Moral dilemma. Wwyd?

[employeewoes]

Keeping it vague and brief.

Someone advertised something on a selling group for £20. I knew it was worth much more so snapped it up. I've now had many offers to buy the item for £150.

Should I offer the original seller some more money?

If they were capable of researching the value of the item and as you say aren’t elderly or vulnerable, then you should keep the money imo. If you have an item which you want to sell then it’s up to you to decide whether you are happy to put a price on it yourself or to look into it’s potential value before placing an ad.

No!!
We picked up an old chair off freecycle.
Free.
When we collected it I recognised the advertiser as a school parent.
We stuck it in the garage intending to do it up then found out it was worth a few hundred.
I contacted her and returned it and she still accused me of taking advantage of her and never spoke to me again.
I'd just sell it OP.

I don't really understand why its a dilemma if you were happy to pay £20 knowing it was worth more. You;ve already bought it instead of letting her know what its worth.

The question now is; are you bothered about her reaction if she sees you selling it for a profit? If not then why the dilemma?

Er, no!

The seller just didn't know what it was. To her it was just an everyday thing that go for around £20 not realising that this one was a specific type and worth more
Hmmm, I sell a lot on eBay and have recently been selling my DDs now unwanted huge collection of Funko Pops. They go for anything between about 6-25 quid, I do research and usually do BIN for ease. But one of them went for GBP350.00 (yeah I know, me neither). DD is expert on them and knew it was worth over GBP150.00 but didn’t expect that much. If I’d seen someone else selling one for the usual price Funkos go for, I’d be really comfortable buying it to sell in, knowing the seller had made an error (for whatever reason). I’d probably buy it anyway but I think I would contact them to explain, if I’d been successful in making a lot of money on it. Not because I cared about them as such but more because it wouldn’t make me feel good about myself if I didn’t.

Buying things relatively cheaply and selling them for more money is what many ppl do for a living. Nothing wrong about it, they are just more knowledgable about market value because it's their job and/or passion. Be happy with your purchase.

Things are only worth what someone will pay for them. There nay be potential for a higher value from a niche market, but that costs more in effort or time to match them up. Most people selling on unwanted items want rid and the item to get further use rather than additional work for the full porential.

No? Why would you

No. Unless perhaps original seller was a close friend or family member who might reasonably have expected you to point out that they were undervaluing the item rather than take advantage. (Haven't RTFT.)

I would message them and offer some profit

So you bought it to make a profit if you had no intention of keeping it?
That's not quite what the OP says. I get the impression she has thought/is thinking of keeping it.

no unless I was friends with the seller and she knew I had sold it on. Have broadly done this unwittingly several times. Bought something then sold it on and happened to get more for it than I bought it for in the first place.
Has happened the other way too though!

I have a friend who goes to car boot sales and buys stuff which she knows she can sell for more on Facebook. The person selling the item at a car boot has chosen that method, my friend isn’t responsible for giving them more money. Same thing here.

No.

Their loss.

If they didn't choose to/couldn't be bothered/just wanted to shift it, that's their business. Take the win, OP!

My own story of this: Last year, my mum and I went to Sorrento, Italy, where they are famous for their inlaid wood/marquetry designs. Mum was particularly taken with them, put even a very small piece was high ££s, and more than we wanted to pay just for something "pretty".
When we got home, I did some stealth E-Bay'ing and found a charity shop in Kent selling a marquetry wall hanging of Sorrento itself (and made there), for the grand sum of £14. A similar piece of that size, from Sorrento, would have been little change from £100+. Clearly the charity shop had NO IDEA they were sitting on a little earner. Needless to say, I snapped it up, gave it to my mum for her birthday, and she was THRILLED.
The charity shop got the price they wanted (nothing to stop them researching it themselves), I got a bargain, and mum got a lovely gift. And I have ZERO guilt.

I wouldn't give them more money, but I certainly wouldn't post it on the same site I bought it off. Why don't you just sell it to one of the people that offered you £150?

Not a chance but if you feel the need add another bag ofshopping to the foodbank box in the supermarket next time you are in.

@sirfredfredgeorge

So you bought it to make a profit if you had no intention of keeping it?

This is the moral side of things to me, not that you deprived the owner, but that you deprived someone who was as similarly aware of the thing, but couldn't afford to pay full price, from getting what they wanted cheaply.

The seller got what they wanted, and if you needed the money yourself then that's fine too, but if you don't need the money, it's nicer not to take it out of the system.

It's the same as when the internet made charity shops no longer a place for genuine bargains, the poorest were the ones most impacted by bargains disappearing.

But certainly no obligation to the seller unless they were vulnerable and you actually took advantage.

So is do you know the person you sell it to at a low price isn’t looking to sell on at it’s real value and make a profit?

It’s not at all morally wrong to sell something for more than you bought it for, people will pay what they deem the item is worth.

Selling it on for less than the actual value is down to you, but it’s not immoral or dishonest to sell it on at a higher price.

Would you see it as immoral of the original seller if it turned out the new buyer could only sell the item on for less than they bought it for?

It’s not dishonest or immoral or wrong. Seller didn’t want it, buyer got a bargain. They can dispose of it as they see fit.

To me there is no dilemma here. Someone sold something at a price they thought was fair, and you paid that price.

I have sold stuff BIN on eBay that I knew was worth a lot more, but I needed cash, or needed space. People got a bargain based on the price I set, and if they then re-sold and made more money, that's nothing to do with me. If I had had more patience I would have made more money myself!

No. Lots of people do that with clothes etc.

PixelatedLunchbox If I sell it that's what I will do.

I've now had over 20 offers for it, so it is very tempting!

OP, imagine you sell it for £350.

You then see the buyer selling it on (successfully) for £3,500. How do you feel?

Now you know how to proceed.

Sell it!

I dont get the "maybe theyre vulnerable" thing. How on earth would you be able to tell?! - are you going to send them a questionnaire?

Yep, you'd be pretty freaked out if you sold something on ebay, then an email comes through saying "btw are you intellectually disabled or vulnerable in some way, if yes let's meet up and I'll give you money".

No, maybe they did know it could be worth more, but weren't really bothered about the money.

I've put things on facebook market place that sell for more on ebay but I can't be bothered with the hassle, I want to get rid of it, but don't put it up for free as you end up with time waters and more bother, but don't want to throw it away as it has some value and someone else can get some use from it.

I really really want to know what it is!