• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

was I unethical...
2 2

89 posts in this topic

I was at a show a while back and came across a book that caught my eye. I asked the dealer if i could see the book. it was a golden age book and on the back was a note "missing centerfold".

9 times out of 10 i walk away, but this time i asked if the missing centerfold interrupted the story and he opened the book and he looked through it and said "it does look like it is missing the centerfold". so he handed me the book and the first thing i did was count the pages, and to my surprise it had 36 pages. so i put the book down and was talking with him and checking mycomicshop.com for a page count and they said it had 36 pages. IVE never seen mycomicshop.com to be wrong on page count so i bought the book WITHOUT telling the dealer that i was 90% sure this was complete. when i got home i used digitalcomicmuseum.com and went page for page and it is complete.

so my question is was this unethical of me NOT to tell the dealer? I've told dealers before that their book was missing pages, cutouts that they missed, and ive also told dealers that their book WAS complete when they had it marked "missing centerfold or pages".

this has been eating away at me for awhile and ive asked a few friends and dealers and ive got their opinion (mostly one sided) but id like to get a sense of what this community has to say.

was i wrong? should i find the dealer and make it right? or let it go as a great find?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You researched it more than the seller, figured out that it was not missing the center page, and did not disclose that before or even after buying. That is borderline unethical. They opened the book and were given a chance to verify the missing page. Not sure I understand how they failed to count pages or what led them to think the center page was missing.

I realize it is the principle involved but how much of a price difference would there be between missing center wrap and complete book in same condition?

I would not lose sleep over it- it wasn't like you tried to be deceitful. You could tell them about it, maybe offer some extra cash - but more than likely, they will be happy you came back and bought some more stuff instead. But telling them would be a step in the right direction.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, oakman29 said:

You asked him to take a look to verify the missing page after you saw the notation,  and he confirmed. Its not your responsibility to be diligent with his product,  it's his.

I would just chalk it up to a good score and leave it at that.

while I don't disagree with this - as what happened is not the biggest deal -- it seems like it is bothering the OP. Best way to end that is to talk to the seller if possible about it. I doubt they would expect you to cough up more for a sale that happened. But that nagging feeling will be squashed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, 01TheDude said:

while I don't disagree with this - as what happened is not the biggest deal -- it seems like it is bothering the OP. Best way to end that is to talk to the seller if possible about it. I doubt they would expect you to cough up more for a sale that happened. But that nagging feeling will be squashed.

I do agree with you on that. Guilt feelings lay heavy on the soul.(thumbsu

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, oakman29 said:

I do agree with you on that. Guilt feelings lay heavy on the soul.(thumbsu

No doubt-- and people can hold grudges or let small arguments end friendships only to finally have a discussion years and years later that ends the problem. Meanwhile-- they lost all that time they still could have been friends. Though sometimes the small argument or issue was just the tipping point/excuse the end the relationship. Only one way to find out for sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, thunsicker said:

Add to that if he thought it was missing the centerfold he probably bought it at the ‘missing centerfold’ price.

Let me add that this isn’t to say you shouldn’t contact the seller and offer to give him a little extra for it.  Merely that you should take into account what you know of the seller.  If you think he’s the type that would go back to who he bought it from and do the same then doing so makes sense.  If you think he’s the type who would keep the score to himself then I wouldn’t bother.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I look at it this way.

Do you have any idea how difficult it really is to get warren horror mags that dont have an ad  cut out with all the cool things for sale in there? I have bought many books that have been cut up, so I would personally look at the OP's post and think its karma working things out. :headbang:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

are you keeping the book? if you sell it, you could consider passing some of the windfall back to the guy, either in additional sales, or as a "make-good."

 

you can always contact the guy and tell him that you discovered that the book was in fact complete and that you feel that you want to make it up to him.  see what kind of response you get.  i would think that a dealer with whom i would want to do more business with would say to just forget about it and enjoy the book.  i know that's what i would tell you if i had sold it to you but i'm not a dealer and plus ymmv

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Raze said:

I was at a show a while back and came across a book that caught my eye. I asked the dealer if i could see the book. it was a golden age book and on the back was a note "missing centerfold".

9 times out of 10 i walk away, but this time i asked if the missing centerfold interrupted the story and he opened the book and he looked through it and said "it does look like it is missing the centerfold". so he handed me the book and the first thing i did was count the pages, and to my surprise it had 36 pages. so i put the book down and was talking with him and checking mycomicshop.com for a page count and they said it had 36 pages. IVE never seen mycomicshop.com to be wrong on page count so i bought the book WITHOUT telling the dealer that i was 90% sure this was complete. when i got home i used digitalcomicmuseum.com and went page for page and it is complete.

so my question is was this unethical of me NOT to tell the dealer? I've told dealers before that their book was missing pages, cutouts that they missed, and ive also told dealers that their book WAS complete when they had it marked "missing centerfold or pages".

this has been eating away at me for awhile and ive asked a few friends and dealers and ive got their opinion (mostly one sided) but id like to get a sense of what this community has to say.

was i wrong? should i find the dealer and make it right? or let it go as a great find?

You gave him the chance to inspect it a second time. That was the moral thing to do. I don't see the point in chasing him down to tell him he was wrong. He got it wrong twice. Not your fault. If he was comfortable with the deal after giving it more than one close look, then it's his loss. 

Since you already own the book, I don't see how he would be able to charge you extra for it. That being said, if it relieves your consciousness to tell him about it, then do so! If I were the dealer in question, I would simply have to learn to live with the oversight, and I'd let you go on your merry way. 

It's both the dealer and the customer's responsibility to be as thorough as possible. It's easy to miss things, and it happens all the time. I don't see any willful deception on your part, or the part of the dealer. 

Had I been in your situation, however, I probably would have mentioned something about it after checking Mycomicshop. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
2 2