Crazy Trade-In Story, Guy wants stuff back the next day?

[punkoffgirl]

I was going to advise to sell the stuff back, as basically you would have been earning $25 extra just for hanging on to it. However, since some items were sold, that's obviously not going to work. I think I would have explained that to him, rather than focusing on "I don't even know everything you traded in," which does, to me, seem a rather lame excuse from someone operating a business.

[Gameguy]

Ummm......no.

Really? Possessing stolen goods is legal now? Maybe the law is a bit different between Canada and the US but I know it's illegal in Canada. I know laws can vary between states and provinces but generally it's illegal.

POSSESSION OF STOLEN PROPERTY:

The criminal offence of Possession of Property Obtained by Crime is committed when a person has in his or her possession any property or thing or any proceeds of any property or thing knowing that all or part of the property or thing or of the proceeds was obtained by or derived directly or indirectly from a the commission of a criminal offence.

It's still difficult to prove or get a conviction.

Specifically, the Crown must prove: that (a) the accused had the property in their possession; (b) the property was obtained directly or indirectly from a criminal offence; (c) the accused had the intention to possess the property; and (d) that the accused had specific knowledge that the property was obtained directly or indirectly from a criminal offence. The Criminal Code states a person has something in their "possession" when that person has it in their personal possession or knowingly has it in the actual possession or custody of another person, or has it in any place, whether or not that place belongs to or is occupied by him, for the use or benefit of himself or another person. Finally, where two or more persons, with the knowledge and consent of the rest, has anything in his custody or possession, it shall be deemed to be in the custody and possession of each and all of them.

I just wanted to make it clear that it actually would be a crime to possess stolen goods. Even if you possess stolen property, it's not like you would be convicted unless you knew the items were stolen.

Honestly I doubt that those games were stolen, even if they were it would be difficult to prove unless they had serial numbers or very specific markings like the guy's name written in marker on them.


There was an independent game store near me(across the street from EB Games) where the owner bought stolen goods while I was there. I was just browsing when 2 guys came in and wanted to sell some brand new Xbox accessories(I forget what they specifically were), they had price stickers from EB Games but it didn't seem suspicious at the time. 5 minutes later 2 employees from EB Games came in and asked, "Did 2 guys come in here wanting to sell some Xbox accessories? We just had some stolen from our store." The owner, while still holding the accessories in his hand replied back, "Uhhh, what guys?" At that point he knew they were stolen but he didn't care, he just kept scrubbing the price stickers off with Goo Gone. I never bought anything from that game store again. I refuse to support anyone who knowingly deals with stolen goods.

[Icarus Moonsight]

I think what nhm was getting to was that an illegal/criminal act in question requires intent to buy stolen goods and that intent requires knowledge that the goods are stolen. Not knowing (with non-disclosure from the offering party - good contract stipulation here!) would be honest trade on the now possessors side, and an act of deception on the others. The illegality of possession of stolen property in that case, sort of falls apart logically. Because it ties the responsibility to the innocent possessor and magically absolves the guilty one for finding a patsy. Basically, the thief is now also a defrauder. Double the crime to eliminate responsibility. On its face it's a joke. Because honest trade requires that the trading parties have earned and rightfully own what they exchange.

[LaughingMAN.S9]

if he was a regular customer, i probably wouldnt see anything wrong with giving it back and making a small 25 dollar profit, better for you in the long run.


as far as everything else is concerned tho, fuck em.

[garagesaleking!!]

Reading this thread gave me a headache. Porksta said it best, let the guy come and buy it from the shelf for whatever you price it at. I doubt he wants all of it back anyways, he can pick and choose what his little brother really wanted. Its simple as that.

[spongerob]

Threatening with the law?

Well sir, I don't appear to have your games or your consoles, but what I do have is this...

[Diatribal Deity]

About 5 years ago I would have laughed at this and probably had the same sentiments as mostly everyone else. Fast forward a few years when an EB (now Gamestop) opened in my town in a strip mall. To this day that store falls under a town pawn statute. They are required to hold onto every game traded in for a certain amount of days before they can do anything with them. They literally just place them in the back room until the waiting period is over.

Believe it or not the local authorities are very strict on maintaining this statute and frequently check the inventory. Obviously the system and numerous tags allow for easy tracking. The following is an article that addresses a similar circumstance in a different part of the country...but it sheds light on how not only states can be different but also towns and cities.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content...n.html?sid=101

[theclaw]

He should have to buy back at full price, same as the customers who didn't bring them in. I don't think it's my responsibility to refuse to allow someone to intentionally waste their own money. They're not breaking any rules that way, just direly lacking common sense.

[Griking]

Ummm......no.

Ummm....yes

http://crimelawyers.org/Content340.htm

[Griking]

Threatening with the law?

Well sir, I don't appear to have your games or your consoles, but what I do have is this...

I hear that works real well in court.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Just curious; Did you actually read any posts over four words long?

[Oobgarm]

I'd think you'd keep a closer tab on what was traded in. Maybe not all of the boxes and miscellaneous crap/accessories, but at least the games and systems. I know it's time consuming, but don't you have some type of computer system to help facilitate that?

[Cornelius]

Even if there is a waiting period where the OP is, I seriously doubt its purpose is so the seller can think things over and decide to get his stuff back at the sale price. As someone else pointed out, it is so the police can check for stolen items. I'd be surprised if there is any obligation in any of those laws to hold stuff for the seller (except for whatever 'loan period' is in a pawn contract). I'm no lawyer, though.

[garagesaleking!!]

law vs ethics

[Cornelius]

law vs ethics

true enough.

[MachineGex]

Anything that has a serial number should be logged, along with a photo ID of the person selling it. More and more cities are requiring game stores to log in what they took in for the day(every system, game, cord, etc). I understand tracking serial numbers, but individual games, controllers, etc. dont have them and would take toooo long.

You really need to check with the city, not the state to find out what is required. Each city may have different rules. One city may toss you into the "pawn store" catagory, and the next could care less.

You could have just told him he could make a list of the stuff he sold you & wants back. Then you could refund that at your cost. No way I would let him look over your store and claim items on the spot.

The last thing you want is the local police getting involved in your business. Avoiding that mess may be worth returning the items at cost if possible.
Don't you have cameras installed???

[GizmoGC]

I think the only place in Los Angeles that ever did correct record keeping was Game Dude, but the whole fact of the matter here is not a "legal" issue because he sold something to us, is over 18, and it was not stolen....

Depends what County you are in.

When I ran a store, we were not considered a Pawn Shop since we didn't do over x amount of money each month and didn't pay out cash. We had no 'hold' period and the only rule was 18 and over and they had to sign. The same store in a different county had to take fingerprints and hold items for 30 days. They often would transfer stuff from my store to theirs since their inventory was pathetic.

Game Dude does (did?) hold items...but probably because they were in a shady area.

[diskoboy]

Tell him if he wants to play it that way, he can pick up his stuff if he repays the money.

Then tell him you're adding a 300% daily interest from the day he dropped it off, to cover the "loan".

If he thinks you're a Pawn Shop, act like one!

[DreamTR]

Well, it's a moot point, I never heard from him again after I called him out on the "law" of us holding used items for resale for 24 hours...I didn't mean for the thread to get into one big crazy debate, ...seriously, all this is over 2 game systems, some boxed Pokemon games, and boxed N64 games and some random paperwork,

[Icarus Moonsight]

So, he was just a bully coward after all... Good to know and glad to hear you're in the clear.

Worse than having a long debate about this stuff, is getting jacked around with over it.