'A deal is a deal': Dude shocked to find the guitar he sold for 4k is worth 50k

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
May 21, 2023 11:00 AM EDT

No one can agree on what this guy should have done after he bought a guitar for less than 10% of it's true value. 

This is one of those posts from r/AmItheA**hole that make a great read. That's because even after reading this dude's story, plus the update, we still can't decide who was in the wrong in this situation. 

As the OP, u/fhdksTHROWAWAY wrote, their wife's coworker was selling a guitar. As an avid guitar player for decades, the OP was thrilled, and decided to help this guy out by buying the instrument. The coworker was selling all these items that belonged to his father after he'd passed away. The coworker named a price, the OP agreed, and the OP bought it. It could've been that simple, but the OP knew the guitar had a worth way higher than $4,000. It created a messy situation, not helped by the fact that this guy was their wife's coworker,  making him pretty unavoidable. 

Next, take a look at these brutally honest (and truly hilarious) signs. 

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 9765038080
    via Oleg Ivanov on Unsplash
  • 02
    Font - r/AmItheA Posted by u/fhdksTHROWAWAY AITA for buying a $50,000 guitar for $4,000 and refusing to sell it back when the buyer found out the real value? Not the A-hole This happened a while back. My wife and I still talk about it every once in a while. She's on my side and most of our friends and family are. However when it happened it was like WW3 between us and her co-workers and others.
    via u/fhdksTHROWAWAY
  • 03
    Font - Here we go...I've been playing the guitar for 22 years. I know guitar values and whatnot very well. I'm very into the guitar market. At my wife's old company she was hanging out with co-workers one day after work and she mentioned that I play guitar. A co-worker who I guess is very popular at work said that his dad passed away and he was selling his dads things. His dad had a guitar and asked my wife if I'd be interested in it. My wife texted me and I said to have him send me the info on
    via u/fhdksTHROWAWAY
  • 04
    Font - The next day he texted me the pics and price. It was a 1952 Telecaster in mint condition. He had the original receipts which was crazy! (That's how I knew the date). I asked what he wanted for it and he said he "looked up Telecasters online and he thinks $4,000 is fair". I texted back, "I'|| take it for $4,000" and went to pick it up. The guitar had no sentimental value to him at all.
    via u/fhdksTHROWAWAY
  • 05
    Font - Here's the issue at hand. The guitar was/is worth $50,000 depending on the buyer and I knew it. When I got the guitar I told my wife the price and what it was worth. She was floored. Fast forward two weeks her co-worker tells my wife he just found out what the guitar was actually worth from a family friend and wanted it back. She said, "well he really likes the guitar and he knew it was worth $50,000 which is why he was floored you offered it to him for $4,000. He really likes it and I do
    via u/fhdksTHROWAWAY
  • 06
    Font - He contacted me and asked to buy it back. I said that it's not for sale. He then said I scammed him and he was going to "sue me and take my wife to HR for being a part of the scam." Which was nuts, but he actually did contact HR. They were cool about it and said it's not their problem. It's between him and me. Over the next few months he made things very uncomfortable for my wife at work. He would bug her constantly about it. She eventually had to go to HR for harassment and they actually
    via u/fhdksTHROWAWAY
  • 07
    Font - UPDATE: Well this post blew up way beyond what I was expecting. It looks like I was voted Not The A There's over 5000 comments. I couldn't read them all, but I did read a lot. Just to clear up some things. I left somethings out because I didn't want it to influence opinions and really wanted it to be about me buying a guitar at significantly lower market value vs the people in the story. I did include the fact that the guy was harassing my wife at work not to make the guy sound bad, but b
    via u/fhdksTHROWAWAY
  • 08
    Font - The guy and his dad were not close at all. So those people saying he was grieving and I took advantage of him, that is 100% not the case. When I went to get the guitar he was telling me he hadn't talked to his dad in six years and was actually annoyed he had to deal with a funeral.
    via u/fhdksTHROWAWAY
  • 09
    Font - The dad bought the guitar new and never played it. Luckily it was stored in a closet and not in a basement or attic. There's no issue with the wood or electronics. It plays like a dream and I couldn't be happier. I am not selling the guitar to the son or anyone. It will be with me for a long time. I'm in my 30's so maybe in 30 years it will find a new home.
    via u/fhdksTHROWAWAY
  • 10
    Font - I would have MAYBE considered giving the guy more money or giving him one of my guitars to sell on his own, but I decided not to do that after he left a terrible voicemail on my phone the day he found out the real value. He demanded it back like he was entitled to an object he sold fair and square, called me a POS, called my wife a POS and said he would "do bad things" if I didn't sell him the guitar back.
    via u/fhdksTHROWAWAY
  • 11
    Font - And to those people who say they would have told the guy the real value. That's a load of horse s If you went to a garage sale/estate sale and saw an item worth $5000 priced at $50 there's not a snowballs chance in h you would walk up to the homeowner and tell them they mis-priced it. You'd buy the item and then tell all your friends and family what a great score you got! Don't even kid yourself like you wouldn't do that. I don't feel bad about buying an awesome guitar at a steal of a pri
    via u/fhdksTHROWAWAY
  • 12

