Would it be wrong to take more money for a gun than its worth?

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Would it be wrong to take more money for a gun than its worth?

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:00:00 PM EDT

So I'm selling a Stery M40 through my local classifieds and there was a typo. Instead of listing it for $350 (an already high price, but I'd thought I'd see who bites), it was listed for $3250.

Someone called today and he was interested in the three thousand dollar .40 cal.

I corrected him on the price and we're meeting tomorrow, but what if someone said, "Hell yeah, here's 3k and I'll take that pistol". Would it be wrong to take the money?

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:01:19 PM EDT

[#1]

It is morally wrong to allow a sucker to keep his money.

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:01:51 PM EDT

[#2]

Captitalism my friend, God bless America.

Edited, damn I thought that flag was at full staff!!!
I'll leave it there for effect though...

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:02:12 PM EDT

[#3]

I might feel bad, but dam. I do research most of the time before I buy something, rarely to I completely impulse buy something and pay exhorbedent prices.

If you can find a sucker sellem

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:03:13 PM EDT

[#4]

I would let him hagle me down to $2800.

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:03:17 PM EDT

[#5]

Your not responsible for others stupidity.

Personally, I couldn't rip somone off though. I wouldn't feel right.

EDIT: tell him you'll let it go for $700 Just cause you like him.

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:04:00 PM EDT

[#6]

There would be nothing wrong with taking his dough.
A fair market price for any good or service is what the consumer is willing to pay for it in a free market. You don't have a monopoly on those pistols do you?
Econ 101

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:04:27 PM EDT

[#7]

Capitalist society +1. Whether or not anyone wants to buy it for that is up to them. I might feel bad. Until I bought myself 4 or 5 new guns.

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:04:42 PM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
Your not responsible for others stupidity.

Personally, I couldn't rip somone off though. I wouldn't feel right.

Same here.
I have some shit zytel 30 round mags for an SKS

Someone gave them to me, and I'd sell them if it werent for the fact that they are just shit,

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:05:33 PM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
It is morally wrong to allow a sucker to keep his money.

Word.

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:05:43 PM EDT

[#10]

It's probably someone who is going to try to scam you.

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:07:47 PM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
Quoted:
It is morally wrong to allow a sucker to keep his money.

Word.

there's a sucker born every minute, but i have too much integrity to let myself get away with that. usually when i walk around a gun show with my M4 (with no intent to sell it) i will quote someone WAAAY over what it is worth, but not too much more (1300) and I would part with it for that much, even though it is 500 more than i paid for it, and 300 more than it is worth

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:08:03 PM EDT

[#12]

Probably some gangbanger with a bunch of drug money. If he doesnt care what the price is as long as no paperwork...then reconsider. I had that problem with some "homies" at a gunshow once.

ETA: I was selling a kit built AMD63(when NIW kits we under 80 bucks) for like 300, and a Century Cetme, they were gonna give me $2k for both rifles, as long as no paper work which is legal in FL so it didnt matter. But I asked and he said he had a pending felony charge. Had to walk away from 1500 free bucks. Just be careful

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:09:12 PM EDT

[#13]

There is a line between fair market price and a con. You did good.

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:10:14 PM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Your not responsible for others stupidity.

Personally, I couldn't rip somone off though. I wouldn't feel right.

Same here.
I have some shit zytel 30 round mags for an SKS
Someone gave them to me, and I'd sell them if it werent for the fact that they are just shit,

a person's consience needs to be factored in here. i'd have a tough time living w/ myself after screwing someone.

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:11:25 PM EDT

[#15]

its only wrong if your the guy buying.

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:13:12 PM EDT

[#16]

remember that "worth" is a relative concept. what might be "worth" $500 to you and $400 on the open market, may be "worth" $3000+ to someone else.

it is only "worth" what someone is willing to pay for it

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:13:36 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Your not responsible for others stupidity.

Personally, I couldn't rip somone off though. I wouldn't feel right.

Same here.
I have some shit zytel 30 round mags for an SKS
Someone gave them to me, and I'd sell them if it werent for the fact that they are just shit,

a person's consience needs to be factored in here. i'd have a tough time living w/ myself after screwing someone.

