One that got away

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I posed the question because I have often pondered it. I am sensitive to the issue because I have something that some but not all of you have--a professional license. If I am set up at a show and I cheat someone out of their cards and they get my name and they get wise to my scam and report me to the bar I can be disciplined for cheating them. It isn't worth my ticket to buy some cards. Where I fall in the debate is this:

As a dealer, I do not lie to walk-ins or call-ups, I just offer what I think is appropriate and leave it at that, if I am interested. If they balk at the deal and are clueless, I will steer them to a price guide before they head into the shark-infested waters. Often, they come back to me and take the offer I made because I was honest and reasonable in the first place. While I agree that I don't see it as my job to educate them or appraise their collection (if they want a consultant, hire me at my rate and I will help), it also isn't right to mislead someone in order to get a deal. It is fraud.

I do not agree that bad dealers will get what is coming to them. Life doesn't work that way. Sometimes bad people get punished; sometimes they skate (how's the search for the real killsrs going, Orenthal?). I know a lot of real pigs who do quite well as dealers; I don't see them getting in trouble for their rapacious activities. Despite that, I would not intervene in a deal as a matter of etiquette if the seller appeared to be an adult of normal faculties. After all, you are at a card show--walk around and have a look what what stuff is worth, talk with some dealers, do a little due diligence, then lay down your cards. If not, you are setting yourself up to be cheated and I am not going to intervene, unless I am asked (in which case I certainly will not lie for the dealer). If the seller appeared to be a child or a frail or elderly person, however, I would probably jump in and say something, because that person probably doesn't have the ability to protect themselves and the dealer taking advantage of that is a genuine a-hole to begin with.

Finally, most of the people who post here are honest, so I would not expect them to be cheating people at shows. Scott and Leon run one of the most fun and interesting tables and are both stand-up guys, so I would not even be listening in on a deal of Leon's unless it was very loud , let alone standing ready to jump in unless invited.