Yard Sale deal of the day.

I know I do not have to agree with you and you do not have to agree with me. What makes this forum fun sometimes - I am actually enjoying this and not trying to get you riled up or anything. See a smiley face . But I am curious as to - what if this same person sold it on ebay for a $1? How would that be different.

 

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I honestly do not think the seller knew what he had.

 

My favourite, promoting rectitude through assumption, presumption and unsubstantiated thinking. I didn't know yard sales could be so morally stimulating.

 

The seller had every reasonable opportunity to know what he had. The face value is apparent and the label says the coins are silver. No guessing necessary. This isn't the same ignorance like the old lady with the $10 gold coin example. He did not need to do any research, just look at the darn thing.

 

I've given items away to thrift stores worth as much as or more than the OP's clock. This is partly because I like having a chance to donate to a worthy cause, but also because deep down inside I can't find the motivation to organize a yard sale or advertise the items on Craigslist. I just want to get rid of the stuff! Therefore I can understand why the seller would want somebody to take the ugly clock off of their hands even if it was worth more than a dollar.

 

Numismatic Coin Clocks made by Marion Kay.

http://www.grandoldtoys.com/toydb_Detail.php?id=878

 

I'd scrap that clock right away and put the coins in holders. As for the price paid, I'd maybe just pay a dollar or maybe more. Sometimes when I find a deal at a flea market I offer more, many times I don't. As mentioned earlier, I don't think buyers should have stricter morals with coins than other items. Maybe the thought arises that we should offer more because we value coins so much. As you all know, the majority of people could care less about coins. The seller of the clock clearly is one of these people. It's not our job to appraise an item when buying, especially at a garage sale. People get good deals on all kinds of things at garage sales, and I think coin collectors rarely do as good finding those killer deals on coins. There are exceptions, and I'm sure the op would act differently under other circumstances. Like being offered Morgans at face value by kids, that seems worse!

 

Well I think the clock is cool and I would put a battery in it and find a place to put it where my wife wouldn't complain about it.

 

Ignorant for not realizing that if he had researched more then he might know that he could have gotten more for the clock, YES. An idiot because he should have at least got $2.30 face value. I mean a 1:1 ratio, but he didn't do that. So I really don't feel pity for him. Someone's ignorance is another man's gold pot.

 

Agreed, that's a pretty skewed moral compass. As pointed out earlier, those coins came out of someone's collection or silver stack, before the kids snagged them for candy. By knowingly paying more than face value, one would be aiding in the theft that the kids committed. Some old lady that doesn't care about coins, sitting at a counter in a video store, accepting them at face value or rejecting them because she didn't recognize the Morgans, would not be consciously aiding in their theft. Unscrupulous pawn shop owners behave like that, but, at least they use their own storefront for such activity, not an unsuspecting third-party's video store.

@Ethan See how easy it is to make a really big deal out of nothing.

 

The hands are different. Different clock.

On a serious note, is everyone who's selling one of these a little shy on braincells? Description from under your link...

This part was helpful...

 

Next time I have a yard sale I am sending you an invite.

 

Well for example I had someone that knows I like coins come to me yesterday with a family members box that they wanted to know about. They knew I knew something about coins. So I saw it and was like wow, a 2012 14 piece silver proof set. I have been wanting one for a while. He was thinking $30-$40. I said no way, this is the rare one so to speak of the last 25 years. I guessed $100-$125. I quickly looked online and told him I was off, it was more near $135 or so. I told him I would give him $125 or thereabouts for it. He said he would ask his sister. Well later on I realized I had quoted the non-silver set. We had agreed on $135. I told him later that I would have to give him $150 as I was wrong. Why? Well he makes 3X the money I do, has no worries monetarily, but it would have been wrong. I think I got a good deal at $150 and he got over $100 more than he thought. I could have just offered him $75 and he would have took it. I just can not do that unless $75 is all I was willing to pay. Still - he had no clue, yet he knew I was honest and would give a fair price and that I did.

I hate yards sales....some folks will just talk you down so they win and they will try to get stuff even though what you are asking is still a deal. That is why my wife doesn't want me at the next one as I tend to tell those types of folks that the price just went up for them.

 

What can I say, you seem like a complicated fella, but, in a good way.

 

re the clock:
When you're selling at a garage sale or flea market you get in a mindset that you just want to get rid of the stuff so you don't have to haul it back into the house or load up the car to take it home again. I've sold car parts at far less than their value because of those reasons. They were things I had no use for and would let go for any offer. At the last flea market I priced everything and sold a lot before noon. At noon I put up a sign that everything was now half price except one table of stuff that was $5 for the entire table. At the end of the day I had sold a lot of what I started with and threw the rest in the dumpster just so I would't have do deal with it again. The clock seller may have been in the same mindset. On the other hand, it may have been someone sitting in for the owner and didn't care about the price one way or the other. I don't go to sales of this type with the idea of picking up something that I can re-sell later. If it's not something I need, I pass it up.

That said, it does seem rather foolish for the clock seller to offer it for less than the value of the coins attached, but he obviously saw it as an old clock, not a handful of coins and his mindset was to get rid of it.

re cherrypicking a dealer:
A dealer is someone who makes a living from dealing in the product he's selling. He's expected to know his product. If he mis-labels something that's his problem. If I see something mislabeled that I don't want or need I'll make a comment to the dealer and let him do with it as he want. If it's something I need or want, I'll buy it without comment.

 

Buying from ascociation is different than buying cold. I can be a suckers game.

 

Why do some continually think the seller is "ignorant"? Because he sold the clock for less than face value? Maybe he could have just removed the coins and put them in a vending machine. Like I said earlier, I have been on the receiving end of some incredible deals simply because of the combination of owner wants rid of it/I want and appreciate it. Conversely, I have given away items of value simply because I wanted rid of it/receiver wanted and appreciated it. I may be lazy, but this doesn't make me "ignorant". For some, it's not about squeezing every cent we can from our possessions when we no longer want or need them. Sometimes it's about passing them on for somebody else to enjoy.

 

I am surprised at all the discussion over this ugly clock. No one would care if I bought a $30 snow shovel for a buck.
If I need to start pricing other peoples yard sale items it kind of defeats the purpose and I would just stop going to yard sales!
I pay what I'm willing to pay for an item not what the owner thinks it is worth. I've asked people how much for a item and get some ridiculous price with a comment of that's what they sell for on ebay. To which I'm thinking is - then sell it on ebay and have fun dragging it back in the house!
Truth be told if the guy wanted $10 bucks for the clock someone most likely would have bought it but not me. Not really worth my time and effort.
The only difference with this clock and other items is I can break the coins out and instantly have $2.30 where as other items are only worth what someone is willing to pay for them and having to find a buyer.

 

A $1 for a $30 snow shovel? Here in Canada we value our snow shovels very much. I would have given at least $10. How could you? Despicable! You would be shot out of a cannon for that, north of the border. Respect the snow shovel and its second hand value.