I think my question in the original post and correcting him on the price gives me away -- I think I'd feel bad about it too. But still its fun to think about making a huge profit on selling a gun.

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:17:27 PM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
remember that "worth" is a relative concept. what might be "worth" $500 to you and $400 on the open market, may be "worth" $3000+ to someone else.

it is only "worth" what someone is willing to pay for it

Thats true too. It is the only .40 cal listed in the paper. If someone just have to have one and not want to go through a FFL to get a new one, then maybe 3K seems ok.

I forget that there are a lot of really rich people out there and sometimes they are not smart with their money.

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:21:17 PM EDT

[#19]

As long as there was an offer / tender made - and the offer or tender was accepted. You are good to go.

It was not as if you twisted his arm or anything. Caveat Emptor.

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:23:09 PM EDT

[#20]

I could never sell something overpriced that much. Maybe if it was a $100 higher than I was going to sell yes, but at over 9x the price? Um, there is no way I could look him in the eye over something like that.

Arn't there 'shock the courts' type clauses that make contracts like that unenforcable in some(more socialist) places? (I think it works both ways, I first remember hearing about it referring to selling say your house to someone for $1 (the dollar needing to be there to make the contract enforcable))

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:25:33 PM EDT

[#21]

Let's put a little more thought into this.

You could possibly rip someone off and if they were to find out how badly they got ripped they may get pissed and come after you.

So here's where the thinking part comes in.

You just sold him a gun. Be ironic if he got so mad that he used it on you, eh?

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:31:08 PM EDT

[#22]

Would it be wrong to sell a gun for more than its worth?

Haven't you ever been to a gun show? 95% of guns sold there are prime examples of things being sold for more than they are worth!

Posted: 3/8/2006 8:33:01 PM EDT

[#23]

If it was wrong, everyone who sells glocks for anything over $100 would be in prison.

Posted: 3/8/2006 9:17:57 PM EDT

[#24]

Just thinking about it:

The reverse of this is offering some on who knows 0 about guns a ridulously low price for a gun you know is worth a hell of a lot more

Posted: 3/9/2006 5:07:28 AM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:
If it was wrong, everyone who sells glocks for anything over $100 would be in prison.

Posted: 3/9/2006 5:17:24 AM EDT

[#26]

The guy isn't from Nigeria by chance???

Posted: 3/9/2006 5:25:11 AM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:
Just thinking about it:

The reverse of this is offering some on who knows 0 about guns a ridulously low price for a gun you know is worth a hell of a lot more

SOme of the EE surfers are guilty of that, and they know more than 0 about guns.

Posted: 3/9/2006 5:32:55 AM EDT

[#28]

Let me guess, he wants to pay you with a $15000 cashiers check, and wants you to refund the cash difference to him?

Posted: 3/9/2006 7:09:28 AM EDT

[#29]

I would be worried about why he is willing to give that much for it. Can it be traced back to you via 4473 if it turns up as a crime weapon?

Posted: 3/9/2006 8:50:59 AM EDT

[#30]

The only ethical rule in a gun trade is this:

Don't steal guns from widows for less than a fair value.

Everyone else is eligible to get skinned.

The implication is that the woman wants to sell the guns at a fair value; if the asking price is extraordinarily low, implying that she has no clue to their value, then it's wrong to complete the deal on those terms. It's also wrong to lie by exclusion by making an exceptionally low ball offer while implying that it's close to their value.

There is an employee at a local gunshop that pulled this a week ago last Saturday; he got her shotguns (unfired A-5 and Model 12 with rib) and a Chicom SKS for $300, but she got suspicious at his offer of $100 for her bring back Luger and went to a different shop. He's been found out now.

Posted: 3/9/2006 9:14:32 AM EDT

[#31]

It's wrong, it's a typo. If a dealer did the same thing you'd be all over his case

Posted: 3/9/2006 9:27:51 AM EDT

[#32]

It is the seller's duty to get as much as he can for an item. It is the buyer's duty to spend as little as he can on the same item.

That said, I *personally* couldn't accept that much from the buyer. I won't pretend to pass moral judgement on those who would, since I'm not sure it's immoral. I just couldn't do it myself. I would feel bad.

