Immorally making $5,000

[NearLifeExperience]

5000 big ones for a card! What kind of madness is that.. anyway, it's funny to see everyone go 'do the right thing', I wonder if that's what they truely think, or only say this to come across as 'good'

Personally? That would depend on how good of a friend the person is. And also my financial status at that time

 

[Xukog]

I'd tell him,because the guilt would drive me nuts if I just took it.

 

[geldonyetich]

I'd take him up on the offer and offer to split the money with him if I sell anything. If I show up with $2,500 for him that he wasn't expecting, I don't think he'll be complaining, and my own moral compass can rest easily at least I was fair about it. If he turns down the money, hey, suit yourself.

Worse thing that could happen, he realizes, "Holy shit, these cards might actually be worth money?" and decides to sell the cards himself. He pockets all the money. I feel $2,500 poorer. But, you know what? The cards didn't belong to me to begin with. So I wouldn't be $2,500 poorer, I'd be $0 poorer than if I never discovered he had those cards to begin with.

Besides, no guarantee I'd even be able to successfully broker the deal. This $5,000 you're stressing out about could well vanish into thin air when some eBay douche hiding behind a foreign name reneges on their deal.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Shit, $5k? I should really have a look through my old MTG cards then, I have a few of those rare types.

Also, tell the man. You're not a thief (I hope).

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Find a buyer, first. If there's no buyer, then there's practically no dilemma. Maybe finding a buyer isn't that hard, I don't know, I'm not that familiar with how much the MtG crowd is willing to drop on a single card, no matter the rarity, since I only know the Desert Bus stuff where people drop mad skrill to get whole sheets of innistrad, whatever the hell that is. But, no matter what, make him aware of what he's giving you. Or, just buy him lunch for the next eternity, until whatever you make off it ends.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

You tell him, and allow him to suggest you take a cut. If not, you did the honourable thing anyway. I know it's easy for me to say, not being in the situation, but you either contribute to a world where everyone is co-operative or where everyone is selfish. Make your choice.

 

[soes757]

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.

The card is super useful, you can use it to pull the one turn combo.
OT: I would hypothetically sell the card myself, or I'd like to say. I guess it depends on your relationship with the friend. Are they someone you see yourself being friends with in 10 years? Or are they someone you met in a bar a week ago, and will likely never see after a few months?
I mean, do the right thing and tell him.

 

[Lilani]

-snip-

I'd sure as hell tell him. I mean even if you split the money between you, your friend, and the brother you'd still all make off with more than $1000 apiece. And if he doesn't want to, then just point out that if you hadn't gone through the cards he never would have known in the first place.

 

[Saltyk]

I'd say tell him a split the money. His card, but you are likely the one who would be doing the actual selling, and even if not, without you, he wouldn't have known the value.

Look at it this way. If you don't, they will wonder where you got the five grand all of a sudden. Someone you know will likely know and tell them. And then, you lost that friend. And maybe others who find your behavior in that despicable.

Basically, I'd say do the right thing. Even a portion of the money, is more than you had before.

 

[lacktheknack]

The last Gordon Korman novel I read was... essentially about this.

Personally, I don't want to have a fool made out of me, have my house broken into, and have all my windows exploded in a wacky series of hijinx, so I'll let him have the card. Maybe he'll give me a hundred bucks.

 

[CriticalMiss]

Sell it and split the loot 50/50. Or let him know it is valuable and you should split the proceeds, if he refuses then he is a greedy arsehole and you can happily sell the card and keep all of the monies for yourself you greedy arsehole

And that is one expensive card. I would rummage through my wardrobe and see if I have any cards of worth but I doubt they would fetch all that much.

 

[spartan231490]

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.

Give it to him and sell the rest yourself. If the cards are all as old as black lotus and in good condition, you might even make more money than he does, albeit with more effort. Win/win

 

[Whytewulf]

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.

I agree with this. A friend is much more valuable. I would basically tell them, you have some valuable cards here man, do you want me to try and sell any, see what we could get?

 

[Wickatricka]

I'd take it personally but I'm gonna tell you to not take it lol. For real though you should probably just take it though...

 

[idarkphoenixi]

Whatever your decision you should be aware that he WILL find out, you can't keep something like that a secret forever. You'll get a payday but in all likelihood it would destroy your friendship. Is that worth $5000?
How would you feel if someone you called a friend did the same thing, regardless of if you said he could have any cards he wanted?

 

[TheMyffic]

I was hoping for a difficult moral dilemma, but "do unto others" pretty much solves this one.

You could start the conversation with, "You have something you don't know is valuable, and I'd LIKE a finders fee for the discovery if you decide to sell it." I say LIKE, because he doesn't really owe you anything. The card is his whether he thinks it's worth 20c or $1000 0000. You could buy it cheaply and then sell it, of course. But that would be deception, and fail the "do unto others" test. Yes, you could give back some of the profit to him, with varying degrees of generosity, but then you're taking over the decision of who gets how much. It should be his to make.


In short, tell him. Think of anything you get as a bonus, but be prepared to gain nothing(financially - it's always funky to be funky ).


PS.Offer to sell it for him if you know the right channels. You might be able to negotiate a (bigger?)cut.

 

[Vausch]

He did offer you free reign to have all the cards, so take the card but tell him and give him a cut if you sell it. It was his generosity that led to this find, so it's a gesture to the strength of your friendship.

 

[Ishigami]

Tell him and negotiate a share.
After all the item is worthless without the knowledge of its uniqueness therefore you should have a nice incentive for him to share the profit to a certain degree.
Probably not 50/50 but something in the range of 75/25.

Would be my solution.
If nothing else you will find out what kind of friend you have? granted you are not the first dick in this relationship.

 

[uchytjes]

Heres what you do: Feign knowledge of what the card is worth, but say that you'll split any profit gained with the guy 50/50. Next, you find a buyer for the highest price you can get. Now, you confirm whether or not your friend/customer wants to sell it at that price or keep the card. Then, you sell it and split the money. It is both a nice little surprise for the guy and a boon to him and you.

 

[Denamic]

Reminds me of when I had a hand-painted one of a kind hockey card. Was worth hundreds of dollars. My mom threw all of my cards away, because she thought I no longed needed them. I had several other rare cards, too. All in all, the value was probably in the thousands. Better yet, she threw away my 8-bit Nintendo along with them. Ever since, there's been an absolute ban against her ever touching anything I own ever again.