Estate Sale Find - What would you do?

If you found a vintage Martin at an Estate/Yard sale with a price tag of $25, wwyd?

  • Buy it for the asking price

    Votes: 113 69.3%
  • Inform the seller that the item is worth more and make an offer

    Votes: 37 22.7%
  • Inform the seller what the item is worth and walk away

    Votes: 11 6.7%
  • Walk away for another reason (don't like Martins, the sellers, small talk, etc.)

    Votes: 2 1.2%

  • Total voters
    163

didgeridoo2

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 12, 2009
Messages
1,234
Reaction score
1
Location
Los Angeles
This is a spinoff of the thread posted by justincecil where the op informed the seller in an eBay auction that their item was possibly worth more than the seller realized. There are opinions on how to approach a seller unknowingly selling a valuable item at a great bargain whether you are in the market for said item or not.

So, what would you do if you came across an Estate Sale or Yard Sale and you found a vintage Martin in good shape and it had a price tag of $25 on it?

If you've been around this forum or others, you've heard from folks who have come across a treasure like this and just about everyone's reaction is "great for you" or "congrats" or "I hope I'm as lucky as you", but some of the reactions on the justincecil thread suggest that people should react otherwise. There have also been stories of folks finding these bargains and educating the seller and paying more and I think someone even walked away.

There are many scenarios that could come up in regards to this - A person has passed and the family is managing the estate. - a family must sell their stuff to pay bills, etc....Lets assume this is a spring cleaning venture for the folks who are holding the sale to make it simple.
 
I'd let them know what they have.

As stated in the other thread, I would rather do what I think is "the right thing" than profit off of someone's ignorance. Sadly it appears I'm in the minority in that thinking.
 
I have fixed feelings. As a buyer I am looking for a bargain, but dislike taking advantage of people.
One of my fears is that when I die my instruments will wind up in a garage sale and sold way to cheap.
I have all my guitars and ukuleles documented as to purchase price and a fair value in hopes whomever is disposing of them has an idea what they are worth and that they are not toys.
I believe it is up to the seller to learn what they have and price it accordingly.
 
I agree that "It's up to the seller to learn what they have and price it accordingly". Also, the quality of the instrument determines what I do... If it's unplayable without a large investment then maybe the seller realizes it. $25 for a Vintage Martin, even if I'd just hang it on the wall to look at, I'd pay more.
 
Honestly? I think I'd tell the seller that their vintage Martin is worth much more than the $25 that they are asking. But I'd also explain how much I would love to have it, and give it a good home, but that I couldn't afford to pay full value. I would offer them what I could afford to pay, say $100 for the sake of this discussion. Then I would accept the seller's decision to either sell it to me, or not, at that price. Either way I would walk away feeling good about what I had done.

If the seller declined my offer of $100, I would be glad that they now knew the value of the instrument, and that they might get a better price for it.

If they accepted my offer of $100, I would feel good that I found a vintage Martin that I could afford, and know that I didn't take advantage of the seller.

Either way, for me it would come out a win/win....
 
My question is: why are you asking this question?
Are you attempting to find a hard and fast rule that everyone must follow?
I doubt you are, it was a rhetorical question.
One buyer may inform the owner of the "actual value" and pay it, and another my try to negotiate a discount from the tagged price.
Each person who finds themselves in a situation like you describe is going to do what they like.
The only rule that applies is the "golden rule" and no amount of finger-wagging is going to enforce it.
 
My question is: why are you asking this question?
Are you attempting to find a hard and fast rule that everyone must follow?
I doubt you are, it was a rhetorical question.
One buyer may inform the owner of the "actual value" and pay it, and another my try to negotiate a discount from the tagged price.
Each person who finds themselves in a situation like you describe is going to do what they like.
The only rule that applies is the "golden rule" and no amount of finger-wagging is going to enforce it.
No motive, David. As I noted above, there's another thread with differing opinion and I'm curious about it. I actually voted that I'd buy it for $25. If the circumstances seemed grim for the sellers I would probably offer more because of the need to sell, but I didn't set up the poll for that situation.
 
I believe it is up to the seller to learn what they have and price it accordingly.

Yes. This.

I've spent a good part of my life buying and selling vintage (mostly clothing), both at flea markets and on eBay. A big part of the fun of this is finding "bargains" when the seller doesn't know (or sometimes, doesn't care and just wants to unload) what they have - and honestly, if I stumbled upon a $25 Martin, I'd be all over it, no questions asked.

I've read the thread about the eBay listing and I have to say that more often than not, I've seen the opposite: sellers asking ridiculously high prices for items that they had no idea were not worth anything close to the asking price. It's their auction; they can ask what they want - and I believe this holds true both ways.
 
Didge, a little context, please...what condition is the found vintage Martin in? Does it need $350 in luthier's repairs?
 
I'm finding it surprisingly difficult to articulate my position (I'd inform the seller and then walk away).
 
It wasn't a garage/estate sale situation but we had something like that happen within our family a few years' back. Step-grandma had her sister's Martin tenor from the 30s in a closet for years. She found out my college-aged son was enjoying playing my own ukulele and she remembered the Martin's existence. Said Martin was in excellent shape, just a tiny bit of fret wear.

She handed it, gratis, to my son. Matt knew what it was worth--and told her. He simply didn't want her to give him something that had greater value than what she thought. Grandma still wanted to give it to him so he told her that, if he ever decided that he didn't want to keep that ukulele any longer (!) and she didn't want it back, he would give her all the money from selling it. She was surprised--and seemed pleased. Matt will likely not ever sell that instrument, but he now feels good about having it--not like he "sneaked" something by.

I guess that dealing with a family member is different than a "stranger" running a garage sale, but I really appreciated Matt's forthright approach and his "solution." And he plays a mean ukulele, too!
 
Top Bottom