I think i did pretty good.

[Lurp]

I'm not one to judge, but I feel it is as much the seller's responsibilities to research the item being sold as the dealer not to take advantage. In a 30second investigation on Google I have already found the price for this exact same gun and it would not have taken the seller any longer. Again I am not condoning this activity, but just feel it is an equal responsibility of the owner to know what he is selling.

http://books.google.com/books?id=eW...ts=35cVTLkJ1a&sig=yn83bL78LL9QcyKaqSchoAnC_no

 

[AtticusThraxx]

Did I wake up in the USSR? Place has a right to make money and maximze profit short of committing fraud. The burden of making a knowledgable sale is on the seller. Had he gone in just to ask for advice, and was mis-lead, that's another thing all together.
Wife watches alot of Judge Judy.

 

[MrBorland]

I paid him exactly what the gun was worth to HIM, he could have easily said no, and left. Criticizing my integrity isn't needed, epically by anonymous joes on the internet. I would love to see you all in the same situation and say, no , here let me pay you 160 more then what you already agreed on just so i can sleep better at night. Lighten up, im going to shoot my new .38. Have a nice day.

I agree with the first point above and completely with Lurper. The seller certainly could've exhibited some effort in finding out what the gun was "worth". He also left it up to Glock to make an offer and then accepted that offer, when he could've just walked.

OTOH hand, Glock, you asked what everyone thought - if you weren't prepared to hear the answer, you shouldn't have asked. JMO.

 

[PattonTime]

I think you got a revolver cheap

Sir,
I believe what most are trying to point out to
you that getting it super cheap is not the only point.
I can't say I would have done it any different at 24
but I am positive I would have now at 50.
This to me is the High Road and I am on it and have come a long way.
P.S. I bought the same revolver at a gun show recently.
Paid $350.00 out the door, unfired with box

Regards,

PattonTime

 

[Glockafella]

If this guy comes back and sees this gun in your case for 400 bucks or more...are you gonna feel good?... is he? don't think so...you're a shark. Have some integrity...40 bucks? come on man. At least give him enough so you can sleep at night huh?



If I saw this crap go down, I would never do business with you again...but thats me.

 

[wcwhitey]

GotGlock. My only further point is that you solicited the opinions of all us strangers by posting in the first place "I think I did pretty good". I and the other gave our opinions just like you asked, just sorry that they are not what you were after.

 

[woad_yurt]

For 15 years, I was self-employed doing renovations and remodeling. Do you know what the most frustrating & time-consuming part of my job was? Overcoming a customer's suspicion of contractors. It usually took more time to put them at ease emotionally (phone calls, repeat visits, etc) than it did to actually do their deck or whatever it was they wanted done. And, it was all because some previous contractor had stung them. People have a tendency to categorize groups on the actions of a few. They also have mouths and word gets around. On a purely selfish level, business-wise, it's self-defeating to alienate someone because they have friends and family who'll probably hear about it, thus creating a whole bunch of folks who'll avoid your shop now. If one does the right thing, forever after, that customer will come back and will be eager, not hesitant, to do business with one. They'll also say "I know a guy who's cool, go see him...."

 

[welldoya]

It wouldn't have even occurred to me to offer the guy $40. If I had gotten it for $200, I would've felt guilty. $40 is purely ridiculous. I've been in some gun shops when people came in to sell a gun and were offered a low amount but nowhere near what you are talking about. I have bitten my tongue many times and stayed out of it but in this case, I would have offered the guy more, in other words outbid you. I would never set foot in your shop again anyway so what you thought about it would not matter and I would be getting a great revolver for a couple hundred bucks.

 

[spwenger]

Depending on Your State..

... you may only be guilty of petty theft, rather than grand theft. You're the one that likely has to look at your own face in the mirror every morning.

A friend of mine once had someone walk into the (non-gun) store he helps his mother manage, carrying a red S&W box. The man asked him if he wanted to buy a gun. My friend asked what he had and the man handed over the box. My friend then opened the box and found an unfired, flat-latch S&W Chief Special. He handed the box back to the guy, who repeated his question. My friend then asked how much he wanted for it, to which the guy replied, "I've got to get what I paid for it."

