Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Guy Buys $123 Safe on eBay, Finds Major Cash Inside
newser.com ^ | Feb 17, 2012 | By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff

Posted on 01/22/2013 5:41:37 AM PST by rawhide

When James Labrecque listed an old safe—to which he did not have the combination—on eBay, the seller warned, "What you see is what you get, no returns, and no money back." A Tennessee man purchased it for $122.93, had a welder cut it open—and found $26,000 inside. The buyer shared the news with Labrecque via a positive review on the auction site, and Labrecque quickly attempted to convince the buyer to give him some of the cash, to no avail. In fact, WMC-TV reports, the buyer quoted Labrecque's own eBay disclaimer right back to him when turning him down.

"I made a mistake, you know, that's what it boils down to. And it cost me dearly," says Labrecque, who adds that he shook the safe and didn't think there was anything inside. "I feel like the stupidest idiot in the world. … I gave away a safe with $26,000 in it." He also insists that if he were in the buyer's place, he would have offered to split the cash 50/50 with the seller. "That's a chunk of change, you know. That's life-altering money."


TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: cash; ebay; safe; surprise; treasure
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-89 next last
To: rawhide
What would you have done?

Pocketed the money
Tipped the welder

21 posted on 01/22/2013 5:55:40 AM PST by HangnJudge
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rawhide

I would not have gloated to the seller, but in any event the buyer has no moral or legal reason to give any to the seller...the terms of the sale were clear and indeed made by the seller.


22 posted on 01/22/2013 5:55:51 AM PST by Wpin ("I Have Sworn Upon the Altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny...")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rawhide

I would have done the split or give all the money back. Clearly it was a mistake. If I found it at the junk yard or purchased it from a 2nd hand store, I might do something differently.


23 posted on 01/22/2013 5:56:19 AM PST by napscoordinator (GOP Candidate 2020 - "Bloomberg 2020 - We vote for whatever crap the GOP puts in front of us.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rawhide

I probably wouldn’t have bought it in the first place but if I did, I wouldn’t have said anything about what was in it, nor would I give part of it back to the seller. That doesn’t make any sense at all. The sale means the item and contents if any transferred from seller to buyer totally, not conditionally.


24 posted on 01/22/2013 5:57:20 AM PST by Duchess47 ("One day I will leave this world and dream myself to Reality" Crazy Horse)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Thorliveshere

Darn tootin’ — for me that’s 3 years of income. Seriously life-altering money. Yet there are (financially) fortunate people who’d turn up their noses at it.


25 posted on 01/22/2013 5:58:26 AM PST by HomeAtLast ( You're either with the Tea Party, or you're with the EBT Party.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: rawhide
Be that as it may, would you keep all the money?

Probably not, but I'd definitely keep some. I'd be pretty annoyed if the guy wanted to thank me, give me a 50 buck reward, and get all the money back. I don't think I'd go along with that, but I might go along with 50/50, or even just keeping 25%.

26 posted on 01/22/2013 5:58:55 AM PST by Pearls Before Swine
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: HangnJudge

And NOT tell a soul


27 posted on 01/22/2013 5:59:54 AM PST by BipolarBob (Happy Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favor.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: rawhide

Who is the real idiot?

The guy who sold the safe?

or the guy who disclosed the contents?

Now he has to pay taxes on that 26k


28 posted on 01/22/2013 6:02:08 AM PST by Safrguns
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Safrguns

“or the guy who disclosed the contents?”

This story immediately made me thing of a graphic that floats around the internet of a World War II looking GI drinking a cup of coffee with the caption,

“How about a nice big cup of STFU!”

(For anyone that hasn’t seen it, ST = Shut the, you can guess the rest.)


29 posted on 01/22/2013 6:06:44 AM PST by I cannot think of a name
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Pearls Before Swine
I would have keep my mouth shut, period..!! Now he gota pay taxes on dim bucks....

Don't feed the monster...

30 posted on 01/22/2013 6:06:55 AM PST by unread
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: BipolarBob
And NOT tell a soul

Bingo!
You get the Kewpie Doll!


31 posted on 01/22/2013 6:07:12 AM PST by HangnJudge
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: rawhide

I wouldn’ have said a word about it. Now the IRS knows and he gets to pay his fair share to the piglets at the slop channel.


32 posted on 01/22/2013 6:13:41 AM PST by AD from SpringBay (We deserve the government we allow.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HangnJudge

“Pocketed the money
Tipped the welder”

Exactly!

What we have here is a case of two morons.

One who couldn’t find a way to determine the contents of the safe and one who couldn’t find a way to keep his yapper shut.


33 posted on 01/22/2013 6:14:11 AM PST by ButThreeLeftsDo (FR: Now, More Than Ever.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: rawhide
Pocketed the money
Tipped the welder

Oh yes,
Sell the destroyed safe for scrap

Waste not, Want not

34 posted on 01/22/2013 6:16:23 AM PST by HangnJudge
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: USS Alaska

If things keep going the way they are, by the end of Obama’s reign(2017?)that 13k will probably buy a sandwich and a quart of milk.


35 posted on 01/22/2013 6:16:43 AM PST by macrahanish #1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: rawhide
Why in the heck would you tell anybody?!?

Now the IRS will know about it and want their cut as well....

36 posted on 01/22/2013 6:18:07 AM PST by apillar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rawhide

I bought a ratty old electric guitar at a yard sale for $35.00.

I took the whole thing apart and found out that it was a 1984 USA Fender Phil Kubicki custom neck bolted onto an old Fender Mustang body.

I listed and sold each piece separately on eBay, for this:

Neck...$275.00
Body....$99.95
Pieces and hardware package $19.95

In the hands of a collector, these were probably worth a lot more, but I was happy and so were my customers.

Do I need to locate the yard sale and give back money to the person who sold me the guitar?

I don’t think so.

It’s called capitalism.


37 posted on 01/22/2013 6:18:41 AM PST by left that other site (Worry is the darkroom that developes negatives.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: AD from SpringBay

> I wouldn’ have said a word about it. Now the IRS knows and he gets to pay his fair share to the piglets at the slop channel.

You know the government wields too much power when you can’t tell the difference between the IRS and the Mafia


38 posted on 01/22/2013 6:18:41 AM PST by jsanders2001
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: rawhide

This saturday on a pure impulsive whim I went into a Bargain Village thrift store and found an authentic and discontinued Sydney Oilskins full length drover in XXL size and in mint condition...for $30.

Just my size and I always wanted a good drover, they cost at least $160 or more.


39 posted on 01/22/2013 6:20:02 AM PST by Eye of Unk (AR2 2013 is the American Revolution part 2 of 2013)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: G Larry

Exactly. There’s the whole short term capital gain thing here. Ouch.


40 posted on 01/22/2013 6:21:21 AM PST by Mercat (Never laugh at live dragons)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-89 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson