I was up in Hollywood to see Alejandro Escovedo this evening and had some time to kill so I stopped in Amoeba. I was browsing the Brazilian section and low and behold they had a copy of Joao Gilberto's "the Legendary Joao Gilberto" and it was only $14. I already own it but its an amazing album (his first three albums combined on one disc -- all out of print in any form including this one).

My first instinct was to grab it and sell it for some rediculous amount on ebay. I bought it myself for $80 earlier this year and I've seen it go for significantly more. I had it in my hand for about 10 minutes while I shopped and I kept thinking about how excited I get when I find something like this. You know much more excited than I'd be if I found a $100 bill. So I thought nah...I'm putting it back and hopefully it makes someone else's day to find it and add it to their collection. I kept sort of wandering around nearby hoping to witness someone's excitement at finding it (hell I was excited when I found it for $80+) but people wandered through and browsed oblivious to the prize they were leaving behind.

Thinking back on it, I was probably a real idiot for putting it back. The person who buys it will probably just be someone who doesn't want it but realizes its value and looks to make a quick buck. I hope not though.

PS: I should probably post this elsewhere but Alejandro was really great. So awesome to be able to see him healthy and performing again with a six piece band behind him including Jon Dee Graham on pedal steel. He says that he's going into the studio before year-end with John Cale on production!

Sounds like an all-around great evening.

*makes mental note for amoeba trip next week*

Yes. I'm with you on this one, though with other things including books, thrift store records, etc.

Usually, I will leave it with hopes that someone will stumble across it and be just as excited as I am. It will be their find of the week or month and make the digging day that much more rewarding. I don't go scouring through thrift shops and used bins as a stream of income; I do it because it's so much fucking fun. It's even more fun when you find something completely undervalued and in great shape.

If I go back several weeks later and it's still there, I'm more likely to pick it up and either keep it as a back up copy or give it to someone who might enjoy it.

As for someone looking to make a quick buck, it doesn't bother me. I'd rather someone have the surprise of a day and get enthusiastic about finding something they didn't expect, but that may not happen. Also, if I were considering flipping it myself, then I'm not sure that the high ground is really applicable.

Not picking on you, billyg, just sayin'. We're on the same page here.

I probably would've bought it, then gone to a spot on the Web where his die-hard fans hang out. If one of them needed the CD, bang-zoom - it's theirs.

Yes I think we are on the same page. And I wasn't really trying to claim any moral high ground. I'm a capitalist as much as the next guy, just generally not while I'm digging. It was more of if anyone should be making a quick buck its me since I found it first so I'd be disappointed if it didn't end up going to someone more excited about the find. I also found myself hunting more for lost gems somehow convinced that the karma police were going to maybe throw a cheap betty harris or lyn collins as reward for my way for my kind deed to other shoppers.

That's what I figgered. You're all right in my book.

i found a handful of copies of secaucus at a used cd place. all very-good+ condition for 70 cents each. unlike yourself, i listened to the devil and snatched 'em up.

So...how are you any different?

I bet you someone from this board has already picked it up by now after reading this and is on their way to Ebay as we speak.

This sort of thing happens to me all the time. In fact, I figure the more I pay for an album the cheaper I'll spot it in the used bins two weeks later. Sucks.

Depending on my esteem for the album, though, I might buy it again and give it to a friend. But chances are I'll just leave it where I found it and mutter angrily to myself like that homeless guy with the aluminum foil helmet.

It's not a "helmet"; it's my chapeau.

I would'nt normally buy it just to sell on ebay, but in this case I would have recouped my $80. That's just too much to pay for a CD.

For one I didn't buy it. My point was not to judge anyone who would buy it for a profit but to decide whether I was an idiot to leave it there. I was leaving it there in hopes that someone who would treasure it would find it and it would make their day or week or whatever.

If everyone said that they would have bought it, I would have thought then that it was pretty unlikely not to be snapped up by some speculator and that I was an idiot for not taking the profit myself. That said, I'm glad to see that there are lots like me.

Actually, my point was pretty much the opposite of how you took it -- it seemed like you were being judgmental in your description of this imaginary other person, and I was just calling you on it.

I judge you not, had you bought it purely for resale -- I would have gone for the profit myself.

I find out of print collectors items all the time. It's mostly out of print CCM though. If it's $0.50 to $3 at a bargain bin and I know i can sell it on e-bay for at least $10.00 or more, I don't hesitate to pick it up and resell it. I need the secondary income.

No I understood you which is why I said this:



I'm not in the habit of leaving found money lying in the street so I find it a bit noteworthy that I didn't snap it up.

When I lived in San Francisco there was a brief period where Amoeba had about 10 or 15 copies of Big Shot Chronicles by Game Theory. They were selling them for $15, I think. They sold on ebay at the time for $30 and over. So I bought a few to sell. I was also unemployed and broke at the time, but I would have bought them to sell even if I hadn't been.

how do you know someone knew it's worth before you saw it and decided to leave it as well?

this happens to me all the time. I always leave the record.

which allowed more people to own a copy instead of them sitting in the used bin.

(and Dov already said what I was going to say. )