Immorally making $5,000

[babinro]

Depends on your personal moral compass.

People constantly flip items in games like Diablo 3 or MMO's taking advantage of other players without a care. You'll see the same thing happen constantly at garage sales as well. Someone buying an item for $50.00 knowing it's worth $10,000.

My personal view on the matter is to treat people how I'd like to be treated.
The person is selling this and not donating it.
This means they need the money.
I would feel like I'm stealing from them if I knowingly ripped them off.

Having collected Magic since revised, I've been in a situation where I could have taken advantage of newer players. What I've done in the past is told them the value of the card, informed them that a store will typically pay them about 60% of the cards value and then let them decide if they want to give me a deal or not. 9 times out of 10 I lose out on the good deal because of my honesty (I'd have so many shock lands by now if I were dishonest).

 

[Ushiromiya Battler]

I would have taken the card, sold it, told him I ''suddenly'' found out it was really valuable and given him half the amount for giving me the card.

 

[OneCatch]

@SirPlindington

If he said you can take them, then do so, but split the earnings 50/50. Or tell him how valuable it is and hope that he's as generous as everyone here is saying you should be (he probably is, most people are surprisingly decent)

It would be pretty foul of you to take all (or even the majority) of the money. You aren't on Storage Hunters, you don't have to be some pokerfaced-shark-capitalist-mercenary.

And I bet you'd be seriously pissed off if the positions were reversed, and you found that your friend had taken advantage of you being naively generous to the tune of 5 grand.

EDIT:

I would have taken the card, sold it, told him I ''suddenly'' found out it was really valuable and given him half the amount for giving me the card.

Alternatively this if you don't feel able to pass up all claim on the earnings from the card, and are concerned about him taking it the wrong way when you take a 'sellers fee' so to speak.

 

[KOMega]

Let us say that he says I can have any and all of the cards if I so wish.

Well, I would say if he said so, you would be able to take the card with no consequence. This is not good for him, but it is neither a negative action towards him.

The good option, which also lets you benefit, is to take it, then bring it to his attention and say that you wanna split the profits (assuming you do sell it for $5K).

The bad option is to put a pineapple down his pants. You lose karma for this action, and he probably will cease being your companion.

 

[Exterminas]

If he allowed you to take the cards, then take them.
It is his loss if he knows next to nothing about his brother's hobby, or the phenomenon of absurdly expensive collectibles.

Making money off someone else's lack of knowledge isn't morally wrong, it is economics.

 

[Snowbell]

Tell him and as him to split the profits - maybe someone else will do the same for you one day.

 

[Nosirrah]

I would take it, along with some other cards, then a few weeks later tell him that you looked up some stuff and found out how much its worth. Then split the money with him. or don't, and wave it in his face. (Please note that option B will likely result in losing several friends and being hated by many.)

 

[MHR]

Offer him a similar hypothetical. Tell him that if something insignificant of his was worth a ton of money, would he offer you a finder's fee or shaft you? He will probably say he would give you some of it just to find out what it is, but then if he sells it and tries to screw you out of it, at least you'll know what he's about then.

If he insists that such a thing would be his and he wouldn't share it, good on him for at least being honest, but you can delay for a few weeks or months to make him regret such a view. After that if he doesn't break down just tell him so he can sell it.

There, you maintain integrity without denying yourself a fair chance at profit.

Withholding the information from him is not immoral. It's not your fault he's stubborn. You've got a commodity; information and it doesn't need to come free.

There's an argument above that it's just a matter of economics, but if a friend was outright offering you 5000 dollars and could really use the money himself it's still scummy to take it. Him not knowing it's worth 5000 dollars doesn't make it any better.

 

[bojackx]

Tell him about the card, you'd be a massive dick not to. He's giving you any cards you want to be nice, you should grant him the same courtesy.

 

[tautologico]

Take the card and use it to make a "friendship" greeting card (paint & write over it), then send it back to him

 

[kyuzo3567]

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.

Plus it's an amazingly overpowered card for this game all things considered, or can at least be used in that way. There's a reason it was never reprinted. I would tell your friend first, or, more likely, I would take it and sell it then offer him half afterwards

 

[chadachada123]

The real question is, when you tell him about it (which is the obvious moral answer), will HE also do the moral thing and give you a cut?

Because if he's a greedy fucker that doesn't even give you twenty percent of the cash for a card that would otherwise have been thrown away when you did the moral thing, then he's clearly a giant asshole.

Which makes it a bit of a prisoner's dilemma for you. I may, instead, recommend selling the card and then telling him, offering as much money *as he wants,* that way he'll recognize that he both has an agreement to uphold ("you can have any card") and is being offered a free gift from a moral friend. The only issue with this plan is that he may not want to sell it given that it is a collector's item. I wouldn't sell a $5000 coin, even if the price was slowly going down, because its rarity alone would be worth it to me.

 

[CynicalWolf]

I'd sell it and not tell him about it.

Honestly, that sounds pretty dickish, but if you tell him ahead of time and he wants the card back, that could be problematic. Then you won't be getting ANYTHING out of it. Or you could refuse to give it back to him and offer to split whatever you get for selling it......but what if he refuses that too? That would seriously strain your friendship.

Just sell it and take the cash. I wouldn't really feel bad about doing it....and while that seems cold, it's his fault he was ignorant about the card in the first place. If I had a giant pile of Magic cards, I'd at least have the sense to go through and see if there are any $10, $25, $50 cards in there because there are those kinds of cards all over the place.

