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A hypothetical moral dilemma

4 replies

MediumOrchid · 13/07/2012 14:33

This is competely hypothetical situation - really! I was just fantasicing about an easy way to come into lots of money, and thought of this scenario, but then I got worried about whether it would be morally right to profit from it. I hope I'm not the only one who day dreams about things like this!

Suppose you are at a car boot sale, and you come across a stall where someone is selling something you know to be very valuable for a very cheap price. For example, imagine they have a box of old coins they are selling, and you find several coins which you know are worth at over £1000 each. You ask how much they are, and are told £5 each. The seller clearly has no idea of their value. What would you do? Would you buy them all, or buy all but one and tell them not to sell it, or tell them how much they are worth up front so they can decide if they still want to sell them? Legally there's no problem, you'd be paying the asking price, and there's nothing wrong with buying somehting to make a profit, but what about morally?

I can't decide what I'd do. I'd be so tempted to buy them all, but then I'd feel really guilty, especially if the person was having the sale because they needed some extra money themselves. So what would you do?

OP posts:
NiceViper · 13/07/2012 14:37

I would tell them they have a high value item an suggest they take them for proper valuations.

I have done this twice. Once with a signed copy of a book I knew to be of historic interest, and once with an excellent condition first edition Angela Brazil which was in a 4 for £1 basket.

CookieRookie · 13/07/2012 14:38

I'd tell them. I wouldn't be able to shake the guilt if I didn't.

ShowOfHands · 13/07/2012 14:40

I'd tell them too. Smile

In fact if you were really cheeky and decided to haggle the price even lower, I think there's some point of law which would make you legally wrong as well as morally wrong as then you're actually deceiving them for financial gain.

I've never been to a car boot sale.

DontEatTheVolesKids · 13/07/2012 14:43

Well this happened to me, I sold a guitar for £50 that turned out to be worth about £1000. Buyer fully knew it & a few weeks later he nabbed me (he lived a few roads away) to ask where I got the guitar (I had bought it new). Then he told me its true value, but mentioned that of course the neck was warped & he couldn't be sure that it would be possible to fully repair when he bought it, so in theory he was taking a small risk with that £50.

I had dozens of calls about that guitar (sigh). I bet none of those prospective buyers would have told me, either.

You win some, you lose some.

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