feeling sorry for hard times

The lost tractor got me to thinking about the 4430 I owned for a few weeks. I bought it real cheap a bank close out sale. It was in fair shape and wouldn't start at the auction. I got it for 3800 bucks. Couple weeks went buy and the guy who had the sale looked me up and cried how sad he was for loosing all his stuff and wished he could buy the tractor back. Said he got financing at the last minute , but the bank made him sell anyway. He said this was his favorite tractor and he needed it back real bad. I felt sorry for him so I sold it back for what I paid plus what it cost to truck it here. Anyone else ever have this happen, where the seller hunts you up and wants his stuff back?? Al
 
I will say you are a good person for selling it back at cost. So many times we don't know their back story....and it's great to see you were willing to listen, consider and sell it back.

Now on the other hand....I would be bothered with how they got your name in the first place. One would think that buyers at an auction should have their information held private.
 
An elderly gent sold me his .22 rifle, of course after a few years he passed,later his son who I knew calls me and asks if I still had the gun and if he could buy it back, he said name your price, I told him what it cost me and got it back to him.He was happy.
 
Yep. Sometimes we have to look past the coffee shop talk and the court of public opinion to see what the real story is. Sometimes there are people who truly go through a long patch of bad luck. I've known people who lost everything due health care bills of a seriously ill family member. I've known of people who lost an entire year's crop due to a breakdown beyond their control. It's easy to be critical but be careful as you never know when you will have to walk in the other guy's shoes.
 
A little different twist I bought 4 non running Olivers and some parts from a farmer near Richmond VA one time,older fellow made me promise that when I bought them I would never sell them to any family member of his if they ever ran them down.He died of cancer about 6 months later.Sure enough a nephew of his came to my place about a year later wanting to buy one of the tractors
I just told him they weren't for sale and left it at that.The old fellow told me when I bought them his family didn't care anything about him or his equipment when he was living he didn't want any of them having any after he passed.In a little more colorful language too BTW.
 
Well I can't see what the big secret would be since the item was bought in front of maybe 200+ people, loaded it up etc.I can tell you who bought certain things at an auction that was held
40 years ago some things just stick in one's mind.If you don't want everyone the least bit interested in your part of the state to know what you bought,how much you paid etc etc
don't buy at an auction.
 
Since he was the seller the auctioneer likely gave him a list of all the items sold and to who. I'm pretty sure my uncle got such a list at his sale.
 
Many years ago, my dad needed some cash, and at the time,I was strapped for money. A good friend, that I worked with, offered to buy the deer rifle my dad no longer used, for his son. Several years later, after the son passed away, I tried to buy the rifle from him, and he said, No I'm not ready to let it go. Time passed, and this last year, we were at their house for a get together, and he called me into the house, handed me the rifle, and said happy birthday. Kind of made my eyes leak.
 
Two sides to every story. I've seen it in my family and usually the person crying about the others not caring is all about getting things on their terms even if it hurts or humiliates the other people in the family. I'd be skeptical if the nephew showed saying he should have the tractor for nothing but that does not sound like the case. In the end you own them fair and square so it is your decision.
 
Back in the 1990's, a banker here in Nebraska had an '87 Buick Park Lane with a 3.8 engine and an engine knock. As I recall, it had about 70K miles on it. He gave it to one of my wife's brothers, Ed, on the condition that it not be parted out or sold to a salvage yard.

Ed brought it to my shop. I dropped the oil pan and found the #1 rod bearing spun, almost unheard of with a 3.8, particularly with that low mileage. It was a nice car, otherwise, so my Ed told me to go ahead and fix it. I pulled and disassembled the engine and sent the crankshaft out to be ground.

The problem was, a fiber cam gear had shredded and the debris had plugged the oil pump. I'd never seen that on a 3.8, but it was common on the old 3.0 engines, and since they both took the same cam gear GM must have used up some fiber cam gears by putting them in some 3.8's.

Anyway, about then the banker contacted Ed with a big sob story that the car had been his late wife's car, that she really loved that car, and he wanted to know if he could have the car back. Ed told him that would be hard to do because the car was at his brother-in-law's shop having the engine rebuilt. The banker said he didn't care, he'd gladly pay the bill on the engine if he could just have the car back.

