The Best Camera Yard Sale Story EVER ?

[rbsinto]

great story! how very happy they must have felt!

the law of karma does work and you don't have to wait for another life for it. the one who screws the other might feel happy for his material gain, but he also knows that he is an a..hole, feels about himself and life accordingly, is missing out big time

This is exactly the rationalization I referred to. Believing this makes you feel slightly better about the situation, but has absolutely no effect on the person who committed the transgression.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

A few months ago a guy was offering some Leica accessories cheaply through an FB-group. Most of it wasn't really interesting, but I jumped on a waist-level finder.

Looking up the 5-letter code and comparing it to some recent ebay sales prices I blinked a few times.

The follow-up conversation with the seller went something like this:
Seller: "Don't tell me it's worth hundreds of dollars."
Me: "Okay, I won't."

I let him back out of the deal with no hard feelings.
I'd rather stay on the good side of the people I deal with. It's indeed the human thing to do. 🙂

 

[MrFujicaman]

I hope that at least, they invited the guy to their wedding for being so nice...

 

[DanskDynamit]

is this story 12 days too late? come on..

 

[Huss]

What a story. What a man. That couple were so lucky he was there at the right time.

No kidding. When I was reading it I was thinking please let them know what it's worth! IMO getting a good deal is one thing. Taking advantage of someone's lack of knowledge on such a scale is another.

Imagine if they sold it for $100 and later found out it was worth $500K. They were saved that.

Great story.

 

[Out to Lunch]

This is exactly the rationalization I referred to. Believing this makes you feel slightly better about the situation, but has absolutely no effect on the person who committed the transgression.

All world religions and other non-religious moral codes share the same message on doing good and doing wrong. It's not an issue of an external 'effect' in the sense that you will be punished by an outside party but rather that you will be forever burdened by your conscience because of your lack of judgment and deficient moral standards.

 

[ferider]

I think the guy deserves a 10-30% finder's fee, similar to what the broker will collect.

 

[Hogarth Ferguson]

Wouldn't it be nice if that was true, but it's not.
There is no Intrinsic Justice pervading the Universe, and all the hoping and wishing in the world won't make it so.
Much of the time, those who screw their fellow man get away with it, and just go on about their lives.
Karma is nothing more than a rationalization thought up by those who have been taken advantage of to somehow make themselves feel better by believing that somehow, in some way justice will be served and the persons who hurt them will be punished.

I completely agree with this. Similar to "everything happens for a reason" argument. No, you've assigned a reason to something that happened.

Recently on Petapixel, there was an article about how some guy did headshots for someone for 300 bucks. A week later, received an email from the client asking for a refund because he did not want the shots anymore.

The photog emailed him back saying "no, you paid for my work which I did" in which case the client replied about how he was going to destroy his reputation on line, and basically ruin the guys whole career.

Photog gave in, gave the guy a full refund and offered to buy him a coffee. He shared the story with petapixed to say "look out for these types of people" and then said "i didnt do anything because karma" which was a complete cop out. He let this guy get away with blackmail simply because of some false idea. It was infuriating.

 

[CameraQuest]

is this story 12 days too late? come on..

I understand your skepticism. I am a big skeptic myself. Most people on this planet live small, in quiet forgettable desperation. Myself included.

I was told the story matter of factly by one of my best friends, a guy who has lead a big exemplary life and who has no reason to lie to me.

Maybe, just maybe, you can get your head around the possibility that maybe there are such people who would do such things, because its true.

Stephen

 

[fer_fdi]

(...)

She replied:

"Why?"

I replied:

"I want to cover this table while I give my broker a chance to drive up from the city because you probably have between $300,000-$500,000 worth of vintage German Camera equipment and I will stay here with you until he arrives"

The young lady had her hand over her mouth, and about 30 seconds later both of them broke down in tears.

When my photography broker arrived and did his thing, he said:

"You're a much better man than me because I would've walked off with everything...But it's pretty cool, I suppose it was the right thing to do"

I replied:

"It wasn't the right thing to do...it was the Human thing to do"

This was a young suburban couple struggling to start a life together. I didn't even contemplate "Should I or Shouldn't I"...
They were a young and innocent couple who didn't know any better. I look at it from a standpoint that I wouldn't want that done to me."

Wonderful. Thanks for sharing. There's still hope for humans. A little bit, but some at least...

 

[CameraQuest]

Do I see a camera I think is worth $10,000 for sale at B&H Photo for $500 and tell them?

After all, the guys at B&H know almost nothing about old cameras.

About 15 years ago Samy's camera went to the Buena Park Camera show (located in in the Los Angeles area, it was then by far the world's largest monthly camera show) to sell off old cameras. Samy himself was there.

