doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Purdey(s) find of the year?

I think you liberal Democrats often refer to this as redistribution of wealth.

There is only one reason I ever pull over and go to an estate sale or yard sale, and it is not because I need more stuff. I am looking for that "deal of the century" So the next time I see items that I feel are undervalued I will advise them to increase their price. I will need a little practice.
" Mama I see you have $12.00 marked on this bamboo fly rod". Yes that�s right, I guess I would take $10.00." "No Mama, No mama, I will not buy it for less than $150.00". I only have $85.00 on me but if you will hold this money I'll run home and get the other $65.00. ( Spontaneous applause breaks out by the other neighbors)

Hell, I just figured out half of my neighbors are thief�s. I had a barely used Chia pet I paid 18.99 off of the late night shopping channel. When I had a yard sale I mark it for 10 cents. A guy after studying it for about 1 hour and 35 minutes said " Will ya take a nickel". I guess he was just � Vulturing� Just hanging around wait for a weak moment.
So I guess if you screw a retired guy out of a nickel or a widow woman out of $50,000, even though 1000 people before you had a chance to buy the item, you are a thief.
So is it a dollar value or do you go by a percentage to determine if it is a deal of the century or theft?
Now if my wife took the Chia pet to a Vintage Chia pet collector and asked for the real value, and he told her it was worth 10 cents when in reality it was worth $10.00 then that is theft by deception.

This discussion, like a lot of others, has taken place here in the past, and will again.Its easy for the high roaders to wax lofty about it. When faced with a real situation,rather than the opportunity to criticize anothers decision, NO ONE can say what they would do, until the moment of truth....sfact....

treat others, as you would like to be treated...

what goes around, comes around...

craigd wrote:
"There's a big difference between an internal moral dilemma decision and fending off a predator. If my son accepts a gift from me, did he 'rip me off' or 'screw me', or are there exceptions to black and white."

Nobody's talking about gifts-that's a whole different matter. If you have all our marbles and give your son a shotgun, that's a very nice present. I gave two of my nephews each a sidelock. It was just a couple of presents.

canvas, I think you and I largely agree but you wrote:

"All she needed to do was make a call to a legitimate appraiser, of which I'm sure a few could easily be found.

Ignorance on one side of the transaction doesn't make it immoral. Or a rip off."

An earlier post described the woman who took a handgun for an appraisal and got $35. My experience is that such behavior is not uncommon. I am a serious antiques and art collector and the BS I hear from these people is amazing.

And yes ignorance on one side of the transaction can make it not only immoral but also illegal. What the Colt dealer did was illegal in some (maybe all) states.

It's hard to regulate morality.

And easy to claim to be high and mighty....

Wow! Old' Ed is spot on. It's the Golden Rule boys. If you come on to a situation like the one described just treat the lady like you'd want your own dear mother treated. Pretty simple stuff really.

A number of years ago, I was walking thru the Vegas show carrying a Spanish sidelock over my shoulder to sell. I had a few nibbles here and there. Then a short, fat, dealer, maybe in his late 50's at the time (known to many here and "respected"), behind a table of guns asked me to come over. To paraphrase he said something along the lines of: "Son," while closely eyeing the gun over my shoulder, "...you know the gun market is about to take a big hit. You'd be smart to get what you can out of your guns. Blah, blah, blah...(more condescending references to my age or knowledge even though he was only 10 yrs my senior and had no idea if I was more or less knowledgeable about guns or anything else than he)" "I'd give you $XXX (less than a third of the value) for that old import gun...and son, you'd be advised to take it and be thankful...blah, blah, blah..."

I gave the old con artist a curious look, holding back from wrapping the finely struck thin barrels around his fat neck for taking even the few seconds of my life, told him the cowboy hat was "...just a hat" and moved on.

I sold that gun not more than 1/2 hour later for more than 3 times what that ... that dealer "offered".

Was he taking a 'legitimate shot'? Was he looking to take advantage of an uninformed seller? Or was he trying to con an informed seller that the situation is different than the reality?. You be the judge. I know I've made up my mind. I'd never buy a gun from him.

Gnomon wrote:
"An earlier post described the woman who took a handgun for an appraisal and got $35. My experience is that such behavior is not uncommon. I am a serious antiques and art collector and the BS I hear from these people is amazing.

And yes ignorance on one side of the transaction can make it not only immoral but also illegal. What the Colt dealer did was illegal in some (maybe all) states."

Gnomon what you are referring to are people who may be considered experts and professionals who when asked for an opinion/appraisal knowingly give false advice for personal gain. I am as appalled by that as anyone else.

A few have noted on here the level of knowledge we may have when compared to the general public on the subject of guns. I know that if ANYONE asked me for my best estimate of a value for a gun, that's what I would give, even if it was something I wished to acquire.

To me, there is a big difference to being asked to help arrive at a valuation and buying something for the price asked, after many others have passed over it, when the owner likely had the means and awareness that an appraisal might be in order and chose not to do it.

At the same time, I sure appreciate Ed's contribution to this discussion.

Perhaps it's because I have earned my living my entire life by buying and selling but at what point does it become my obligation to insist the seller become better informed? If the fair market value was 20K is it when they are up for sale at 15K? 10K? 5K? 2K?


Gnomon, I should have written "Ignorance on one side of the transaction doesn't necessarilly make it immoral. Or a rip off."