[falserum]

> My instant emotional reaction was to feel vaguely cheated, or that the guy I sold it to was a sleaze.

Were you cheated? Probably not. But the guy was definitely on a sleaziness spectrum.

[sowbug]

In retrospect I view that part as an example of "don't hate the player, hate the game." In negotiated deals like this, it's not unusual to represent yourself as the right choice even if the terms you're offering aren't the best. See homebuyer offer letters for a particularly nauseating example. Who knows or really cares whether those parts of the deal are honest?

Maybe the car truly would have been great for his mom.

[recursive]

I mean, I wouldn't do it, just because I don't want to deal with everything. But everyone got exactly what they wanted. I see no sleaze.

[nkurz]

Lying to a co-worker about why you are buying the car doesn't strike you as sleazy? Is there a degree of misrepresentation where you'd agree, or do you feel that lying can never be sleazy?

[recursive]

Oh yeah, that. Forgot about that. Yeah, that part is sleazy.

[em-bee]

the reseller could have been honest:

"why don't you post it on craigslist?"

"don't want to deal with the scum there."

"mind if i buy it off you and then post it?"

"go ahead, and good luck."

[pcthrowaway]

Exactly. Maybe the top-level poster says something like "Oh if you're going to clean it and re-sell it for a profit, I'd rather hold out to see if another coworker actually needs the car, because I also like the warm fuzzy feeling of knowing it's helping them.

"Oh, well what if I told you the $500-1000 I think I can get from taking that work off your hands and re-selling it would really help me out"

"That makes sense. Sold"

See how easy this is without the sleaziness of lying?