I decided to start a "business" reselling auto parts. I'm very knowledgeable about auto parts (BMW mostly), and often able to buy them on craigslist, ebay, or internet forum for far less than they are worth. When I do this, I am often dishonest with the person selling these parts and tell them that theirs parts are worth less than they actually are. I then resell these parts on either the same sources or locally for profit. Typically, I can make 300-400 dollars on each transaction. When selling these parts, I misrepresent them as my personal parts (because I cannot resell parts on many car forums without being a sponsor). I obviously always deliver the goods I sell in a timely manner, I never took money and didn't deliver goods. Although you can say I "rip people off" buy buying cheap and selling high, is that not the case with most resellers? None has any obligations to sell to me or buy from, I simply buy for as cheap as I can and sell as high as I can. Isn't that what everyone doe
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I appreciate all the responses, most of them were very helpful. I do agree that it is somewhat unethical to "lie" to sellers about the true value of their auto parts. Keep in mind that most of them are BMW owners, so they are not starving for cash and simply want to get rid of their old parts ASAP. I do this simply to get higher margins. If you think this is unethical... try going to any car dealership to trade-in your car. Will they give you the "true value" of your car? Of course not. They will lie to you in order to get the best deal and resell the car for profit. I guess it is somewhat "unethical", but then almost every single business is unethical to a certain extent. Another thing I need to figure out is what taxes I need to pay, if any, on these transaction. That is a whole other discussion though...