http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/atq/3145434258.html

Lovely early Columbia phonograph, being sold as part of a fundraiser for a high school athletics department. Needs a lot of work, but the horn alone is worth more than the asking price. I was set to pick it up tomorrow, but got a call from the seller today. She got another offer for $500 from another buyer, but was willing to honor our agreement since I had already committed.

I told her to take the other offer. The fact that she was willing to stick to our original agreement (even if she was clearly conflicted about it), combined with the fact that it's for a school fundraiser (and yes, I did verify that separately), left me in a spot where I couldn't in good conscience force the original bargain.

Maybe I'm just an idiot.

You did the right thing. Way to go! There's always next time.

.... good for you .

Playing Devil's advocate in the spirit of" No Good Deed goes Unpunished"......

there is a wood horn in the photo if that goes to the phonograph, I think it easily triples the value of it,
there was I believe much more than $500 worth there and the other guy who got it, I think may have gotten a steal.
What you should have done was maybe just split the difference paid her and had the nice phonograph for yourself.

I did consider that briefly, but it's really not in the budget right now. I've got a few major expenses that I'm saving up for; I couldn't *not* get it at $100 (and yes, that wood horn was a big part of the draw for me), but once you get into the $500 range... well, I just can't afford that for something I really don't need in the first place.

And if somebody will pay them $500 to my $100, well, I'd rather the school get the $500. At least I know that at that price, it's probably going to a collector who knows what it is, and is not going to end up as part of someone's ill-conceived "shabby chic" project.

You did the right thing, Fid. There will be be more along.

It was the right thing to do. Well done.

Larry