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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
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To: apillar

I’m smelling BS here.

The buyer likely found nothing.


61 posted on 01/22/2013 7:14:41 AM PST by zeebee
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To: jsanders2001
How could you own a safe and not know what’s in it?

And there's the rub. Chances are the seller got it from an expired storage unit, or a yard sale, or from cleaning up an estate.

So, the $13,000 question is - Would the SELLER have felt any obligation to give the money back to the ORIGINAL owner in that case?

I doubt it. So, therefore, this guy can take a hike.

62 posted on 01/22/2013 7:21:21 AM PST by Fido969
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To: jsanders2001
How could you own a safe and not know what’s in it?

And there's the rub. Chances are the seller got it from an expired storage unit, or a yard sale, or from cleaning up an estate.

So, the $13,000 question is - Would the SELLER have felt any obligation to give the money back to the ORIGINAL owner in that case?

I doubt it. So, therefore, this guy can take a hike.

63 posted on 01/22/2013 7:24:09 AM PST by Fido969
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To: Thorliveshere

Do you actually believe he hasn’t opened it?


64 posted on 01/22/2013 7:30:59 AM PST by SeaHawkFan
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To: John S Mosby
Caveat emptor has a reciprocal.... seller emptor too

Caveat= Beware

Emptor=Buyer

Caveat vendor?

65 posted on 01/22/2013 7:31:06 AM PST by xone
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To: rawhide

I wouldn’t have felt obligated to share any of the money with the seller, but I also wouldn’t have told him about my windfall unless he asked.

And $26K isn’t “life altering” money unless you’re one hell of an investor.


66 posted on 01/22/2013 7:37:43 AM PST by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: rawhide

To the risk takers go the spoils!!


67 posted on 01/22/2013 7:51:34 AM PST by ontap
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To: rawhide
says Labrecque, who adds that he shook the safe and didn't think there was anything inside.

No sympathy for Labrecque whatsoever. He thought he was ripping off some rube. Well, in hindsight, he did!

68 posted on 01/22/2013 8:06:50 AM PST by NonValueAdded (If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, you've likely misread the situation.)
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To: rawhide

Why does anyone even know?


69 posted on 01/22/2013 8:11:20 AM PST by b4its2late (A Liberal is a person who will give away everything he doesn't own.)
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To: rawhide
Interesting almost 1 year old story. According to a snip in the WMCTV report, the buyer was playing a joke on him. I don't know if that is true or not but is on the tv website.

MEMPHIS, TN- (WMC-TV) - UPDATE: The seller has added a new comment to his feedback page claiming that the buyer never found any money:

"He was playing a practical joke the safe was empty there wasnt any money in it."

70 posted on 01/22/2013 8:22:01 AM PST by deport
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To: Newbomb Turk
I would have banked my 26 grand

You DON"T take that kind of cash and "Drop" it in your bank account. The bank HAS to report it to the "Feds",then the nightmare begins. The IRS,and the DEA will come knocking on your door. Put the money in a coffee can and stash it your freezer.

About 6yrs ago I sold a collector car (Shelby Mustang) for Alot of money. I was offered cash I said no give me a certified check.(I knew the buyer's reputation and knew the check would be good). I told my CPA about it and he said never take that kind of cash, Too much grief.

71 posted on 01/22/2013 8:30:24 AM PST by painter (Obamahood,"Steal from the working people and give to the worthless.")
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To: rawhide

The second stupidest guy in the world is the one that Posts a Feedback telling the Seller what he found.

I would just say I used the Safe as a Boat Anchor and it worked out great.


72 posted on 01/22/2013 8:36:17 AM PST by Kickass Conservative (I only Fear a Government that doesn't Fear me.)
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To: deport

Now THAT is funny.


73 posted on 01/22/2013 8:39:45 AM PST by Kickass Conservative (I only Fear a Government that doesn't Fear me.)
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To: PLMerite
I hope the guy doesn’t just take it to the bank and deposit it.

If he did that he'd be disclosing it to greedy uncle's scrutiny even if he'd kept quiet about it!

74 posted on 01/22/2013 9:37:32 AM PST by JimRed (Excise the cancer before it kills us; feed &water the Tree of Liberty! TERM LIMITS, NOW & FOREVER!)
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To: rawhide

That’s definitely life-altering money for myself and a lot of other folks.

Would I give it back? No, that’s why I was rolling the dice on a locked safe with no combination.


75 posted on 01/22/2013 11:25:06 AM PST by andyk (I have sworn...eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.)
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To: Hieronymus
If you could do all that with 26K either you owe virtually nothing on your house or you don’t owe very much and your car is in worse shape than mine.

Don't have a high payment on the house (I'll have it paid off in less than four years). My car has plenty-o-problems, but it still gets me from point A to B, and I mostly walk and ride bike to places anyway. Don't have credit cards. Don't owe much money to anyone anymore. It's nice.
76 posted on 01/22/2013 12:47:56 PM PST by Thorliveshere
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To: Thorliveshere

Sounds quite nice. While I try to avoid debt like the plague, 26k would only make a sizable dent in the mortgage, and with five young kids, upgrading our van would take a good chunk of 26k.


77 posted on 01/22/2013 12:56:23 PM PST by Hieronymus ( (It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged. --G.K. Chesterton))
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To: rawhide
What would you have done?

Follow the seller's lead: "What you receive is what you get"........

I've been screwed twice on Ebay and have no sympathy for the sellers......

78 posted on 01/22/2013 12:57:16 PM PST by Hot Tabasco (Jab her with a harpoon or just throw her from the train......)
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To: SeaHawkFan
Do you actually believe he hasn’t opened it?

You know, I can be gullible at times, so it's likely he has.
79 posted on 01/22/2013 12:58:11 PM PST by Thorliveshere
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To: rawhide
Life altering???

Ha!!

I worked with this low info person a couple years back....

She said she'd retire if she won $1 million bucks. She was in her late 20's early 30's...I told her a million bucks wasn't enough.

She thought I was crazy...LOL!! And I couldn't convince her otherwise...

I'm sure she votes Dim....

80 posted on 01/22/2013 1:02:58 PM PST by Osage Orange (MOLON LABE)
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