What's the DUMBEST trade/sale you've ever done? Here's one of mine...and you won't believe it.

[GMT1675]

Back around 2010-ish, I was getting into commercial photography more heavily - shooting for two area newspapers, a few small school contracts and of course, portraits for couples/families. I still had a few nice gen watches left, but was "cash poor", as they say. I needed a full-frame camera body. So, I put out a Craigslist ad offering to trade one of my watches for a Canon 5D camera. A young Army soldier at Fort Bragg, NC contacted me. He wanted the watch I was advertising - and had a low-shutter-count Canon 5D Mk II to trade. We met and did the deal. I was happy. He was happy. Now, I hate myself...

Because here's my Canon 5D Mk II - current value = ~$400.00

And, this is what I traded for it - a 1970's Tudor Submariner 7016/0 - current value = ~$5,000 (or more) :facepalm:

What's the dumbest trade or sale YOU have ever made?
BTW, this is NOT the dumbest trade (in hindsight) I ever made. It's probably second, though.

 

[Vvvlllooo]

Dumbest sale was buying a gen tagheuer new, decided to flip it a year later. Lost my ass on it...never again.

 

[macarone]

Dumbest sale was buying a gen tagheuer new, decided to flip it a year later. Lost my ass on it...never again.

Profiteering isn’t allowed, you did fine!


I've gotten burned over Cheryl Tiegs,
Blown up for Raquel Welch.
But when I wind up in the hay it's only hay, Hey Hey

 

[Vvvlllooo]

Profiteering isn’t allowed, you did fine!


I've gotten burned over Cheryl Tiegs,
Blown up for Raquel Welch.
But when I wind up in the hay it's only hay, Hey Hey

Haha I wasn’t trying to profit, lol. I was trying to get at least 1/3 of what I had paid for it a year later. Bought it new for $3200....gave it away later for $1200....and that was a miracle I had sold it.

 

[GMT1675]

Haha I wasn’t trying to profit, lol. I was trying to get at least 1/3 of what I had paid for it a year later. Bought it new for $3200....gave it away later for $1200....and that was a miracle I had sold it.

Ouch! That's huge. Sorry to hear that.

In all my years of collecting -- and sometimes buying/selling/trading -- I lost money on only one Rolex/Tudor that I can recall - a SS/18k Daytona 16520/3.
I lost my butt on a JLC Reverso once. I thought I had bought it cheap & could turn it quickly for a tidy profit. NOPE. Ugh!

 

[Vvvlllooo]

Ouch! That's huge. Sorry to hear that.

In all my years of collecting -- and sometimes buying/selling/trading -- I lost money on only one Rolex/Tudor that I can recall - a SS/18k Daytona 16520/3.
I lost my butt on a JLC Reverso once. I thought I had bought it cheap & could turn it quickly for a tidy profit. NOPE. Ugh!

I can hear good ol Paul, f**k me dead, when you had said JLc reverso

 

[Sedonut]

Bought a 1970 Porsche 914-6, paid $6000 with 20,000 miles. Sold for $7200 four years later with 65,000 miles, I thought I scored , now worth $70,000.

Ferrari 246 GT, Bought for $16,000 sold 1 year later for $16,000 with bad muffler and water pump. Now worth $250,000.

I could go on, you can't keep everything. You just have to enjoy the ride and make the best decision you can that day.

 

[Alexccmeister]

Back around 2010-ish, I was getting into commercial photography more heavily - shooting for two area newspapers, a few small school contracts and of course, portraits for couples/families. I still had a few nice gen watches left, but was "cash poor", as they say. I needed a full-frame camera body. So, I put out a Craigslist ad offering to trade one of my watches for a Canon 5D camera. A young Army soldier at Fort Bragg, NC contacted me. He wanted the watch I was advertising - and had a low-shutter-count Canon 5D Mk II to trade. We met and did the deal. I was happy. He was happy. Now, I hate myself...

Because here's my Canon 5D Mk II - current value = ~$400.00

And, this is what I traded for it - a 1970's Tudor Submariner 7016/0 - current value = ~$5,000 (or more) :facepalm:

What's the dumbest trade or sale YOU have ever made?
BTW, this is NOT the dumbest trade (in hindsight) I ever made. It's probably second, though.

I just checked the price of 5D Mark II on ebay. They are selling like $700 top. Man! What a bummer. I used to own one but sold that off at a lost as well.

