against "many people" (58) or "anything even approaching a majority" (58), since you so strongly objected to it being "exceptional"; which would necessitate a large number of people.

Perhaps one day I will find this idyllic Utopia where a great many people reject instant wealth to make a point not to benefit from a stupid seller, but I think we all must know deep down that the odds of that are about 0%.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by G1911

I stated in favor of "very few" (40), that it would be "exceptional" (52), that there are not a "great or sizable number" (58), "in a minority (58), and against "many people" (58) or "anything even approaching a majority" (58), since you so strongly objected to it being "exceptional"; which would necessitate a large number of people.

Perhaps one day I will find this idyllic Utopia where a great many people reject instant wealth to make a point not to benefit from a stupid seller, but I think we all must know deep down that the odds of that are about 0%.

I am sorry you have such a jaded view. I suspect you're already in that utopia, as I believe a great many of us would feel it was the right thing not to buy a Wagner for a hundred bucks.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I am sorry you have such a jaded view. I suspect you're already in that utopia, as I believe a great many of us would feel it was the right thing not to buy a Wagner for a hundred bucks.

A great many of you certainly will feel this way. I would probably agree even. But not many of you will pass up a free million bucks if offered on a silver platter. People lie, cheat and steal for $1,000 or less frequently; when offered a cool million plus without having to even lie, cheat or steal almost all of us will take it.

I find it exceedingly difficult to believe any collector in the hobby for a significant amount of time has not gotten a bargain in their favor at some point and benefited from a sellers lack of knowledge.

If I list $100 card for $1 in the BST it will be gone in 1 minute. People will take this offer for a few bucks; there is no way many are turning it down for instant wealth. I'm sorry, but this utopia is pretty obviously not how the world works.

[Peter_Spaeth]

There's a difference between making a good deal and making an unconscionable one. Perhaps it's hard to define precisely where the line is, but not at the extremes.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

There's a difference between making a good deal and making an unconscionable one. Perhaps it's hard to define precisely where the line is, but not at the extremes.

I'm going to have a hard time buying an argument that taking advantage of a sellers bad offer and lack of knowledge for $100 is something people will do, but doing the same for $1,000,000 isn't.

In reality, it usually works the exact opposite way here. When I leave a $20 bill on the table at the diner as the tip, the odds it is stolen if the waitresses back is turned is pretty low. If I left $20,000 on the table, the odds it will be stolen is extremely high. A wrong act (we'll just assume accepting a low offer is a wrong act) is more likely to be performed the greater the reward for doing so. If one is happy to accept a bad offer from a seller for $99 profit, I find it extremely difficult to believe they will not do so for $1,000,000.

I get this argument has to be made after the previous claims because nobody can credibly claim to be a long time collector and have never taken advantage of a seller in a realistically sized deal, but it is a rather absurd argument.

We can virtue signal and wring our hands, but we all know damn well that almost everybody is handing over the $157 as fast as they can possibly get it out of the wallet and taking that Wagner, and that the $100 card I list will be gone in a flash. Many might feel bad about it, and some might come back and give the original seller a small slice of the profits, but we all know that card is being sold in seconds.

[Exhibitman]

Does Moser really exist or is he a boogeyman?

[raulus]

Originally Posted by G1911

I'm going to have a hard time buying an argument that taking advantage of a sellers bad offer and lack of knowledge for $100 is something people will do, but doing the same for $1,000,000 isn't.

In reality, it usually works the exact opposite way here. When I leave a $20 bill on the table at the diner as the tip, the odds it is stolen if the waitresses back is turned is pretty low. If I left $20,000 on the table, the odds it will be stolen is extremely high. A wrong act (we'll just assume accepting a low offer is a wrong act) is more likely to be performed the greater the reward for doing so. If one is happy to accept a bad offer from a seller for $99 profit, I find it extremely difficult to believe they will not do so for $1,000,000.

I get this argument has to be made after the previous claims because nobody can credibly claim to be a long time collector and have never taken advantage of a seller in a realistically sized deal, but it is a rather absurd argument.

We can virtue signal and wring our hands, but we all know damn well that almost everybody is handing over the $157 as fast as they can possibly get it out of the wallet and taking that Wagner, and that the $100 card I list will be gone in a flash. Many might feel bad about it, and some might come back and give the original seller a small slice of the profits, but we all know that card is being sold in seconds.

I see both sides to this argument. And I’d like to think that it’s possible to agree with both of you, without seeming like I’m completely full of inconsistencies.

If you want an example that cuts the opposite of Greg’s assumed outcome, I give you the example of my friend Fred McKie and the dice game find from last year.

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...st-cards-find/