Would you buy the cards?

[JPoJohnson]

You find yourself in a door to door salesman job. You don't mind it and you enjoy meeting new people. One individual finds what you're selling interesting and wants to learn more. You go in, tell him all about it and he is interested. He invites you back next week for a demo and teaching him more about the product. He's a nice guy and you hit it off well.

You go back the next week and show him more aspects about the product and why its a great deal. You guys get distracted when you notice a box of magic sitting on the table and ask if he plays. You guys talk about the game for an hour or so and then he brings out all his old cards saying he's been meaning to get rid of some of them. He pulls out $1100 worth of unlimited duals and says he'll sell them to you for $200 because that's the price of the product.

What do you do? Buy the cards, tell him the value. Well?

[cuthbertthecat]

I'd buy them, but then again I'm scum.

[Dice_Box]

I would be honest, because I am too honest for my own good. I would then let him know that if he where to sell them to a store he would be looking at about 2/3's the value. I would then ask if he would like that as a deal. If not, so be it, he can sell them online if he likes.

Just to note, I have done this with a friend. He had not been playing for years, offered me his collection, I priced it, sent him the pricing and my offer, I now own it.

[lordofthepit]

If I'm confident that those aren't stolen goods (and I wouldn't think they're stolen based on your hypothetical since you're the one who noticed them), I would let them know that they're worth significantly more than $200 and I would be willing to offer more than that but still a figure significantly under market value.

They might appreciate your honesty and not want to go through the trouble of finding a buyer anyway.

[Darkenslight]

I'd consider offering them $600, dependent on quality, and explaining why you're offering that amount. The reasoning is that you know they're worth something, the seller comes off feeling that you're honest, which can then potentially lead into a sale of the stuff your job provides.

[H]

Whenever I do a trade or buy things from people, I simply ask them if they want me to look up the prices of the things.

If yes, we do and make a deal. If no, then I take whatever deal they want to offer.

[mini1337s]

Realistically, this person is an adult who had an opportunity to research and value his property. If he undervalues his property, that is his own fault.
That said, I can appreciate the "feel bads" that come along with this situation. I agree with H, you can offer to evaluate the cards through a price guide and that is more than fair. If they decline, that's their prerogative.

[Myelectronicdays]

If a person is unwilling to look at the value of his own items before selling. its his fault. Id buy and have bought deals like that in the past.

The man is an adult and should have learned this lesson by now.

[the Thin White Duke]

I agree with the previous two posts. In this day and age, anyone can go online and find out if stuff has value. Something like Magic cards is wicked easy. Plus, the guy seems to know something about the game so he should be educated. Make a fair offer and explain that it's easier selling to you than a dealer or wasting time on Ebay.

[H]

For example, someone came to our local shop with his 'old' collection. He was looking for Æther Vials which I had recently opened 3 extra in a box of Modern Masters.

I looked through his stuff, finding a FNM Brainstorm, a foil Dissention Spell Snare, a foil M10 foil Ponder and a Shadow of Doubt. I know I'm not going to get there in value, so I had him my paltry trade binder.

He looks though and finds nothing but the 3 Vials. I ask him what site he'd like to use to price them. He says don't bother, he just wants the three Vials. I ask again, are you sure you don't want to check prices and he insisted that deal was fine.

I wasn't going to argue with him, so his loss.

[from Cairo]

I would buy his $1100 value at $200, if that makes me a bad person, so be it.

[big_ticket]

I would buy his $1100 value at $200, if that makes me a bad person, so be it.

i want to get some duals in a cheap price why not

[HammafistRoob]

I would buy his $1100 value at $200, if that makes me a bad person, so be it.

Same here, I might even try to talk him down a bit just for shits.

[Lemnear]

You find yourself in a door to door salesman job. You don't mind it and you enjoy meeting new people. One individual finds what you're selling interesting and wants to learn more. You go in, tell him all about it and he is interested. He invites you back next week for a demo and teaching him more about the product. He's a nice guy and you hit it off well.

You go back the next week and show him more aspects about the product and why its a great deal. You guys get distracted when you notice a box of magic sitting on the table and ask if he plays. You guys talk about the game for an hour or so and then he brings out all his old cards saying he's been meaning to get rid of some of them. He pulls out $1100 worth of unlimited duals and says he'll sell them to you for $200 because that's the price of the product.

What do you do? Buy the cards, tell him the value. Well?

My Friend,

I'm not known for being the highest instance of morality in regards to private things, nor to business as my job forces me to squeeze out the most money for me or the company I'm assisting for a project. If you have a problem with looking into the mirror after a deal highly into your favor (even if I think you should be used to that being a salesman) and fear that your trading partner might me mad at you after his initial happiness to make 200$ out of "nothing" just to find out that his item was undervalued from the start, I want to share a merchant-tradition I learned in Syria:

If someone has to emergency sell stuff you give him 50% of his items worth so no one loses his face (both knowing the worth). If you make even better trades for some reasons (one not knowing the worth), you are required to invite your family, friends and the trading partner for a festivity with food and drinks to celebrate your good trade and give your trading partner something back. No one would dare to complain about the host who provided you food and drinks for free.