 

[Alexccmeister]

Bought a 1970 Porsche 914-6, paid $6000 with 20,000 miles. Sold for $7200 four years later with 65,000 miles, I thought I scored , now worth $70,000.

Ferrari 246 GT, Bought for $16,000 sold 1 year later for $16,000 with bad muffler and water pump. Now worth $250,000.

I could go on, you can't keep everything. You just have to enjoy the ride and make the best decision you can that day.

You are the biggest loser mate!! Haha... Here we are talking about a few grands. You are in the tens of thousands. Must have been a while back.

 

[Tobel]

Back around 2010-ish, I was getting into commercial photography more heavily - shooting for two area newspapers, a few small school contracts and of course, portraits for couples/families. I still had a few nice gen watches left, but was "cash poor", as they say. I needed a full-frame camera body. So, I put out a Craigslist ad offering to trade one of my watches for a Canon 5D camera. A young Army soldier at Fort Bragg, NC contacted me. He wanted the watch I was advertising - and had a low-shutter-count Canon 5D Mk II to trade. We met and did the deal. I was happy. He was happy. Now, I hate myself...

Because here's my Canon 5D Mk II - current value = ~$400.00

And, this is what I traded for it - a 1970's Tudor Submariner 7016/0 - current value = ~$5,000 (or more) :facepalm:

What's the dumbest trade or sale YOU have ever made?
BTW, this is NOT the dumbest trade (in hindsight) I ever made. It's probably second, though.

Ahaha it's a great thread (and sorry for the bad deal)

 

[Sedonut]

Many years have passed on my car trades. I've had a lot of cars. The Porsche and Ferrari were 35 years ago.

 

[Alexccmeister]

Many years have passed on my car trades. I've had a lot of cars. The Porsche and Ferrari were 35 years ago.

They would have been considered classics.

 

[brawndo]

Fellow 5D2 friend, paid $2,100 for it back in 2009, sad to see it’s only worth $400 now. At least my lenses have held most of their value.

 

[JOP]

Back around 2010-ish, I was getting into commercial photography more heavily - shooting for two area newspapers, a few small school contracts and of course, portraits for couples/families. I still had a few nice gen watches left, but was "cash poor", as they say. I needed a full-frame camera body. So, I put out a Craigslist ad offering to trade one of my watches for a Canon 5D camera. A young Army soldier at Fort Bragg, NC contacted me. He wanted the watch I was advertising - and had a low-shutter-count Canon 5D Mk II to trade. We met and did the deal. I was happy. He was happy. Now, I hate myself...

Because here's my Canon 5D Mk II - current value = ~$400.00

And, this is what I traded for it - a 1970's Tudor Submariner 7016/0 - current value = ~$5,000 (or more) :facepalm:

What's the dumbest trade or sale YOU have ever made?
BTW, this is NOT the dumbest trade (in hindsight) I ever made. It's probably second, though.

That's not fair.. for both items but specialy for you!


How much money did you earn using that camera?
The fact that you don't replace your watch means that you don't need it, not that it was a bad deal.
You trade a small investment for a pricey well built tool of work. You depreciate the value and still have the tool to work with.
Soldier trade a pricey overqualified piece of equipment that was "sensitive" depenting his needs, for a tough piece of time that
most likely survives his lifestyle and can give him back his small investment on camera today.

This kind of trade look flawless to me. I'm also sure that causes trouble to those that bet against the public interest, calling it free market..

 

[Seamusflood]

1990 lotus elan
Purchased for £3500 sold 3 years later for the same....
Now worth 10k

It is 8 years later mind you


Sent from my iPhone using RWI

 

[GMT1675]

Bought a 1970 Porsche 914-6, paid $6000 with 20,000 miles. Sold for $7200 four years later with 65,000 miles, I thought I scored , now worth $70,000.
Ferrari 246 GT, Bought for $16,000 sold 1 year later for $16,000 with bad muffler and water pump. Now worth $250,000.
I could go on, you can't keep everything. You just have to enjoy the ride and make the best decision you can that day.

A 914-6 AND a 246GT?!? OUCH! That really stings. I love the 914's, especially the rarer 6's.

When I was 16, my Mom bought a 1971 Ford Mustang Mach I with the CobraJet engine. It was piss yellow, with black stripe. I thought it was a POS and hated driving it -- except that it was fast. I saw one at Mustang Week in Myrtle Beach, SC a couple years ago. The owner had it listed for something like $70,000. Hindsight is 20/20, I guess. If we all knew then, what we know now...things would be different.

That's not fair.. for both items but specialy for you!

