Look what $60 bought me!

[Sound Mind]

I know it's not a Rangefinder, but I still feel the need to brag about this.

A customer came into my work today (I work at a Wolf Camera in midwestern US), and she asked me what was wrong with the camera she found in her closet. I don't know the story about why this stuff was just "found" in her closet, but it was soon apparent that she probably never used an SLR and it just was never hers. And upon looking at her camera, I noticed it was an F2. And not only an F2, but an F2 in REALLY good condition. And I noticed that the lens on it was a 50mm 1.4, again, in REALLY good condition. It had a UV filter on it that's probably been there since it came out of the box.

And she ALSO had a 300mm f4.5, again in REALLY good condition, again with a filter. Tripod collar, case and all was with the lens.

It was clear that she really didn't know what she had, so I asked her if she was interested in selling it. She asks me how much I want it for. I say an inital price of $55. She tells me she sell it all for $60, and I ran out to my car and grabbed my cash.

Here's a pic of the best $60 I ever spent. 😀

 

[lawnpotter]

I hate to rain on your parade

I hate to rain on your parade

but I think the lady walked into the wrong camera store. .

 

[erikhaugsby]

You, sir, are an asshole.

 

[pvdhaar]

Seems to me that if you hadn't misrepresented the value of that camera and bought it at fair value, then you'd have something to really be proud of..

If I were in your shoes I'd would feel like it were the worst $60 I ever spent..

 

[Ronald_H]

So if she had found it in someone else's closet, you still would have gleefully paid this small a sum?

And she asked what was 'wrong' with the camera? Apparently nothing at all. So you took advantage of the ignorant, and in your boss' time as well. Are you even allowed to buy stuff privately if customers come in with it? This stinks.

 

[yanidel]

are you located in Naples, Italy ? that is the why they deal with customers there.

 

[stuken]

You're a big jerk.

 

[Jarle Aasland]

She came to your shop for professional advise, and you ripped her off?

I wonder what your boss (and other customers) would think about this?

 

[Athos6]

There are grifters and marks... Usually you don't want to let people know your a grifter, it just reminds the marks of every time they've been had...

 

[Krosya]

I think that Wolf Camera just lost a lot of customers..........

 

[Jan Van Laethem]

Try for one second to put yourself in the place of the customer. I'm sure you'd feel ripped off. You took advantage of someone who didn't know anything about the camera and lenses she brought into the shop, nor did she know their value.

You should at least have tried to fix whatever was wrong with it (I suspect she just didn't know how to use it), asked if she had any use for it and then offered her a fair price, say 20% below its market value.

If the camera and lenses are working fine, with a little advice you could have helped her use it. $ 60 is a lousy price for what you described.

 

[totifoto]

So I guess this is the place NOT to shop at?.......

http://www.wolfcamera.com/

 

[abumac]

¡H... de P...!

 

[Bill58]

If you can "afford" a CLA on your F2 and intend to keep it, send it to Sover Wong (soverf2repair@yahoo.com) for one. He's the best there is. Just my two cents worth.

I wonder how many of the "honest" people here would have done the same thing in the same situation. Isn't greed what drives ebay sellers and buyers alike?

 

[Spyderman]

I have to agree with most replies: This wasn't nice of you at all 🙁

 

[gavinlg]

Ethically it was the wrong thing to do for sure - I recently saw one go on ebay Australia for over $400....

However really... with all the access to pretty much unlimited resources on this wonderful thing we call the internet, the woman was pretty stupid not to have at least typed it into google, or into ebay to find out a little more about it.

I can understand how people think that it was the wrong thing to do, however life is unkind and fast - if you don't keep up you lose out.

 

[skibeerr]

Do not buy on Ebay, go to your trusted camera dealer. Yuk

 

[M. Valdemar]

It's an average deal. The price was not so cheap, I see similar deals at flea markets all the time.

F2's are common and not very valuable for the most part, and dropping in value daily.

The woman was happy to get $60 for old junk (to her), and too bad for the moralists.

 

[Rogrund]

[too bad for the moralists.[/quote]

Actually, living by a moral code doesn't make you a moralist.

It's hard for me to see how one can brag about something like this.

 

[BillBingham2]

The $60 for the F2 and lens is low by about half of what you might pay on EvilBay, maybe a little more. Being a resale shop and needing to make money $60 is reasonable. There are alots of them on the market these days.

The lens however is a different story. It is a 300/4.5 ED/IF wonderful chunk-o-glass. Very sharp, very light weight and a refind if it is in as good shape as it looks. I sold mine many years ago and not sure of the price, but my gut tells me on EvilBay some where in the range of $300 USD.

Check the prices on lenses on EvilBay for the 300, if I'm right go back and give her another $100 or more and say you made a mistake. A good deal is one thing, you went a bit too far on this one.

I think the folks here have the problem with you setting the original price. If you found it for $60 at a garage sale you would be a hero. But she came into you for help and guidence and that is where you took the wrong turn.

B2 (;->