An Ethical Question

I choose "B) Will you take his $600 offer "

$50 less than your $650 value estimate is not ripping him off. It's getting what you believe to be a good price for the coin. Heck, sometimes on ebay you can find better deals than that.

I would choose "B" too. The $50 saved vs the "market value" is always theoretical - since I don't buy coins for resale I only focus on the cost and getting a fair deal. Also if he was willing to take $600 it might be because there are no other offers (so you might be the only one willing to help him out) or because he knows he overgraded them/doesn't know how to grade.

As for the Starbucks epilogue, it just reminds me that you can't really know the whole story about anyone. Maybe he just doesn't like coffee or just saves money out of habit (I bring my own lunch to work). Then again, maybe he just bought all of those coins on ebay for $100 the week before (off some old retired gentleman) and makes his living looking pathetic and getting sympathy bids. I guess if you followed him and saw him drive off in his new Mercedes you might feel different about what you offered.

Pay him what you think that you would want someone to pay you if you were that old man and they were your old coins. Keeps it more simple. It is nice to be able to sleep good at night. G.

Some more detail:

I went through the checklist that he originally sent. and check every single coins. I sort out the high quality coin vs the "junk" and also write down the grade as I refer to Photograde. After that, I open the CDN and get the appropriate price for the grade that wrote down. Then I add up the total. I wrote it on the paper and boxed it "650", I also spent sometime looking at the number.... even with a quick glance, he can see what I wrote down.....

When asked "How much do you want for them?", he said without hesitant "Six Hundreds".

Lastly, he had all his coins in a "fire resistant" box with a handle on top, it's pretty old though. I didn't bring anything to carry the coins..... didn't really know what I was thinking then.... hahahaha. Anyways, I told him that I didn't have anything to carry the coins; he was a little hesitant, probably thinking I am asking him for the box too... I just told him that I'll pay it for $5. I didn't really care about the box, I just need something for my coins.... so I ended up pay him $5 for the coin....

Now, tell me, he didn't want to give away the box, willing to sell it for $5 but was not hesitant to say "600" when asked for the price of the coins......

This last bit of detail is the cause why I put up this thread. My thinking is that he saw what I was doing all along, he know I am serious and he is serious at selling it; that's why he gave me such a deal that's hard for me to resist..... I don't really know, just some thought?


Thank you all for your participation in this thread.

Happy Turkey Day.
Bruce

I would of given him the 650 that I had valued the coins at.

Been in this situation more than once and everytime I have given fair pricing, regardless of what the seller asked for. I once purchased a bunch of wheaties at I think was $1.50 per roll. Just glanced to make sure they were wheats. Upon searching I found a 14D, called the lady (seller) and gave her more money. Could go on with other stories similiar. Life is to short to try and take advantage of another person for 50 bucks...

Hmmm, interesting question.

I'm thinking option B. If he's happy getting 600 then make the old guy happy. Buy him a coffee after you make the deal if you're feeling guilty but remember he set the price and it wasn't that far from what you were willing to pay. It's not like you found a mint state key date he overlooked that you could flip for ten times what you paid.

I noticed most answers are based on a little honesty. Of course without knowing the so called elderly person, finantial background, marrital status, family, health, statuses, just to much to wonder as to why selling the coins. Of course from my area of Chicago, anyone selling anything is suspicious. If this was here I would look to see if there were cops staking out a possible sting. Stolen merchandise reports of those coins. The seller looking over around constantly. Do I know this person and even then, HMMMM. Think I'd try asking a few more questions first. If just attempting to sell something not wanted, I'd offer the $600 but sure would always wonder about where they really came from. Just a bad area invironment attitude.

Just Carl,

I know what you mean about the people asking for money. Sometimes they seem legit, but most times these people are asking for money from everyone and there is no way their story is true. They are just trying to get as much money as they can for whatever habit they have.

I have people come into my office hitting me up for money. It has gotten pretty crazy. But, if I want to help someone, I will offer to buy them a meal rather than give them money. If it's for gas money at a gas station, I will usually give them a few dollars and hope they are being honest in their needs. At least I feel good that I "may" have helped someone in need.

Silent,

I would probably go with option B. This is what he was asking, so I would be comfortable with that. But, I don't buy bulk coins, so I would have no idea of their value anyways. :)