Man, THIS is a cool discussion! Great topic! I love discussions where not everyone agrees and yet they all remain civil about their disagreements. That's a cool way to approach things. Hats off to everyone!

And I went back and found the original discussion that precipitated my Jazzette purchase. Here is the link:

http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=2946&highlight=Jazzette

Jaye, Tell your friend to join the forum. He sounds like a very good guy.

Actually, me and two others from this forum went out and keyed a couple of members cars over this one. But, I'm not of the Hindu or Buddhist faith, so Karma doesn't come into play. It was a very memorable night.Laughing H

Oh yeah. Nice story. I commend your friend. That's the correct thing to do. I love it when people get it right. Now, if I can just figure out how to reach through this computer and slap the snot out of my latest ebay deadbeat no-pay scum and still remain in good standing with GOD, all would be right with the world.

Ive read all these posts. Good points on both sides.

If I ever pull up to a yardsale and theres a 35.00 Rogers Dynasonic maple drum from the 60s, in whatever color it is.......I am buying it, without any discussion.

Period. And I will sleep very well that night.

I'll second that! I just hope I get there first! LoLoLoLo

Interesting what your friend did,,,or was that you Jaye??

History does illustrate the fact that when you treat someone properly, the world becomes a better place. "Do unto others" applies in many instances.

We are happy when we find a deal, happier when we provide one...

~K

[COLOR="DarkRed"]That was YOU, you son-of-a-#!%@$!!!! ?!?

Actually, no...this friend really is a friend.... it wasn't me. Although had it been, I might have done something similar (although offering up a buy-barter on lessons was a pretty darn good idea, one I doubt I would have thought of...)

I have had similar things happen...lately, particularly with a nice old Rogers Mardis Gras wrapped Holiday kit I found in the backwoods of Northern California. I sure DIDN'T walk with 'em for $100, although I likely could have since the fella didn't know what he had...

I just wanted to get an idea of what others would have done. It is a true story and it had just happened very recently; and I still think about it. I mean, it's a very tempting situation, when you stumble across something like that...but shouldn't one temper it a bit with fairness ? Methinks yes.

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To me, every situation is different. In this case, since the seller is a minor, I would tell them what they had, and offer what I could afford to pay, etc. Moral issues aside, buying what could be a family heirloom from a minor might have legal ramifications. If the seller was an adult, I would pay their asking price, no questions asked, no regrets, everyone is happy. An adult has every resource available to research price, value, etc.

On the other hand, as the owner of a vintage drum business / website, I have opportunities on a daily basis to purchase vintage drums for very, very cheap prices. People constantly write through my website with a drum, they don't know anything about it, and they want to sell it. I could tell them any price, and they would take it, because they trust my opinion as a vintage drum dealer. Wood dynas, black beauties, old K's, you name it. There's tons of the stuff out there, but a lot of people don't want to deal with ebay or craigslist. In these cases I ALWAYS tell them what the item is worth, and if they are selling, I tell them what I can afford to pay in order to make a profit.

But with craigslist, ebay, garage sales, etc, these are public market sources, and sellers have had every opportunity to research their item's value, and like Ploughman, I never lose a minute of sleep over great deals. Only a couple of times have I turned down deals for moral reasons...one time a guy was selling a 60's black oyster Ringo kit for $250, and I told him I was on my way with cash. He told me that he had cancer, had lost his job, and was now selling everything he owned to pay the medical bills! That was too much for me...I told him to put them on ebay, and that he would make at least $3K. He was thankful for the info, and did put them on ebay, so I was glad I could help. But situations like that are very rare!

Man I swear that check's in the mail..... And Jaye, thank-you for the topic, it was a real eye-opener in several ways!!!

OK, I have to say that this topic has made me do a lot of thinking. I had a similar situation happen to me with some woodworking tools that I had found. I saw an add for them in the paper and the sellers knowledge of the way to spell these items was way off. I got it and was the first one there to check out the stuff. He had a treasure trove of woodworking tools. His father who had passed away was a doctor and did woodworking as a hobby. He was a bit ecentric and had more tools than any one man could use in a lifetime, many were very old but brand new. He had tools that were worth $400 and up marked for a couple bucks and tools that were worth a couple bucks marked for hundereds. I educated him on his pricing and he was so gratefull that I walked away with over a thousand bucks worth of old mint hand tools for $75.00! That was GOOD karma. Sooo, I guess given the situation being that these cymbals were the kids grandfathers, I would have done the same.

Nicely done and a great score for both of you on the tools department Lucky!!!

Each situation requires it's own wisdom...

~K