Money Moral Dilemma: Should I buy and sell on a lamp that may be worth more than the owner thinks?

sebtomato

Maybe the seller is aware of some issues/faults too.

Maybe trying to go for a quick sell etc.

Most people (or companies) don't have any moral dilemma selling faulty or rubbish items online, so I wouldn't have any as a buyer.

PaulTee

The seller knows what it is and you know what it is although you differ. Buy it and sell it and hope you are right and make a profit.

NeilOHiggins

Why ask the question? I'm a hobby seller, recently I purchased 4 kitchen stools when I was the only bidder, £35 for 4 well known designer made stools. I only buy what I like, if I like it, I can keep it if it does not sell. How did I know their worth? A quick google search. I kept one stool and sold the other three for a total of £394. This is a rare outcome but I'm not here to educate seller's about their goods, I'm only responsible to myself to learn about their value. Buy it,sell it. Move on to your next purchase, just like the millions of dealers around the world.

liteenergy

Serpentine lamp sounds lovely,don’t think ive seen a lamp in that stone me at probably rarer than marble.

Frockoholic

It's not for you to tell the seller what you think it might be.  After all, you don't know for sure and maybe he's right after all. Hopefully you're right and make a profit 🤞

DBennison

I would say that one situation in which you definitely should not do this is if the seller is a charity or donating all/a high proportion of the proceeds to charity.

Electro_Magnet

If the seller is happy to let it go for £8 then it's up to them, I don't see anything wrong with buying the lamp and selling it on for a higher price if you think it's worth more. The seller probably just wants to get rid of it and perhaps isn't worried about making a few extra quid. 

I've had a sort of reverse situation in the past where I saw that someone (who seemed to be a well-meaning seller on eBay) had listed an item that was evidently a counterfeit but for the price of the authentic item. I let them know it was a counterfeit, they asked how I could tell, and gave them some pointers as to the tell-tale signs it was a fake. After that they just said "Well, I think it's real so I'm going to leave it up". My point being, you'd probably be wasting your time trying to tell this seller it's worth more - they probably aren't interested in what you think.  

Just buy it and don't feel any regrets!

honestcove

Assuming you are correct (you aren’t 100% sure are you) then the moral dilemma is whether you are A/ exploiting your knowledge or B/ taking advantage of someone’s inferior knowledge. A/ seems fine in general. B/ might be also if the person exploited is “fair game”.

_nate

First of all, you're talking about £20 - way less than the value of the time of the people who read and answer this question.

Secondly, who is the seller? Have you ever watched Bargain Hunt? If the seller is a trader then fair game. If the seller is your friend and you haggled them down under false pretences or suddenly realise you've wronged them, well, that's up to you.

Shell1989

If the seller is happy to sell it for £8, then they win. If you go on to sell it at a profit then you win. Everybody wins. It’s not your responsibility to price an item for someone else, and the seller might not want to invest the time and energy in looking into the true value of their item - they might just want a quick and easy sale to clear their junk. I give away lots of perfectly working and good quality items for free, because I don’t want the hassle of trying to sell / post etc. Enjoy your profit 👍🏼