I went ahead and reassembled the engine with new piston rings, all new bearings, and a new cam gear. When I presented the car and the bill to Ed, he wrote me a check and added $500 to it. He said he'd get more than that out of the banker when he gave him the car back. I never heard how that ended up.

Ed passed away a couple of years ago, but the last we knew the banker's son was still driving the car.
 
I bought two AC Model M's from a guy. A couple years later he wanted one back. I sold the tractor back to him for what I paid for it, plus I gave him a disk. I still haven't had a need for either one, a couple less things sitting around. Stan
 
Now how could that be done? Everybody at action could know who bought something. About the only way not to be able to know would be if auctioner would be taking telephone bids along with live bids from auction gowers.
 
Very interesting situations when buying or selling.
When I was 17 I sold my Marx train set to a friend. Many years later I offered to buy it back at whatever the going price was in a toy train swap meet. He said no but would put it in his will that it would come to me. I said I don't want it that way and that was that. I've since sold all my other trains. We are both still kicking (mostly).
Another story: My father had purhased a 1935 Ford sedan in the early '60s. It sat in his barn for years and he died in 1968. My sister and her husband bought it from our mother and towed it to Ft Meyers, Fl, in 1978.
It was there for about 10 years in storage. In 1988 my train friend and I drove to Florida and brought the car back to Michigan. It sat in my barn for 3 years. We decided to sell it "as is". The buyer was very happy as this '35 was like his first car.
About 2 weeks later he contacted me saying he felt he had paid too much and was asking for some money
back. Yeah, right!
 
A little different item but similar story. Several years back a local restaurant owner/cook/chef passed away, way to young. His family had been in the business for years and served a lot of unique and very good menu items. His estate was settled at an auction. I bought his personal collection of recipes, including some things I had eaten and liked a lot. Didn't cost much.

Afterwards his son came over and asked about it. He was unable to afford to bid but wanted some of the recipes. I gave him the original with the promise that he would copy the entire book and give me the copies.. He did, just a few days later.

He got the memories and I got the recipes. Win Win!!
 
This is a strange one, but it actually happen. A guy from work wanted to sell a really nice High Standard pistol. One of my friends,that knew I was into guns, told me about the situation & that it was a urgent sell. Price was great, and I jumped on it (love the old HS pistols). My friend brokered the deal and delivered the pistol. At delivery he told me that his dad had used the gun to kill himself & that the family wanted the gun gone. It gave me a weird feeling, but I got over it. After I had been retired for a few yrs., the son got in touch and wanted to buy the gun back. After questioning him about why he would want it back, I was satisfied it was for the right reason & sold it back. I think I felt more uneasy for selling it back than buying it in the first place. Now that I think about it, still feels strange even 20 yrs. later.
 
A close friend had a truck that had belonged to his father. It wouldn't move and had been parked on a city street where everyone had been using it for a dumpster. He said I could have it to save him removal fees. About $1500. later I had a pretty nice truck when the step brother showed up and said how he had loved the truck, his Dad's, step brother should have called, ect, ect. I felt sorry for him and and said $1800 it's yours. He kept it 6 months and sold it. 20 years ago and I'm still a little piqued off.
 
Friend owns a bunch of apartment houses. Wanted to get his son into the business, so decided to sell him one at a bargain price. Kid ran it for 3 months, resold it for $100k profit. Friend decided that that would be the end of the bargain sales.
 
There was a movie 20-30 years ago staged during WW2 in the California area. Don't remember the name. The Japanese-Americans were being rounded up into camps. As the JA's were being told to move, schysters were trying to buy their houses a cut rate prices.

This JA & white family lived next door to each other for years and were good friends. They made the agreement for the white guy to buy the JA house for $1, and after the war, sell it back for $1.

Well, the war ended, and the JA family came back to their home. The white guy said that, yes, he would resell their house, but he needed to sell it back at a profit. The JA family was saddened, until the new price was realized.........$2.

Cute ending.
 
MY Great Grand Mother talked about how tough times could get. When she talked about the "Depression" She was talking about the one in 1892. It did not last as long but the drop was as bad as the one in the 1930s.

She said her Father and her attended a foreclosure sale of one of her classmates parents. They lost everything as the bankers at that time even sold small personal property. She talked about how Her Father bought the livestock, including a team of horses an a wagon and plus all the household stuff. When the sale was over her Father told the people that had been sold out, to load up all the house hold stuff and bring it plus the livestock over to his lower farm house. They needed to get moved ASAP as he expected a full days work Monday at their new house and job. Within five years they had worked and saved their money up. They bought that farm off her Father.
 
