Immorally making $5,000

[SirPlindington]

Ok, so let's talk about an entirely hypothetical situation. Let's say that I (hypothetically) play Magic the Gathering. Let us also say that I (hypothetically) have a friend who does not play Magic the Gathering. Let us then say that he has a brother who used to play Magic the Gathering, but no longer does. Let us say that I (hypothetically) visit this friend, and, whilst mucking about in the basement, find a box of cards. Let us then say that after finding the brother, we all adjourn back in the basement and begin digging through the cards for fun. Let us say that he says I can have any and all of the cards if I so wish. Let us then say that I find a Black Lotus.

A perfect condition Black Lotus.

For those of you uneducated in the fine game of MtG, This is what a Black Lotus is. [http://sales.starcitygames.com/cardsearch.php?singlesearch=Black%20Lotus]

Now, I (hypothetically) have 2 options. One, I can take it and make easy money. Or two, I can tell him how valuable it is and let him sell it. Now, 5 grand would come in handy for my family. But it would be just as nice for his.

So, instead of thinking it out and taking responsibility for my actions, I'ma let you decide. Do I tell or sell?

Hypothetically.

EDIT: Note that no matter what anyone says, I'll probably (hypothetically, of course) tell him. I just wanted to see what other people would do.

 

[Queen Michael]

You tell him about it. Don't be a jerk.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Let us then say that he has a brother who used to play Magic the Gathering, but no longer does.

I actually read this as that he no longer has a brother.

Now, you probably should tell him. Should.

 

[Frezzato]

All I can ask of this hypothetical situation is, if the situation were reversed, and you found out after the fact, how would you feel?

Now, he gave them to you. And if both of your families really could use the money, then I say tell your friend. Agree to go through the trouble of grading it, selling it, and splitting the net profits. There are different versions of the Black Lotus, aren't there? No point in making things dramatic unless you know what it's really worth.

 

[TehCookie]

I'd tell my friend. If my moral compass did waver I'd specifically ask if I could have the rare card that sells for a lot on ebay.

 

[shootthebandit]

Sell it and go 50/50 with him 2500 is still a lot of money and you havent dicked him over.

But seriously 5000 for a fucking card.....a fucking card....you can buy a decent car for 5 grand.

 

[Wintermute_v1legacy]

I don't know anything about Magic the Gathering, but that card is "+3 Mana". Why is it so expensive?

Anyway, I'll be honest. If the card was word 100, 200, I'd probably take it with a clear conscience. But 5000, that's a lot of money... I wouldn't be able to just take it.

The asshole half of me, however, says you should take it, sell it and then go "oh my, I had no idea, what are we going to do with all this money?"

 

[Nickolai77]

If you value him as a friend you should probably tell him that the card's very valuable. It's deceitful behaviour otherwise.

 

[NoMercy Rider]

I would side with telling him about it. You say he knows very little about Magic. Explain the situation to him and offer to sell the card for him, using your expertise and knowledge to receive the largest possible buyer. For your services you would commission part of the profit. If you were good friends I would say go 50/50, but maybe your friend would have something else in mind.

I think its pretty selfish to take advantage of an uninformed person for the benefit of your family when his family could benefit as well. Seems like the best compromise would be to go 50/50. $2500-ish is still a lot of money.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Tell him, but ask him if you could have a small cut. A finders fee if you will.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Tell that it's worth lots of money. Unless you value your friend then less than $5,000, you risk losing him if he ever finds out about what you did.

 

[AngelOfBlueRoses]

I don't know anything about Magic the Gathering, but that card is "+3 Mana". Why is it so expensive?

Anyway, I'll be honest. If the card was word 100, 200, I'd probably take it with a clear conscience. But 5000, that's a lot of money... I wouldn't be able to just take it.

The asshole half of me, however, says you should take it, sell it and then go "oh my, I had no idea, what are we going to do with all this money?"

Law of supply and demand. So very few were printed, so there's a lack of supply that increases the price. Then, on top of that, in the many years since it was printed, how many were damaged or lost?

Amongst collectors, rarity is more valuable than usefulness.

OT: Tell him, OP. It's the right thing to do considering how much it's worth. I'd hate to be jipped by a friend like this.

 

[McMullen]

If you want to call yourself his friend, then you have to tell him.

In any case, not telling the person is kind of a dick move, friend or no.

 

[Serioli]

Tell.

At worst, you keep a friend because the guy will find out sooner or later. Better case: depending how good a buddy he is/various other circumstances he may spread the wealth with you.

 

[Gatx]

Well I think it's okay if you just say "Hey, can I have/buy all these old magic cards you don't want anymore?" Maybe give him $100 or so, and no one would blame you. It's not personal, just good business. Also make sure they never know...

As another layer of consideration though, if you actually did that without looking through the cards first, and found it after the purchase, would you still feel inclined to tell the original owner about the value of the card?

This reminds me of a situation that happened to a friend of mine. A while back we all used to play this MMO, but one by one we all got tired of it and dropped out except for one guy (let's call him A). Two other friends (let's call them B and C) decided to just hand over their account to the remaining guy to farm for them, I kept mine though.

So fast forward a couple months, the game ran a promotional contest with a pretty expensive Alienware computer as the prize, so A enters his account and the two accounts belonging to B and C into the contest, and lo and behold one of the accounts (let's say C) actually wins.

For a while among our group it was a topic of discussion of who should've gotten the computer - on the one hand C had basically left the game for good and his account essentially became an alt for A, and A was the one who did all the work of entering the contest (though the e-mail tied to the account was still C's so he got a notice about winning). Despite various talks about what was fair (selling the computer and splitting the cash, or letting A have it cause he actually entered), C just claimed it for himself.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

i would probably just say "hey, this is pretty rare, mind if i look through the rest, sell the good ones, and we split the profits?"

if he says no, well damn, back to where i started for the day, but if he agrees, he is thousands of dollars richer and we built some trust up

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Well I think it's okay if you just say "Hey, can I have/buy all these old magic cards you don't want anymore?" Maybe give him $100 or so, and no one would blame you. It's not personal, just good business. Also make sure they never know...

As another layer of consideration though, if you actually did that without looking through the cards first, and found it after the purchase, would you still feel inclined to tell the original owner about the value of the card?

This reminds me of a situation that happened to a friend of mine. A while back we all used to play this MMO, but one by one we all got tired of it and dropped out except for one guy (let's call him A). Two other friends (let's call them B and C) decided to just hand over their account to the remaining guy to farm for them, I kept mine though.

So fast forward a couple months, the game ran a promotional contest with a pretty expensive Alienware computer as the prize, so A enters his account and the two accounts belonging to B and C into the contest, and lo and behold one of the accounts (let's say C) actually wins.

For a while among our group it was a topic of discussion of who should've gotten the computer - on the one hand C had basically left the game for good and his account essentially became an alt for A, and A was the one who did all the work of entering the contest (though the e-mail tied to the account was still C's so he got a notice about winning). Despite various talks about what was fair (selling the computer and splitting the cash, or letting A have it cause he actually entered), C just claimed it for himself.

damn c is a dick, he should've done one of the former options, he would've had no idea had it not gone to his email, as he did nothing to help the drawing/raffle.

 

[Nokturos]

I'd grab it and hang onto it for a while, maybe a year, then try and sell it. Your friend will probably have forgotten all about it by then.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Depend on your moral/ conscious. As for me I would tell him about it since I was brought up to do the right thing (beside I will be guilty as hell for selling it behind his back). Granted I know this doesn't apply to everyone as some people can be quite selfish about it even when try to justify it.