There's another way of looking at it, though. I always like to say "Everything I have is for sale". For example, let's say you want to buy my motorcycle. It's worth about $14,500 on the open market. Since I don't want to sell it, I might say "My price is $25,000". It's more than it's worth, but I don't really want to sell it either. When the buyer balks at the price, I say "Hey. That's what it's worth to me right now. Take it or leave it. You're the guy who offered to buy it, and I wasn't trying to sell it to you." If somebody offered me $25,000 for it, I'd be a fool not to take it.

Want an M4gery? I've got one for $3000. I don't want to sell it, but for that kind of scratch, I'll change my mind.

Posted: 3/9/2006 9:27:54 AM EDT

[#33]

Quoted:
The only ethical rule in a gun trade is this:

Don't steal guns from widows for less than a fair value.
Everyone else is eligible to get skinned.

The implication is that the woman wants to sell the guns at a fair value; if the asking price is extraordinarily low, implying that she has no clue to their value, then it's wrong to complete the deal on those terms. It's also wrong to lie by exclusion by making an exceptionally low ball offer while implying that it's close to their value.

There is an employee at a local gunshop that pulled this a week ago last Saturday; he got her shotguns (unfired A-5 and Model 12 with rib) and a Chicom SKS for $300, but she got suspicious at his offer of $100 for her bring back Luger and went to a different shop. He's been found out now.

That cannot be stressed enough.
Think of when you die - will your wife have any clue how much your guns are worth?
Would you want her to get ripped off?
Widows always get fair price when buying from them.

Selling for too high of a price is one thing.
Buying something for far below market value from someone who doesn't know any better (so long as they are not a widow) is ok.

Posted: 3/9/2006 9:47:10 AM EDT

[#34]

Quoted:
Quoted:
The only ethical rule in a gun trade is this:

Don't steal guns from widows for less than a fair value.
Everyone else is eligible to get skinned.

The implication is that the woman wants to sell the guns at a fair value; if the asking price is extraordinarily low, implying that she has no clue to their value, then it's wrong to complete the deal on those terms. It's also wrong to lie by exclusion by making an exceptionally low ball offer while implying that it's close to their value.

There is an employee at a local gunshop that pulled this a week ago last Saturday; he got her shotguns (unfired A-5 and Model 12 with rib) and a Chicom SKS for $300, but she got suspicious at his offer of $100 for her bring back Luger and went to a different shop. He's been found out now.

That cannot be stressed enough.
Think of when you die - will your wife have any clue how much your guns are worth?Would you want her to get ripped off?
Widows always get fair price when buying from them.

Selling for too high of a price is one thing.
Buying something for far below market value from someone who doesn't know any better (so long as they are not a widow) is ok.

I keep a list of my guns with the serial numbers in case of theft as I'm sure all of you do too, but I also have an estimated value for each firearm so my wife won't get ripped off if something happens to me.

Posted: 3/9/2006 10:54:53 AM EDT

[#35]

I won't pretend to hold some moral
high ground here, but yeah
I think its wrong.

It'd be one thing if the selling price was $350 and you wanted $400-500, thats reasonable markup, (i.e. gunshow prices) but damn, you are gonna fleece a guy for 400% plus?

I just couldn't do it.

For instance, I had a cadillac that I hated. It was a P.O.S. broke down everytime it could and some just cause it felt like it.

I sold it with a $3500 O.B.O sticker.
Young guy from Tinker AFB comes to look at it, likes it, wants to give me full price, now I had the OBO on there cause I wanted to start high, and sell for the first price over $2900 that I got.

I couldn't in any good conscience sell the kid the car for $3500. So I told him
"man look, I had OBO on this car, and I was gonna go down a little bit cause thats what you do when you sell cars. how about $3000 and we are good?"

Sold it, never looked back, and don't feel the least bit guilty, cause I got a nice young airman into a car, for less then he thought he was gonna spend.

MAybe there just not very many folks like me though.

Pay it forward.

Posted: 3/10/2006 7:47:29 AM EDT

[#36]

Caveat Emptor.

Posted: 3/10/2006 8:11:58 AM EDT

[#37]

If you have to ask, you know it is wrong.