    In the comments, people had all sorts of opinions about the OP's cheap guitar and the coworker's responsibility as the seller

    Font - Peabody77 Certified Proctologist [26] Nta. When you sell something it is your responsibility to know or determine what its worth not the person you are selling to. Edit- to your edit I absolutely agree.
    via u/Peabody77
  • 13
    Font - agd1516 2 & 2 More ESH. You blatantly took advantage of him and his ignorance. He sucks because he didn't research it enough, and then harassed you and your wife to the point it got him fired. Just a whole messy situation.
    via u/agd1516
  • 14
    Font - I don't think you should sell it back to him. You paid a price he gave you (bad on him). You just seriously took advantage of him (bad on you).
    via u/agd1516
  • 15
    Font - Dull-Community. Parta ipant [2] Ok but this isn't Pawnstars lol OP isn't obligated to inform someone from whom he's buying an item how much it's worth. He asked the dude how much he wants for it, dude said he did his own (albeit poor) research and set a price he thought was fair, and OP paid it fair and square. You're not an for buying something at a a bargain price just because you know some buyer out there would probably pay more for it than you did
    via u/Dull-Community
  • 16
    Font - emiller1227 A deal is a deal. It's not the buyer's responsibility to educate a seller. No one was taken advantage of. He asked for 4k and he GOT 4k. It floors me that people in the day and age of Google people are taking the seller's side in any capacity. Not hard to Google the year and type.
    via u/emiller1227
  • 17
    Font - lime_lemon_lily. I disagree. By that logic anyone who thrifts or looks for bargains is inherently an as I've knowingly picked up so many high value items for a lot less than they're worth. Sure it would have been kind of op to offer to pay more but I don't think he was morally obligated and it certainly doesn't make him an a OP wasn't taking advantage of someone who was grieving, just someone who wasn't well versed in the value of vintage guitars.
    via u/lime_lemon_lily
  • 18
    Font - agd1516 I get thrifting and bargain hunting. This just doesn't sit right with me. The original sellers father had just passed away, and then OP knowingly bought the guitar for roughly 45k less than it's worth. If he bought it for 45k, then found out what it's really worth, then good on him. But like I said in a previous comment, I don't think he should sell/give it back, but I would personally feel dirty if I did something like this.
    via u/agd1516
  • 19
    Font - ▸ [deleted] I disagree on your judgement only because I think it's the sellers responsibility to look into it. Not the buyers fault the seller didn't.
    via u/deleted
  • 20
    Font - downbythesea113 ✩ A S2 Enthusiast [5] ESH. Harassing you and your wife is not okay whatsoever regardless of circumstance. But let's be real, you did prey on his ignorance and took advantage of it, which makes you suck, too.
    via u/downbythesea113
  • 21
    Font - Harsh lesson for the guy (double whammy in losing something of value AND going crazy and being fired in the process). Hes an idiot because he should have done his research. You on the other hand, will justify in your head why you think you're in the right and won't lose any sleep over it. But -- consider this: insider trading is wrong because of information asymmetry - ie, someone profits because of others' ignorance - the balance of knowledge of information is not the same.
    via u/downbythesea113
  • 22
    Font - Similarly, there was major information asymmetry between you and this guy - you knew way more about the value of the guitar because it is one of your passions. You profited from this asymmetry. Granted, not illegal (as insider trading is), but if it were me, I would feel really guilty about taking this kind of advantage over someone. This is $46K we're talking about.
    via u/downbythesea113
  • 23
    Font - Edit: not going to respond to everyone saying this isn't exactly like insider trading. I dont think I said that. I was simply drawing on the concept of information asymmetry to illustrate why I believed what the OP did was wrong. Everyone jumping on me that this isn't exactly insider trading is stating the obvious.
    via u/downbythesea113
  • 24
    Font - kittenbeans S I also feel like a lot of people are glossing over the fact that this all happened right after the guy's father died - what a horrible time to take advantage of someone.
    via u/kittenbeans
  • 25
    Font - IATAAllDay Parta pant [1] I'm a bit conflicted because it seems there may be more to the story but I'm gonna say YTA. You knew what it was worth and blatantly ripped the guy off. He just lost his dad and was probably having a hard time and just wanting to unload stuff but you could have leveled with the guy and told him the truth. Sure you may not have ended up with the guitar but now you seem like a greedy pl
    via u/IATAAllDay
  • 26
    Font - Liet-Kinda Parta pant [1] "Ripping him off" would be actively deceiving him, misrepresenting the facts in some way that made him lower the price. Paying the price someone is asking for an item is not ripping anyone off.
    via u/Liet-Kinda
  • 27
    Font - robinhood125. S Parta pant [2] A lie of omission is still deception.
    via u/robinhood125

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