When my friend asked how much he had paid for it, the man said that the papers were inside the box. When my friend opened the box a second time, he found a receipt for something like $125. He read it aloud and asked, "Is this what you want for it?"

When the man said yes, my friend gave him the money. At least that fool named his own price.

 

[joab]

You don't work at Shoot Straight do you

I would love to see you all in the same situation and say, no , here let me pay you 160 more then what you already agreed on just so i can sleep better at night.

I have done that and also have reduced an offer made to me for a gun that wasn't worth what the buyer was willing to pay

There is a shop in Winter Park that has been there for over twenty years
I was there one day when an old woman brought in her dead husbands gun, that had belong to his father before him, hoping to get maybe a hundred dollars or so for it.

Instead of jumping on the deal he took it on consignment and sold the near mint BP framed Colt SAA, for it was worth, for her

When someone asks me if I know a good reputable dealer he's the guy I send them to

 

[tuckerdog1]

I see nothing wrong with somebody getting a killer deal. A sale is a two party affair. If the seller is unfamiliar with what he's selling might be worth, it behooves him to find out, before he heads out to sell. it.

On the other hand, this being a transaction done at a store, I can see S&WFan's point. One hot deal pales in comparison to damage that can be done to a businesses'
reputation. So in that case, is it really a good deal? I think not.

Tuckerdog1

 

[wnycollector]

I agree with many of the other posters...it was bad form to take advantage of the guy.

 

[Gator]

What S&WFan said. Your unethical conduct could be damaging to your employer.

 

[Magnum.35744]

S&WFan

You really hit the nail with your first post. I have to agree....

GotGlock- YOU FLAT OUT "RAPED" THE OLD MAN!....

But really what you did was wrong...And rude! If I were in your position I would call the guy back up and offer more money. I hope you’re satisfied with your actions (Although something tells me you are). And it's nothing to be proud of...

Nuf' said.

-Tre

 

[Lew]

The guy was interested in neither firearms nor money. Unless the guy was like "Gee, I have no idea what this is worth but I'd sure like to get some cash for it...What's a fair price, Mister?" I'd say, enjoy your new revolver.

 

[ravencon]

The original poster probably was expecting lots of accolades for his clever dealing.

Well, he got some of those from like minded people and he got smacked on the knuckles by other people.

My opinion? It doesn't really matter but I think he is a bottom feeder.

 

[Cloudpeak]

I think you all are being a little hard on the OP. Uneducated consumers sometimes pay too much or ask too little. Ever been to a car salesman and have him tell you that your offer on a car is more than it's worth and he's going to sell the car to you cheaper?

As another poster said, a little time on the internet would have told the gun seller it's real worth. It wasn't worth his time to check it out. It just sasn't important to the seller. I'd put the fault on the seller.

Saying that, I probably would have offered more. I've given more on deals when offered for less but that's me. I think you would have had to been there to gauge the seller. He sounded affluent, like he didn't want the gun around and the real kicker, he was just going to give it to the police. The guy almost sounds anti-gun so the deal might not be as bad as most people might think. I'd rather see a buyer get a bargin than see a classic weapon get destroyed.

Cloudpeak

 

[spwenger]

I Guess the Moral Is...

...if you want to take advantage of people, don't go bragging about it in a public forum, at least if you can't handle the reaction.

 

[pinstripe]

$40, Huh. Wonder what he could have done with $250. I guess we'll never know. Sir, I believe your moral compass is skewed.

 

[Master Blaster]

So did you make the deal for yourself or the store?

If the guy didn't want to see what the gun was worth, and he only got $40 that is his problem for being an idiot.

BUT you took the gun over the counter in a gunstore where you represent the owner, not yourself. Did you log the gun into the bound book? Did you the ask your boss if it was ok if you bought it at cost??
Did you pay your boss the owner and proprietor of the store fair value for the gun, and do a legal transfer?

Buying a gun under the table in a licensed FFL gunstore and not logging it into inventory and then transferring it to youself without a background check is a FELONY.