 

[CynicalWolf]

I'd tell him, and NOT ask for anything for it. That's his decision to make when he's in full possession of the facts. I'd feel betrayed if somebody I knew took advantage of my lack of knowledge like this. Wouldn't you?

You even used the word "Immorally" in the title of this thread, so it seems like you already have an opinion on the right thing to do.

While I'd usually agree with you, it's honestly pretty common nowadays for people to be taken advantage of because they lack knowledge of something. Real estate agents and doctors are two such "experts" who are in fact also experts at using their knowledge to make as much money as possible. A doctor could push medications on a patient that doesn't even need those pills, but since an "expert" says you need them, you THINK you need them. See where I'm going with this?

In a world where things like this are so commonplace (and it won't change anytime soon) I'd have no qualms about taking the card and selling it.

 

[WolfThomas]

Tell him you think the cards might be worth something. Offer to facilitate the sale. If he agrees set up your share with witnesses, say members of both families. 50/50 is great. But really anything like 10-20% is still more than plenty, I mean you don't own it. Then you both profit. Both families make some much needed cash and there's no hurt feeling.

Dupe him, sell them and get rich. Well you'll end up on a crappy A Current Affairs like program. And be a douche.

Real estate agents and doctors are two such "experts" who are in fact also experts at using their knowledge to make as much money as possible. A doctor could push medications on a patient that doesn't even need those pills, but since an "expert" says you need them, you THINK you need them. See where I'm going with this?

Doctors don't get any money from medications they prescribe. In previous years drug companies would give them gifts, free dinners etc. But they were under no obligation to actually prescribe that drug. However at least in Australia that's been massively cracked down. In fact I think they can't even give a doctor a piece of crap pen with their name on it.

As a doctor you get the same amount of money from a consultation if you don't give them a drug. Doctors aren't some enemy out to fleece you. Yes they make as much money as possible, but that's still through ethical practice and usually at the expense of the government not patients.

 

[CynicalWolf]

Tell him you think the cards might be worth something. Offer to facilitate the sale. If he agrees set up your share with witnesses, say members of both families. 50/50 is great. But really anything like 10-20% is still more than plenty, I mean you don't own it. Then you both profit. Both families make some much needed cash and there's no hurt feeling.

Dupe him, sell them and get rich. Well you'll end up on a crappy A Current Affairs like program. And be a douche.

Real estate agents and doctors are two such "experts" who are in fact also experts at using their knowledge to make as much money as possible. A doctor could push medications on a patient that doesn't even need those pills, but since an "expert" says you need them, you THINK you need them. See where I'm going with this?

Doctors don't get any money from medications they prescribe. In previous years drug companies would give them gifts, free dinners etc. But they were under no obligation to actually prescribe that drug. However at least in Australia that's been massively cracked down. In fact I think they can't even give a doctor a piece of crap pen with their name on it.

As a doctor you get the same amount of money from a consultation if you don't give them a drug. Doctors aren't some enemy out to fleece you. Yes they make as much money as possible, but that's still through ethical practice and usually at the expense of the government not patients.

I'm honestly a bit uneducated on the topic to probably be making those kinds of claims. I should have been a bit more broad and not just targeted doctors in my post. I honestly think MOST doctors have the best intentions of their patients in mind, without a doubt. But from my assessment pharmaceutical companies are mostly out for themselves, and doctors are honestly just a small part of a system that's going to continue leeching billions of dollars out of people needlessly for years to come. A lot of doctors don't even realize that they're pushing needless medications because they were taught to treat symptoms and not look for a direct solution to the problem. It's the same principle as the government cutting back on programs that are trying to find a cure for cancer, AIDs, or diabetes. They make so much money off of just relieving people's symptoms and keeping them alive on medications, that a cure would mean millions upon millions in profits lost. I think the corruption of big pharma has actually poured over into medical schools and other such institutions all over the country.

They may have cut back on doctor promotion in Australia, but that doesn't necessarily mean the law is going to be enforced. Pharma companies have BILLIONS of dollars at their disposal and their leaders are resourceful and cunning (they're in charge for a reason). I have no doubts they've already found ways to bypass certain laws and regulations. I mean, just look at the marketing campaigns nowadays for some of these scrip drugs. They glamorize the use of prescription drugs that give you side effects that are just as bad as what you're taking the drug for. That alone speaks volumes about the true aim of pharmaceutical companies in today's society.

That said, this discussion should probably end to avoid bringing this thread WAY off topic

 

[WolfThomas]

SNIPD

All fair points, on a lot of issues there are no easy answer to. But essentially what I'm saying is your garden variety doctor doesn't go "hmmm I need to prescribe Ms Smith a beta-blocker, a diuretic and a statin so I can get the sweet cash-money".

Where as you rightfully say a real estate agent usually makes a commission so it's in their best interest to convince you to buy the house.

 

[Estranged180]

I suppose it would depend on the set it was printed in, because each run had a different price, and one (the alpha run) was never released to the public. The beta version sells for ~$6,000 from some sources, but the price can go as high as $25,000. If the set was Unlimited, it would be roughly half that.

Also, if your hypothetical friend's hypothetical brother hypothetically had a Black Lotus, chances are that he'd hypothetically have a full set of Mox's from the same set, driving the full set of those cards (as they can sell as a package deal for ~$75,000 - $100,000), everyone involved would hypothetically make a hypothetical fortune.

After this post, if I ever have to type 'hypothetical' again, I may have to throw my keyboard through a window. =)