"Wanna buy an Ipad, for only $50?" Question about theft and handling stolen goods.
Asked by
rebbel (
35549
)
November 21st, 2011
Where, for you, lay the boundaries of thievery and/or handling of stolen goods?
Where it says Ipad you can fill in any other goods.
1. You see an unattended Ipad in a coffee shop; do you nick it?
2. A thief offers you an he admits stolen Ipad ($50); would you buy it?
3. A colleague offers you an Ipad ($100), he doesn’t know the source, just that he bought it from somebody for $75; would you buy it?
4. An Ipad is offered for sale online, for $150, no details are given; would you buy it?
1. No, 2. No, 3. no, 4. Maybe…
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16 Answers
1. No.
2. No.
3. No.
4. Probably not.
No, I turn it in to the counter.
No.
No.
Maybe. If I wanted an Ipad, which I don’t.
1. I pick it up and turn it in.
2. No
3. I wouldn’t pay $100. for something someone else says they paid $75. for.
4. Not unless it came with warranty.
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The Ipad is an abomination.
1. No, I’d turn it in.
2. No.
3. No.
4. Most likely not.
If I really wanted an iPad I’d buy it from a trusted source.
So far no surprises, except @marinelife and @Neizvestnaya, who, very sympathetically, bring it to the counter.
I asked this questions to somebody I know and that person answered No, Yes, Yes, No too expensive.
btw, buying stolen goods is called fencing and is a crime in itself.
You know my answer without me having to give it.
As long as there are people who buy stolen merchandise, there will be people that will steal it.
@rebbel: I don’t see what the big deal is about turning an item into the place of business.
Me neither, @Neizvestnaya, but the thought didn’t occur to me when I thought about the answers I gave to the questions myself and that surprised me when I read your response.
I think it is an attentive thing to do, whereas I would let it unattended with the risk that someone after me might steal it.
@rebbel: That’s how I see it, that it’s likely to be stolen the longer it sits out, left behind.
Not the coffee shop, no.
However, I do a visual sweep of the pit after every concert I attend. Drunk people leave a lot of stuff lying around. I’ve never found an iPad, but lots of cash and broken jewelry. If I ever find a cell phone, I do my best to track down the owner and return it to them. Sometimes I can, sometimes I can’t.
As far as the other questions, no, I wouldn’t buy knowingly stolen property. If I saw something at what I perceived as a decent price on Craigslist without details, I’d most likely assume it was legit until I had a good reason to think otherwise.
Someone was trying to sell me an Eotech for 200 bucks. I backed away.
My only worry about turning things in at the counter is that the operator may not be as scrupulous as the rest of us. Besides which, placing an underemployed, unsupervised technophile in the vicinity of expensive and desirable loose electronic gadgets is somewhat cruel if he has any trouble at all sticking to his convictions.
Definite no to the first two. If the third one seems to actually be an ipad (or whatever) and doesn’t seem defected or anything, I’d probably buy it. The last one…well, it depends on the website. If it’s a secure website, yes, but since there aren’t any details, it’s probably not. So, no.
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