I bought a non-running Oliver 66 on an estate sale 10 years ago. I only knew the seller because he was a high school classmate to an ex-girlfriend. I have not worked on it yet. A year ago a co-worker knew all the details of the sale because a friend of the seller now wants it back. He drove it home for his dad 50 years ago when his dad purchased it. Said it took him all day through the heat and a rain storm. Felt sorry for him, left a message with his employer, his co-workers and his home phone. I probably would have sold it back to him. Anyway, he hasn?t contacted me. I no longer feel sorry for him.
 
Many years ago now I bought a 1940 John Deere H from an older gentleman. I had talked to him about this tractor on and off for several years. A few years after I bought it, his son came to my house asking about it. He didn't know his Dad was going to sell it. He asked if he could buy it from me. I told him I really didn't want to sell it, but if he bought another in similar condition I would certainly trade as I thought he should have his Dad's tractor, and that particular one didn't have any special meaning to me. He never came back.
 
Thanks, good on you. Life is not just about making a profit. I like making money, but not to the point of stomping on another human.
Ten years from now the profit will be long forgotten, but 30 years from now, a good deed will be remembered in 2 families.
 
(quoted from post at 17:59:12 10/08/19) Many years ago now I bought a 1940 John Deere H from an older gentleman. I had talked to him about this tractor on and off for several years. A few years after I bought it, his son came to my house asking about it. He didn't know his Dad was going to sell it. He asked if he could buy it from me. I told him I really didn't want to sell it, but if he bought another in similar condition I would certainly trade as I thought he should have his Dad's tractor, and that particular one didn't have any special meaning to me. He never came back.

"if he bought another in similar condition I would certainly trade "

That's a GREAT solution!

You have the wisdom of Solomon!
 
Couple simular incidents, 1-19-79 my dad died.day of his funeral at 8 am sharp got a phone call from 1 of dads cousins in california.the VERY first thing he asked or sorta demanded was he kinda wanted needed dads old winchester 1897,dad was his favorite relative.i was smitten hard but in a calm voice replied ive known dad since 55 n never 1 time has your name came up.if he was so close you would be here in the house ready to attend his funeral.he was blabbering n i hung up.never heard from him again.

Then neighbor collected old and odd 2 cylinder john deeres.i went n helped him start 1.he started talking said my family will sell all dirt cheep just take cash n run. He died. Month later they got the cheepest auctioneer they could get. Sold all out for almost nothing.
 
Your actions are commendable, but the seller's story seems a bit thin.

"Said he got financing at the last minute , but the bank made him sell anyway." How could the bank force him to sell if he had secured financing elsewhere? All the bank cares about is that their note is satisfied; surely they would prefer to be paid in full rather than get the sale proceeds and have to write off the rest.

"He said this was his favorite tractor and he needed it back real bad." If he sold everything, why does he now need a tractor? And it seems an interesting coincidence that his "favorite" tractor is also the one that sold for a fraction of its market value because it wouldn't start.

Is it possible his real intent is to resell the tractor for what it's really worth?
 
Family friend was pressured into signing over his dairy farm to his only relative a nephew a few years ago. Had 100 head, quota, 3 houses, about 600 acres. About the time the ink dried the nephew sold the quota, building lots along the road, the herd, the farm less one house for himself to live in with the million plus. Left the uncle living in his maple sugar shack in the woods, broke with local elderly women cooking him food and taking him to doctors appointments. His last big possession a Ford 7700 tractor was sold on commission by a dealer who never paid the money to the man.

I don't believe the nephew even went to the uncles funeral.
 
Few years back, I went to a farm auction, where I ended up buying a
Deere M standard. I paid too much (or at least more than I intended to pay,
you know how auctions go!!) Next to it was a #5 Deere mower
that fit on the M, which I bought, too. Also bought a couple small items,
like $20-25. A bit after I bought the M the guy bidding against me came over
and asked me how far I was going to bid on the M and mower. I told him that was as far as I
was going. He asked if I would sell him the tractor and mower as he had run them in
his younger days. I told him if he would pay for the tractor and mower plus $25
I would do that. He said OK. got all my stuff paid for plus a couple bucks and I didn't have to
haul them home. And the guy was real happy!!!
 

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