To think my friend shouldn't have taken this money?

[Gracelet]

She was at a National Trust type place which had a second hand book section. As she was browsing she found £165 hidden in one of the books. Rather than hand it in she just kept it and looked rather shocked when I said it was theft.

My perspective - the book belonged to the shop and therefore so does the money.

Her perspective - just luck she came across it so decided to keep it/the shop should have checked the books.

Just for extra info, she doesn't struggle with money but does live payday to payday.

If it’s a charity or non profit then I would have handed it in, it may even have been originally intended as a donation that was never found!

Come on, now, who would ever actually deliberately donate that way? It's not like there aren't numerous normal ways in which to donate money to charity if you wish to.

It's so obviously somebody who left it there for safe-keeping/security - or because of dementia - and forgot it, or otherwise has since died and their family never knew that it was there.

A relative of mine once helped out at a charity shop and found £70 in a handbag (and this was over 30 years ago), whilst sorting through a bag of donations. She told the manager and asked if they could track who gave that bag of stuff, so that they could return their money, and the manager insisted that "It's clearly intended as a donation to the charity". Going on some of the other things she told me about that manager, it wouldn't surprise me at all if it had been 're-donated' into his own pocket and not even reached the charity.

If there's no way of knowing who the rightful owner is, you just have to decide what seems the most moral way of using the money; but let's not try to fool ourselves or anybody else that somebody who genuinely wanted to give a donation to a charity went to the trouble of hiding cash inside items that they knew the charity would be re-selling anyway, and which would thus stand an extremely high probability of bypassing the charity entirely.

Not theft just opportunism. V much doubt they’d have tracked the person who donated it down. Cashier or more likely the manager would have taken it if she hadn’t.

I would have quietly had a browse of all the books on the shelf 😂 then I would have paid for the books containing the money! For good karma I would have given half to charity and kept half for myself. Sorry not sorry!

Regardless of your own personal moral take on the matter, I'm amazed that the friend didn't actually buy the book, though.

There's a clear case for many in stating that, upon buying an item, you now own everything inside it; but not buying it at all makes taking part of its contents undeniably nothing but blatant theft.

It also seems really very miserly in happily grabbing £160 or so for yourself from out of the blue, without even passing a pound or two of it back to the charity whose system enabled you to get it in the first place. If she didn't want the book, she could still have bought it, emptied out the cash and then put it straight back on the donations pile.

Finders keepers.

I have mixed feelings. I would feel guilty if I kept it, but on the other hand there are no guarantees that if handed in it wouldn't be kept by the person taking it in either is there?

I think what I'd do is keep it and make a donation to charity instead.

Disclaimer- I wouldn't have kept it as my default thought would've been that it was a trap or morality test and that someone was secretly filming.

Was the second hand book area located at a charity's premises? You said 'National Trust type place'.

If she found the money on a charity's premises then it's not even a question is it? It's a charity. The money is theirs - morally and practically.

The second hand books that are sold at our local NT place have mostly been donated by the volunteers who work there. If the same applies at this place they could well have been able to track the previous owner.

Of course it was stealing, but many other people would have taken it. I would probably have given it in, but only because I would be scared of there being hidden cameras! 😬

Also @Gracelet

Just for extra info, she doesn't struggle with money but does live payday to payday.

So she DOES struggle with money then.

Oooh that's a good idea. U norty gurrrl!

I think the moral high ground and she would have handed it in.However the chances of finding the owner of the book are about a million to one! What if she had bought the book and got home and found it? Couldnt have been expected to go back to the house surely? I dont think its theft as such .Would be nice of her to give to charity but cant be made to!

I bought a cardi in the charity shop last week and found half a packet of Polos in the pocket, I handed them in straight away 😇

Unless it was something of yours of course?🙄

Not read the whole thread, but a woman was very recently convicted of theft for keeping money she found on a shop floor.

Your friend stole the money, no question. She should have handed it in to the shop staff.

😆 You Angel!

You're a very honest, conscientious person - they could have been worth a mint.

😂

Off topic a bit, but some 10 years ago, my friend found a purse in the park. It had £550 cash in it!!! No debit card or any bank cards or library cards or anything, but it did have a drivers licence. Lisa Harris, 99 Hill View, Redditch. Born 03/03/1983. (So Lisa was about 30 at the time.)

The address was 3 miles away from where she found it, and so she drove to the woman's house to hand it to her - and a middle aged man answered the door. She said 'is Lisa in?' He said 'who?' She said 'Lisa... Lisa Harris.' He frowned and shook his head and said 'never heard of her.' She said 'so she doesn't live here? Is it possible she is an old occupier?' He said 'I have lived her 33 years and don't know any Lisa Harris.'

It was so odd, as Lisa was only 30, and yet he had been there since before she was born. 33 years. So why was her driving licence registered to that address when she apparently didn't live there, and he had never heard of her?

My friend had no other way of finding out who she was, so kept the purse, and the money. I advised her to not spend the money and keep it for about 2-3 months, just in case she discovers someone has lost it. (Like she may see it in the paper/in the lost & found column etc...) Nothing popped up in the papers, or on facebook or anything about any missing purse with a large slice of cash in it, so she kept it. £550!!! Spent it on a long weekend away for her, her DH, and her 2 children. Who the F keeps £550 in their purse anyway? I wondered if it was drug money.

nb; The name Lisa Harris, (and the address,) is fictional! Don't wanna put the real one!!

!

Yes - some people are very good at 'finding' things that haven't actually been lost at all.

I think she should have handed it in. If she'd bought the book and found it at home then fair enough but to just take the money is a bit shitty.

I once found a pay packet on the floor in my road. I was about 13. It had £100 in it which was a lot back then. It had no name, it was just a little brown envelope. My Dad went round all the neighbours. We handed it in to the local police station. Dad put a note on the door in case it was the milkman/paperboy/postman but nobody claimed it and six weeks later the police gave it back to me. I felt like I'd won the lottery! I felt a bit guilty but we'd done all we could!

Brilliant 😂😂

Can’t comprehend someone doing that. I’d have to hand it over.

What's Guffaw?
Not British 😂

@rooftopbird really? I found a wallet on a night out once. It contained money, cards, all sorts. Should I have just kept it?