Is it illegal or unethical to buy someone's donations?

Let’s break this down…

Bob isn’t going to donate his junk no matter what, right? he’s too damn lazy I guess

So he makes fifty bucks that he otherwise wouldn’t be making, you get a nice tax break, and some poor people/starving children/unwashed masses get a new refrigerator/lawn mower/box full of blankets that they otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to have?

Yep, everyone wins.

Yup! What FPCB said…

The little I know about tax laws says this would be illegal but the odds of being cuaght are null.

I can speak for Bob. For the past year, I’ve been cleaning out the house to prepare for a move to another country. I know I could make some extra money by having a yard sale or selling items on a web site, but decided I just want to get rid of it, so the majority of it has been donated to charities or given away to friends who have expressed an interest. If someone asks for the dining room table and chairs and then decides to sell it, it’s all good with me.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard Are you the one who collects Pez dispensers? If so, I’ve got a Garfield cat one from the mid-80s with your name on it.

A donation can not be deducted for more than your total investment.

Take the $50 deduction you’re entitled too ONLY

Once you let stuff go then it’s not yours anymore. I’ve put stuff out on the big garbage day heaps before knowing full well junkers come by before the county trucks so they can pick over and then resell.

If the junk has a fair market value of $1,000 and you can prove it, your deduction may be justifiable. If it is not worth more than what you invested, you should claim that.

Great Caesar’s ghost! Fair exchange is no robbery. If he sales the items less then the value of it just to rid himself of it and you decide to buy it, then I can’t see anything wrong. Go fo it.

First thought: I wouldn’t do it – I wouldn’t take the tax break from this exchange.

um give BOB $500… ya right!

Each person in the transaction got the vale they wanted, so it is ethical. However, be sure you only claim the actual market value of the items – and the actual market value has been proven to be $50, which is the amount you paid for it.