Landser,
Yes, like sharks, these people are the legal versions of con men and crooks. You can hear of them trying to scam widows and the unknowing out of their antiques, their collectibles and their hard earned wealth.
There is nothing wrong with making a buck, but when you scam people into giving their stuff away for peanuts, you are scum.
The cop out, of course, for these people is the old 'but they didn't have to sell to me' whine. The other cop out is the old 'what do you want for this piece of junk' question.
Collusion is rampant in this business.. if we define collusion as the links and the relationships between people in this hobby along with the mutual backscratching that it brings with it. Those in the know and with the right network can take advantage of the unpublished items for sale, the distress sales and the discreet offerings. Collusion can raise prices or can tank them. When done by big business, it is a crime. When done by little guys, it is a fact of life.
I have my own Honour Ring story. I purchased a named ring from a really good dealer. Not cheap, but honest and in really good shape. A while later, the dealer contacted me to try to make a deal. He would take the ring back at 80% of what I paid for it and, in exchange, I could buy a lesser ring that had the name removed for a lower price and have some money left over. I accepted, then regretted what I had done. I was really annoyed. I talked to the dealer about it and was offered some platitudes and attempted compensation for my hurt feelings. I rejected that since the annoyance I felt was with me, not with him. But, I did make it clear that I didn't want to hear of these kinds of 'offers' again, and I haven't.
John
