Buying Someone's Records: An Ethics Question

My feeling would be that as long as you're not trying to convince him that they're "probably worthless", and in fact are giving him a nice chunk of change for the collection, there is nothing ethically wrong at all.

Say he has 100 records and you're going to give him $5/each, or $500. From his perspective, he just got $500 for something that was just taking up space for him, and with almost no effort.

From your perspective, you're getting a fantastic deal - again, coming into some great vinyl for a fraction of the market value. While this may seem like it's taking advantage of somebody, I wouldn't view it that way - you've spent a LOT of time familiarizing yourself with the music and the LP's to know that they're worth more. It will take you substantial time to clean up the collection, substantial time to sell the individual LP's you're not interested in, etc. All the while, the guy who sold them to you has his $500 hassle-free dollars.

If, before giving the guy the $500, you lined up a buyer for the collection (or knew you could have one) who would pay you $2000 for the 100 records, as-is, I would probably at least suggest to the current owner that he could get a pretty penny for his records and point him in the right direction. At that point, you've invested no time and you've done a good deed. Even there, I don't think you're morally obligated to approach it this way.

In any case, if the seller walks away with a smile on his face, has freed up storage space, and never has to think about it again, I think you've both made a good deal.

I sort of agree with Kthomas. Unless you actually inspect the records before you buy them you really don't know what condition they are in. For all you know they could be totally trashed and valueless, even those rare typically highly prized ones. If I were buying them blind, based on the condition I have seen most typical old vinyl in I'd be hard pressed to offer much at all.

What might be something fair to both of you is to actually inspect the records, cherry pick the good ones and offer him a fair 'wholesale' price for them and offer to dispose of the rest for him. (Include in your offer the value of the time you need to inspect the records and dispose of the ones of no value.)

BTW, if he mentioned the old 78's I suspect he already knows that they have some value - most folks wouldn't think old 78's would be worth anything, unless they just loved the music (and they had played the record endlessly right up to its demise).

Hope that helps a bit.

If your going to keep and listen to them then I think $5 is a good price given that you don't even know the condition of the LPs. If you're planning on selling the rare stuff and your conscience is bothering you, cut him in for a percentage of the sale. If you call him up afterward and say, "Hey, I sold some of that vinyl for more than I paid you and wanted you to have some of the proceeds," he'll be amazed and the next time you need electrical work, you'll probably be amazed.

Dick

There are no universally accepted ethical standards. Each individual has their own level of conscionable action.

The truth is, unless you have inspected his collection, neither of you really knows its' value. You may find that your example price per would be less than favorable to YOU!

Personally, it would bother me if I didn't forewarn the fellow that he could be sitting on a substantial windfall, provided that is indeed the case. If he decided he would rather just get rid of them all at once than go to the trouble of 'parting out' his collection to the highest bidder, I wouldn't feel badly about offering less. After all, you're taking all the thorns with the roses, so to speak.

Have a close look first and then be honest about your findings. The man can then make an informed decision and you can feel confident that you did the right thing.