They started setting up their table before opening and practically every dealer in the room was eagerly watching for mistakes. A nice unsynced Nikon M rangefinder was placed on the table for $200. At that time they were selling between $8,000 to $10,000. I was a split second too slow. The guy next to me got it. SFAIK, not one dealer spoke up to inform Samy why so many other dealers were eager to buy from him that morning.

 

[Vince Lupo]

I used to sometimes buy from a fellow who sold cameras on the side. He was a photographer and had all the Leica collector books etc, so he certainly was well-informed (or so I thought). He called me up one day and said he had a few Leica things for sale, one of which was a MOOLY motor. I asked him if it had the transmission 'arm' with it, he said no. He told me he looked it up in his Leica books, and was asking $400 for it. I told him I'd come over and check it out.

Well, the reason why it didn't have the arm is that it was the black MOOLY-C motor. I happily paid him the $400 he was asking.

Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I also bought an 85/1.5 Summarex with hood and both caps from him. It was in beautiful shape. Also $400.

 

[Vince Lupo]

KEH used to be the source for a lot of 'deals', but not so much any more.

The one I most fondly recall is this one:





Was listed as a IIIcK repainted - $600. They didn't have a photo with the listing, so I took a chance. When it arrived, I found out that not only was it a IIIcK (still had the 'K' shutter), but it was something else too (and Jim Lager verified it for me). Can you figure out what else it is?

Ah to go back to those good old days of KEH!

 

[CameraQuest]

KEH used to be the source for a lot of 'deals', but not so much any more.

The one I most fondly recall is this one:





Was listed as a IIIcK repainted - $600. They didn't have a photo with the listing, so I took a chance. When it arrived, I found out that not only was it a IIIcK (still had the 'K' shutter), but it was something else too (and Jim Lager verified it for me). Can you figure out what else it is?

Ah to go back to those good old days of KEH!

Luftwaffe.

A few years back KEH sold an early cloth shuttered Nikon F (out of the first 100 made) for $50 or thereabouts. Value $5000+

 

[DanskDynamit]

I understand your skepticism. I am a big skeptic myself. Most people on this planet live small, in quiet forgettable desperation. Myself included.

I was told the story matter of factly by one of my best friends, a guy who has lead a big exemplary life and who has no reason to lie to me.

Maybe, just maybe, you can get your head around the possibility that maybe there are such people who would do such things, because its true.

Stephen

no, sorry.
and I'm not talking about the guy who refused to buy the lot, I'm sure that there are people like this in this world -and I'm not one of them-, I'm talking about the couple. Everybody nowadays can get a market price for anything they got, just by google-ing it on their phones.
anyways, cool story bro, tell it again 😀

 

[alan davus]

Well if you reread the story it dates back to 2002 before phone googling. I told my wife the story and she had tears in her eyes. And she won't be the last I'll tell it too. Of course the skeptics will *** *** the whole thing..the notion of inherent goodness doesn't exist in their narrow world.

 

[raid]

This is a good story. I am glad that someone was decent.
I don't have a yard sale story, but my WII camera from a camera swap meeting is now donated to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, and its history has been documented for others to learn about.

 

[brbo]

Of course the skeptics will *** *** the whole thing..the notion of inherent goodness doesn't exist in their narrow world.

Not the goodness. I find it VERY hard to believe that a daughter of a very wealthy man (you don't just happen to own this kind of gear by accident) is now so poor she needs to sell her dad's stuff for peanuts to put some food on their table.

I mean, who has a million dollars in the attic and never tells his family about it?!

 

[Photog9000]

It was very decent of your old friend.

His retired photographer friend would probably say, "No, it was the Human thing to do.":angel:

 

[Pherdinand]

The story is indeed having some incredible details.
I could think of many questions starting as "what if".
E.g. what if they stole the stuff and she just made it up about her father?
But let's ignore that and assume that everything is indeed 100% true.
The strangest fact is indeed that she had no idea her father owns stuff so expensive.
Makes me wonder whether such people "deserve" the fortune to getting real value for the stuff? After all, what did they do to deserve it? they almost wasted a fortune that they inherited by accident. So besides being ignorant towards the parent they were also lazy to look up what the stuff is worth...
If it was about 1-2 pieces, okay i'd say they just thought "old junk that papa used" but it's a whole collection... should ring a bell...

I also find it interesting that both this story, and the typical "look what i found in a yard sale for peanuts" type of opposite story is accepted as a "good story" on RFF 🙂)
Where does one draw the line between a good deal and screwing someone over?
20% gain? 100%? 10000%?