Correction his boss checked the numbers and said the gun was clean. Did he log it into the bound book and do a legal transfer to you with a proper background check?

Do you and your boss often take guns under the counter without logging and transferring and then resell them??

Felony loss of license.
Good luck with that.

 

[Baron357]

If you screw an elderly person or a child then shame on you, if like the OP poster implied this guy should have been more then capable of researching the value, shame on him for screwing himself. Any item is only worth what someone is willing to pay; OP was willing to pay $40 and seller said okay, to bad so sad.

Myself I have no interest in that gun and would not pay $400 or whatever for it but somebody who really wanted for whatever reason may be willing to pay $1000 for it, value is what a person is willing to pay.

There is a local shop near me that has the equivalent to that gun and it has been sitting there for about 2 years at $399, not much value there.

 

[9x19sig]

If the guy is willing to lowball someone to utter extremes, I really doubt it was ever logged into their book.

$40 is really pathetic and it is taking advantage of someone. I hope karma pays you a visit someday.

 

[crebralfix]

My first thought was: "Is this the only gun this guy has?"

I purchased a new gun last night for $500. The gun was almost new and he paid $775 for it (he showed me the receipt--we shop at the same store). We got to talking and it sounded like it was his only gun. I handed it back to him as I asked that question. Fortunately, he had an S&W M65.

Hopefully, this old man has enough sense to walk around armed and not sell his only gun for a pittance.

 

[crebralfix]

And, doing a sale like that just puts you in the group of "gun show seller" in my mind.

That's not a compliment.

 

[Odd Job]

I have been wrestling with this one for a while: long enough to pick up my bottle of cherry beer and set it down again a few times.

Some observations:

1) The person who initiated the transaction was the seller. He had already determined what the value of the gun was to him: zero. That's something we have to swallow, and it is a bit alien because nobody here places that value on that gun. But the seller did. He was willing to hand it in to the police. He didn't even do the first bit of research to find out how much the gun was worth. He was getting rid of a problem.

2) Has GotGlock been dishonest? Well, unless his employer has a rule that fair price must be paid on firearms (a certain percentage of its value according to whatever reference table is used) then according to the story so far, he has not been dishonest. If the seller asked what it was worth and GotGlock said $40, then that would be dishonest. If GotGlock told the seller that he might as well sell it for $40 because it was defective, then that would be dishonest. He made the seller an offer and the seller accepted it. That's all there is to it (if I look at this as objectively as I can, by pretending to have no interest at all in guns, which is the mindset of the seller).

3) On the issue of whether the gun was stolen or otherwise has a dubious history, I don't have any comment. I don't know how that can be checked and whether GotGlock had the opportunity or followed the proper procedures to detect that. I don't know the laws as pertain to that transaction.

4) On the issue of whether it would hurt his business if the seller subsequently found out that the gun was worth ten times what he got for it: it depends if you assume the seller tells other potential customers or not. If it only concerns the seller, I dismiss this claim that it hurts business. The seller got $40 for something that was worth $0. That's all there is to it, he has no recourse as he gave up any interest in the value of the gun when he entertained the possibility of handing it in to the police for no money at all.

5) On the issue of whether it would hurt business if a third party found out about it, well clearly it would, if the posters in this thread are a fair representation of typical customers interested in goods of that nature. They obviously hold themselves and each other to a certain gentlemanly and commendable behaviour as far as such a transaction is concerned. Unfortunately they (indeed we) forget that there is no compulsion to be a 'nice dude' and advertise to the seller what the true worth of his item is on a personal level. Whether there was such a compulsion from the point of view of the business is unknown. We would have to talk to the owner of the store and find out.

The seller wasn't raped, conned, fleeced or any other term you care to use. He got $40 for nothing. He did not expect any more. I put it to you that he would have sold it for $1 and would have felt the same sense of achievement walking out of the store. He got rid of a problem. GotGlock scored a nice revolver for $40.

Now whether this transaction is indicative of an underlying chicanery on the part of the OP with other potential transactions (buying and selling) is a matter for speculation. I need to lift this bottle a bit more before I can address that one