[JPoJohnson]

It's not a situation i personally found myself in. My friend sent me a letter recently containing the $1100 in duals within and said if I sold the underground sea off for over 200 that I could keep the rest. I'm also not judging the actions either way because I can see the justification of either action. Both can be right and both can be wrong. After thinking about how it went down I just felt that it was an interesting scenario and was curious as to the thoughts of others. I bought 4 Piledrivers and a burning wish earlier this year for $6 when I went through the back stock of an LGS's cards. I obviously enjoy a great deal when I find one.

[HammafistRoob]

I'm pretty sure if you buy something for 200 dollars and then offer to take the seller of said thing out to "celebrate", they'd probably become curious as to why you're so ecstatic, and look up the price of said thing. Seems like a poor move from a psychological perspective with something as low key as cards. It's obviously a lot different depending on what you're buying, but I would just instantly buy the cards and leave.

[klaus]

Yep, buy for cheap, and try to return a favor (for karma's sake). Don't link it to your bargain, but just make it appear as a general act of kindness.
{ e. g.: I'm leaching wifi from my attractive neighbour, w/o her knowing - however, I'm taking her out to dinner once in a while in return :cool: }

..But you were trying to sell him something non-Magic initially? Is there a chance you ripping him off could interfere with your other deal?

[Dan Turner]

I would be honest. Be like dude I have $200 and would gladly buy these for that price. Just to let you know if you do some research you will find out they are worth more. I have done this once and my buddy was well there you go now you can buy them and make some money. Sometimes its they just need that money and dont want to do the leg work.

[zulander]

You should be an adult an know better than to take advantage!

I would have told him, not doing so kinda makes you a scumbag. We could use a lot less scumbags in our society today.

[Stan]

You should be an adult an know better than to take advantage!

I would have told him, not doing so kinda makes you a scumbag. We could use a lot less scumbags in our society today.

How does that make him a scumbag? The person in question has every opportunity to look up the price of the cards. Back in 1999, I once had a guy offer me a foil Masticore (back then brand new, played in every deck, and probably the most expensive foil you could find in the world) for a normal, nonfoil English Lightning Dragon. He collected dragons, and saw no use for foils. Obviously, I took the deal. If that guy opens the negotiations and offers that price, take it. His choice, he has the option of looking up the comparative value at every moment. One could make an argument about shady morals if the buyer were to propose an extreme lowball offer, based on superior knowledge of the market, but that isn't the case here. If, on the other hand, you know you'll have dealings with him again in the future, or reputation damage is a realistic possibility, propose him a higher lowball offer in return.

[zinedrei]

if it were me, id tell him the buy price of stores and if that works within my budget, ill offer to buy it at that price.

that's just me, always concerned about having a peaceful sleep at night knowing i did my best for other people that day.

who knows, maybe he has a bunch of other stuff that i can also buy next time, like power or something :)

[keys]

You guys with anecdotal stories involving friends are forgetting that the person in the OP's scenario is a stranger.

If I didn't know the person, I would not feel bad about accepting an offer that is favourable to me. If I was making the offer, however, it would be different. Ripping someone off, especially when the other person is less knowledgeable, would make me feel very guilty. And if the guy is a friend, well then, of course I'm going to say how much it's really worth.

[dahcmai]

I guess I'm the ultra scum then. I not only would do it. I literally have several old ladies who hit up garage sales and swap meets regularly looking for cards for me on the cheap. I pay them a percentage when they find a batch which is almost always much more than they spent to acquire them for me. It's a opportunist's world, those who jump on the opportunity will come out ahead in everything. you may consider it scummy, but I bet I do more good later on when I have no need of the money than any person who is a doer well all his life.

[JPoJohnson]

I guess I'm the ultra scum then. I not only would do it. I literally have several old ladies who hit up garage sales and swap meets regularly looking for cards for me on the cheap. I pay them a percentage when they find a batch which is almost always much more than they spent to acquire them for me. It's a opportunist's world, those who jump on the opportunity will come out ahead in everything. you may consider it scummy, but I bet I do more good later on when I have no need of the money than any person who is a doer well all his life.

You run a mob of old grannies that are cardsharking the local scene on your behalf? This gives me the most bizarre visual.

[danyul]

You run a mob of old grannies that are cardsharking the local scene on your behalf? This gives me the most bizarre visual.

He also wears a pinstripe suit and bowler hat to every MTG event. And he likes to light his Cubans with MP white bordered P9. And for every haul one of his grannies makes, he buys a pair of TOMS because they send shoes to Africa or somewhere for every pair purchased. And then he throws away the original pair without ever taking them out of the box. He lives his life with Reckless Abandon and goddammit, he's doing it better than the rest of us.