Posted: 3/10/2006 8:36:10 AM EDT

[#38]

Quoted:
I won't pretend to hold some moral
high ground here, but yeah
I think its wrong.

It'd be one thing if the selling price was $350 and you wanted $400-500, thats reasonable markup, (i.e. gunshow prices) but damn, you are gonna fleece a guy for 400% plus?

I just couldn't do it.

For instance, I had a cadillac that I hated. It was a P.O.S. broke down everytime it could and some just cause it felt like it.

I sold it with a $3500 O.B.O sticker.
Young guy from Tinker AFB comes to look at it, likes it, wants to give me full price, now I had the OBO on there cause I wanted to start high, and sell for the first price over $2900 that I got.

I couldn't in any good conscience sell the kid the car for $3500. So I told him
"man look, I had OBO on this car, and I was gonna go down a little bit cause thats what you do when you sell cars. how about $3000 and we are good?"

Sold it, never looked back, and don't feel the least bit guilty, cause I got a nice young airman into a car, for less then he thought he was gonna spend.

MAybe there just not very many folks like me though.

Pay it forward.

True. I have talked people out of buying some POS cars I had. I knew it'd been a waste of time and money for them. Additionally, the few weapons I have sold (to friends) were low market value.

Maybe its an out-of-fashion staid idea, but I have always had the conviction that its was an unwritten rule, an underlying American ideal, to be honest and uncorrupt. Did I derive inspiration looking at too many Norman Rockwell paintings?

Posted: 3/10/2006 8:42:57 AM EDT

[#39]

I dont think it is "wrong wrong"

I wouldnt do it though. I treat people fair, and expect others to treat me the same way.

Posted: 3/10/2006 1:55:42 PM EDT

[#40]

Quoted:
So I'm selling a Stery M40 through my local classifieds and there was a typo. Instead of listing it for $350 (an already high price, but I'd thought I'd see who bites), it was listed for $3250.

Someone called today and he was interested in the three thousand dollar .40 cal.

I corrected him on the price and we're meeting tomorrow, but what if someone said, "Hell yeah, here's 3k and I'll take that pistol". Would it be wrong to take the money?

Sold it for $300 even this afternoon. Considering i bought it for 279 plus shipping and ffl transfer, I did ok.

Posted: 3/10/2006 2:07:44 PM EDT

[#41]

Anything is worth exactly what you can sell it for.

Posted: 3/10/2006 8:34:34 PM EDT

[#42]

It is morally wrong to ~~allow a sucker to keep his money~~sell a Steyr.

Fix'd, and you are correct. It woul take a lot to get my M9 from me.

Posted: 3/11/2006 5:18:46 AM EDT

[#43]

Quoted:
It is morally wrong to ~~allow a sucker to keep his money~~sell a Steyr.

Fix'd, and you are correct. It woul take a lot to get my M9 from me.

They are good pistols aren't they. I don't know why they didn't catch on better.

Sweet guns for a sweet price.

Posted: 3/11/2006 5:22:06 AM EDT

[#44]

Quoted:
So I'm selling a Stery M40 through my local classifieds and there was a typo. Instead of listing it for $350 (an already high price, but I'd thought I'd see who bites), it was listed for $3250.

If he is a felon and cannot purchase one otherwise then it may well be 'worth' $3250 to him.

Posted: 3/11/2006 5:35:17 AM EDT

[#45]

Quoted:
So I'm selling a Stery M40 through my local classifieds and there was a typo. Instead of listing it for $350 (an already high price, but I'd thought I'd see who bites), it was listed for $3250.

Someone called today and he was interested in the three thousand dollar .40 cal.

I corrected him on the price and we're meeting tomorrow, but what if someone said, "Hell yeah, here's 3k and I'll take that pistol". Would it be wrong to take the money?

Ran an add one time for a rifle that I was asking 300 for, listed the accessories ( scope,aftermarket stock,etc etc ) and a guy called and asked me if I knew that that gun was worth $800.00 at LEAST. I asked him if he'd like to buy it at that price. I just about dropped the phone when he said yes! We met,he looked it over,gave me $800.00.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Would it be wrong to take more money for a gun than its worth?

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