Charlie, you hit the button on this one. I don't want to drag this discussion out but feel I have to defend what I have said. This damn catalogue was not a 'cool catalogue' with wide appeal. It was an obscure one for an Elswick-Hopper model - not a marque that attracts much interest but one that I have been researching for many years as the company was based in my home town. It has cost me a lot of money to do a lot of research and I am doing it for the love of it. The book will assuredly lose money when it finally gets published. My catalogue collection will finish up in the local museum or the V-CC library, when I finally get around to writing a will. The nub is that the only way that Hilary knew of my interest was through being, like me, a V-CC Club member. Call me old fashioned but walking a catalogue across a room is something I would have done for a fellow club member with a known interest, just to see his face light up. Make money out of it? If you think that is OK then we are from different worlds, and I know which one I prefer. And please don't call people misguided when you don't have a clue who they are.
Nigel Land Barton on Humber UK PS I would like to thank all those who have sent emails with positive support, all offline, unfortunately, and I now withdraw from this particular discussion. Got to get a bike ready for a Sunday old bike meet and I have a road race to help marshal tomorrow afternoon. Must also resolve to spend less time at the keyboard.
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 22:28:38 -0400 (EDT) From: chasds@mindspring.com To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]ethics of buying and selling (was re: ASC sturmey Archer etc) Message-ID: <24718635.1152239318230.JavaMail.root@mswamui-valley.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Precedence: list Reply-To: chasds@mindspring.com Message: 1
Nigel Land wrote, in part:
"when he discovered a rare Elswick-Hopper catalogue a couple or so years a
go
> on a stall run by a fellow V-CC member. He bought it and brought ot over
to
> me immediately and sold it at a good profit. I discovered its origin a sh
ort
> while later, when I showed it to the erstwhile owner. We both agreed that
it
> 'wasn't exactly cricket, old chap.' OK, fair deal for a dealer, but I am
> buying catalogues for a reseach project and for eventual gift to the V-CC
> library, as I am the marque enthusiast for that (much neglected) company.
At
> the time I resented being ripped off by someone who professes to be an
> expert and source of knowledge, and who, at the time, was a committee mem
ber
********
I realize Hilary can and will speak for himself far better than I can, but I just could not let this particular comment stand unaddressed.
I think there's a basic misunderstanding at work here. I simply fail to understand how it is that Nigel was "ripped off" by Hilary. Where's the problem? Hilary found a cool catalog, that he *knew* was cool from long experience. He paid a fair price for it, and he sold it to Nigel for a price Nigel apparently thought was fair.
I can see Nigel tasting some sour grapes over it, but that's not Hilary's problem. That's Nigel's problem, imho.
Hilary made a point of *finding* the catalog, and knowing who might want it. Both those things are worth money.
I have friends who are *ace* swap-meet pickers. They seem to have a nose for it, and the patience and fortitude to wade through a seemingly endless sea of junk to find the good stuff. I am more than happy to pay them extra for this fortitude, which I myself lack almost entirely.
So, I differ completely with Nigel. Hilary does us *all* a great service by single-mindedly finding all this cool stuff for us to have a crack at. He deserves every franc he can earn thereby.
Let's note that this is a professional activity for Hilary, and I am WELL aware of the annoyance I feel when someone asks for my professional capacities at no compensation, or well under their value. I might give them, but purely as a favor. Otherwise, I expect to be paid for my professional competence, and I expect to pay others for the same.
I've also done numerous deals with Hilary, always at a fair price, and always with the utmost professionalism. An experience many of us have had, I'm sure.
So, Nigel, I guess what I'm saying...just one man's opinion here...you're entitled to your feelings, and your opinion, but I think both are misguided.
Charles "lazy" Andrews
SoCal