What would you do?

debodun

debodun

SF VIP
Location
way upstate in New York, USA
Say you went to a neighbor's garage sale and bought what you thought was a piece of costume jewelry for $1. That evening, the neighbor comes to your house and says the piece he sold was a mistake and somehow it was a valuable piece that got mixed in with the costume jewelry he was selling. He wants the item back. Would you:
1) give it back for the price you bought it from him
2) sell it back to him the fair market value of the item
3) say "A deal is a deal." and not give it back
 

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debodun said:
Say you went to a neighbor's garage sale and bought what you thought was a piece of costume jewelry for $1. That evening, the neighbor comes to your house and says the piece he sold was a mistake and somehow it was a valuable piece that got mixed in with the costume jewelry he was selling. He wants the item back. Would you:
1) give it back for the price you bought it from him
2) sell it back to him the fair market value of the item
3) say "That's not my fault. A deal is a deal." and shut the door in his face
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Well of course I would give it back for the price I paid for it!
 

Give it back of course. Not much question here. Perhaps if my children were starving, and I mean actually starving, I might take advantage of the situation.
 
A similar situation happened to my mother years ago. She bought an antique mantle clock which the sellers said was in working condition. When she got it home, it didn't work for her. She brought it back and asked for her money back ($150). The sellers refused saying "ALL SALES FINAL!"
 
GeorgiaXplant said:
What? Wait. Nobody's going to keep it and get a spot on Antiques Roadshow? LOL
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Talking of the Antiques Roadshow, which my husband and I enjoying watching, I remember once seeing a piece of pottery displayed on the show, which was worth about £2,000. It was identical to a piece of pottery we had when I was a kid. My father, his siblings and his cousins had inherited the estate of an elderly rich French cousin. As well as money there was a lot of pottery etc. My mother disliked most of the pottery and had 'little accidents' with it from time to time! The piece of pottery I saw on the antiques show ended up in the dustbin after one such 'accident'. I reckon a few thousand £s was wasted in that way!
 
I'd hand it back immediately. One of our friends sold a sterling silver tray in a yard sale for a couple bucks. Later his friend came over and told him he'd resold it for $400 and split the $ with him. This was abut a year ago.
 
Hope this isn't too much off topic. Back in the 60s my mother-in-law was on disability because she had broke her leg. One day she went into the bank to cash her disability check and the teller counted 20s out as 10s so she was double paid. She didn't notice this till she got back in the car. So she took the money back into the bank and said "You made a mistake when you paid me." She was told "We don't correct mistakes after you leave the window." So she said "OK". When she got back to the car she and my husband (who was 16 at the time) and his dad all decided to go visit the kin folks back in Oklahoma (they were living in Oregon at the time) and so they got a free vacation.
 
debodun said:
A similar situation happened to my mother years ago. She bought an antique mantle clock which the sellers said was in working condition. When she got it home, it didn't work for her. She brought it back and asked for her money back ($150). The sellers refused saying "ALL SALES FINAL!"
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Oh my gosh, debodun, this also happened to my Mom many years ago. She paid $40, I think, but that was a lot to us. When the guy wouldn't refund the money, she asked him "Well, do you know where I can get it fixed? See, I've had it appraised already, and they said, as is, it's worth about $350, but if it was working, it could get at least $800 for it."

She got her $40 back!
 
Linda said:
Hope this isn't too much off topic. Back in the 60s my mother-in-law was on disability because she had broke her leg. One day she went into the bank to cash her disability check and the teller counted 20s out as 10s so she was double paid. She didn't notice this till she got back in the car. So she took the money back into the bank and said "You made a mistake when you paid me." She was told "We don't correct mistakes after you leave the window." So she said "OK". When she got back to the car she and my husband (who was 16 at the time) and his dad all decided to go visit the kin folks back in Oklahoma (they were living in Oregon at the time) and so they got a free vacation.
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:clap:
 
I've posted this survey on several message board sites and not one person said they would keep the item! Maybe it was how or where I was brought up, but I'm incredulous that everyone would choose to just give it back. I've been to garage sales and actually seen people doing the "five finger discount". They usually work in pairs - one engages the seller in conversation to distract them while the other helps themselves. I've been taken so many times by garage mechanics and home maintenance contractors, I guess I'm a little sour.
 

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