So I bought a blacklisted Kindle off Craigslist

[crich70]

Yep, it's also known as "the pig in the poke" I believe and of course is the origin of the phrase"let the cat out of the bag." Back several centuries small livestock like pigs were sometimes transported from market (by purchasers) in a sack (the poke) and sometimes the seller would put a cat in the sack instead of the pig.
It doesn't sound like that great a deal to save only $19.00 and I do wonder why the NIB bit didn't send up a red flag. Granted there may be legit reasons why a person might sell one a bit cheaper. If they had gotten a second one as a present at the same time for example. I don't know how he received it, but surely if he got it delivered by post from the guy who sold it to him then there are records through the post office or UPS that would enable the police to track it back to him? I mean when you buy something that is sent to you via post there are usually tracking #'s and such.

Originally Posted by darknessangel

This scan is OLDER than modern civilization! It's the "cat in the bag" scam. You show them what they want, they pay, you pack it up for them (packing a stone or whatever) and then presto! another human being scamed! XD

[jrusch]

This thread is very funny! Posters calling the OP scum and other names and whatnot can't be serious!

OP tried to contact the seller. He contacted Amazon. They didn't say they want it back. He did his part. Amazon didn't even confirm it was stolen. Telling the OP he should have known something was up because it was $120 is just crazy talk. Crazy. Maybe if it was $20 I would be concerned.

I have a part time job. I buy stuff on Craigslist cheap. I resell it on eBay for more money. I buy stuff all the time (mostly used, some new) that is half the price or lower than what I can sell it for on eBay. That is normal. Craigslist = cheap stuff. Not stolen (for the most part). People just want to get rid of their crap and they want it gone now. Duh.

Let's say OP does call the police. He tells them he bought a new Kindle on Craigslist and Amazon says the device is either lost or stolen. I can just imagine the conversation. A Kindle? What's that? Amazon? Who's that?

Ok, let's say the police care. They take the time to visit the OP. They make a report. They confiscate the Kindle. Then what? Fingerprints? DNA? Track the seller emails IP address. Come on, it was $120. They'll probably check for reports of stolen goods, and if they don't find a match they'll sell the Kindle at a police auction. Imagine that, they'll be selling stolen property!

Funny stuff. Funny.

Has a fund been started for the OP yet? If so, where can I send my $5 PayPal payment to?

[bobavey]

I agree with Samurai. One should always strive to do the right thing.

[bluemoonjules]

Originally Posted by lila55

I don't see Amazon gaining from the return, I see it as property that is (after having reembursed the original buyer) now rightfully the property of Amazon. So it should be given back to them. Keeping it just because Amazon is a company and not an individual does not make it any more rightful in my eyes.

You are right there. Morally, ethically, and legally, if it did not belong to the seller, then the item does not belong to the OP, whether it cost 10 cents or $10 million..............

[jimplasticguy]

I want to share something with all of you that was given to me some years ago. As my colleague was retiring, and I was taking his position as a young man, he read this to us. He memorized it, because it was important to him, and I am blessed that he shared it with us. I think it is on-topic.

Desiderata - Max Ehrmann, 1927
http://www.lordtonymackenzie.com/desiderata.html

Jim

[bluemoonjules]

Originally Posted by PharaohsVizier

Ethics is complicated, anyone who thinks everything is black and white is a moron.

Black and white reasoning right there.....

[crich70]

Interesting. It reminds me of a scene out of Hamlet. Where (I think) Polonius is talking to his son about how he should act around others.

Originally Posted by jimplasticguy

I want to share something with all of you that was given to me some years ago. As my colleague was retiring, and I was taking his position as a young man, he read this to us. He memorized it, because it was important to him, and I am blessed that he shared it with us. I think it is on-topic.

Desiderata - Max Ehrmann, 1927
http://www.lordtonymackenzie.com/desiderata.html

Jim

[PharaohsVizier]

Originally Posted by bluemoonjules

You are right there. Morally, ethically, and legally, if it did not belong to the seller, then the item does not belong to the OP, whether it cost 10 cents or $10 million..............

No, just no. I don't even have words to describe how wrong that is. If this Kindle was not valuable, the situation can be compared to picking up a penny on the floor. Clearly a penny on the ground was either lost or stolen as it is discarded, and since you chose to pick it up, according to people in this thread, we should call the cops and report it, forfeit all rights to the penny, make a huge deal about it despite the low value of the item. Jeez guys, it's the right thing to do.

I suppose the point is that in the grand scheme of things, $120 is not a big enough loss for Amazon to care, and even less for the cops to worry about. There's a branch of ethics that assumes the correct thing to do is the action that will yield the least harm and the most gain. By giving the device to the police, you are creating more work for an already strained government agency, pulling resources from stopping crimes that actually matter into dealing with something that is unlikely to get resolved anyways.

[tarke9891]

There are laws about buying stolen goods and if the penny was worth it, to reg it, to someone. Yes you would call the cops about it. Oh and I think this is going to be the longest thread, if this keeps up.

[clintbradford]

Is this thread still alive?

An idiot bought a piece of electronics gear off of Craigslist - thinking to himself that he "saved" twenty bucks off the price of a NEW, WARRANTEED unit and is surprised that it's a stolen unit?

And ANYONE here is sympathetic?

Man .. If I ran this message service, this thread would have been killed LONG ago ...

[PharaohsVizier]

Originally Posted by clintbradford

An idiot bought a piece of electronics gear off of Craigslist - thinking to himself that he "saved" twenty bucks off the price of a NEW, WARRANTEED unit and is surprised that it's a stolen unit?

I'm guessing you don't use craigslist a lot?

[MsAstoria]

Well, in my humble opinion, I say he has done what any reasonable person would do, contacted Amazon (they didn't want it) and tried to contact the original seller (stolen or not, we don't know). So as one poster suggested, keep it and use it as a non-wi-fi/3G reader. There are lots of sites where he can legitimately download mobi books including here on Mobil Read! I think he is hosed as far as buying/downloading drm books so he is limited in that respect. But I gotta tell you, I have tons of mobi books that were free downloaded on my reader so have years of reading material!

[eswarjj]

return it because now he know that's the moral way to go. 2. he could be in for trouble legally.

[ManosHandsOfFate]

Originally Posted by clintbradford

Is this thread still alive?

An idiot bought a piece of electronics gear off of Craigslist - thinking to himself that he "saved" twenty bucks off the price of a NEW, WARRANTEED unit and is surprised that it's a stolen unit?

And ANYONE here is sympathetic?

Man .. If I ran this message service, this thread would have been killed LONG ago ...

While I wouldn't call the OP an idiot, I'm not particularly sympathetic either.

[Richey79]

Originally Posted by crich70

Interesting. It reminds me of a scene out of Hamlet. Where (I think) Polonius is talking to his son about how he should act around others.

Yes.

Polonius gives extremely wise advice to his son.

He then proceeds to meddle in his children's lives in the most unpleasant fashion, hawking his daughter's sexuality in an attempt to raise his social standing. He is a sycophant and a dissembler, who dies while hiding behind a curtain, eavesdropping on a private conversation between a mother and her son.

Still, his speech expressed some pleasant-sounding sentiments.