How much money did you earn using that camera?
The fact that you don't replace your watch means that you don't need it, not that it was a bad deal.
You trade a small investment for a pricey well built tool of work. You depreciate the value and still have the tool to work with.
Soldier trade a pricey overqualified piece of equipment that was "sensitive" depenting his needs, for a tough piece of time that
most likely survives his lifestyle and can give him back his small investment on camera today.

This kind of trade look flawless to me. I'm also sure that causes trouble to those that bet against the public interest, calling it free market..

You make a good point. In the end, I made way more than the current difference in value between the two items. But, like the others here, hindsight is 20/20. I would not have made the trade if I had known that watch would appreciate 3-5x what it was worth at the time. Oh well.

 

[JOP]

Ha, ha, i can't believe you.. i wonder what would you say if you had choose to replace the watch with your earnings from the camera.


I was bought a 356 b for 14000 in a previous life. Was unvealed that was a mess without competitor, need full rebuilt, couldn't be used in everyday life
as a pricey wv beetle and been honest, my driving skills wasn't enough to be "safe".
I 've put 2000 and does some body work, a service and a set of tires on it and trade it in six months for a 912 that cost me 8000 more to install 993s mechanical parts
while driving it on everyday use.

22 ys later, the 356 could give me over 40000 but i would have given 2000-4000 more than 8000 (912) to be on the road without the
comfortable everyday driving that 912 give me since.
Should i feel bad that 912 sells for less today with annual costs of a mid range opel?

 

[GMT1675]

Ha, ha, i can't believe you.. i wonder what would you say if you had choose to replace the watch with your earnings from the camera.


I was bought a 356 b for 14000 in a previous life. Was unvealed that was a mess without competitor, need full rebuilt, couldn't be used in everyday life
as a pricey wv beetle and been honest, my driving skills wasn't enough to be "safe".
I 've put 2000 and does some body work, a service and a set of tires on it and trade it in six months for a 912 that cost me 8000 more to install 993s mechanical parts
while driving it on everyday use.

22 ys later, the 356 could give me over 40000 but i would have given 2000-4000 more than 8000 (912) to be on the road without the
comfortable everyday driving that 912 give me since.
Should i feel bad that 912 sells for less today with annual costs of a mid range opel?

Oh, for me, this would be a no-brainer, regardless of the cost/investment -- the 912 over the 356 any day.

As for me and the difference in earnings from the camera vs the cost or value of the watch... I realize the camera was a good deal in that I made much more money with it than the Tudor Submariner was, or is, worth. But, it's ironic to look at the actual real value of the camera now vs that of the watch.

 

[Mendota]

I've made quite a few dumb watch decisions over the years. One comes to mind.

In 2002 I was going to buy myself a 16610 sub for my 30th birthday. I grew up watching James Bond movies and always loved Rolex. I tried on the sub and when comparing it to my gen Hamilton that I got in college, it felt "too big" so I passed on the sub and started looking at the 36mm 14270 Explorer 1 instead. The sub was right around $3K at the time and the Exp 1 was about $2,500. I decided on the Exp 1 and then started trying to find a deal online instead of buying from an AD. Big mistake, because I talked myself out of both watches. My search led me to Timezone, where a respected watch smith on the forum had just posted a scathing review of the Exp 1 and he shredded the movement. I took a step back and then ended up buying the top of the line Sony XBR "flat screen" tube TV with integrated stand and composite DVD player instead of any watch. I was feeling proud of myself for buying a cool birthday toy, but saving some money versus buying the watch. Ugh.

Flash forward to today. The TV is long gone and was literally worth $0 when I got rid of it. The watch smith later admitted that he wrote that review fraudulently, and he was banned from Timezone. Both of those watches today are selling for 2x what I would have paid for them at the time, and I still want to own them both to this day! Ha ha!

 

[GMT1675]

I've made quite a few dumb watch decisions over the years. One comes to mind.

In 2002 I was going to buy myself a 16610 sub for my 30th birthday. I grew up watching James Bond movies and always loved Rolex. I tried on the sub and when comparing it to my gen Hamilton that I got in college, it felt "too big" so I passed on the sub and started looking at the 36mm 14270 Explorer 1 instead. The sub was right around $3K at the time and the Exp 1 was about $2,500. I decided on the Exp 1 and then started trying to find a deal online instead of buying from an AD. Big mistake, because I talked myself out of both watches. My search led me to Timezone, where a respected watch smith on the forum had just posted a scathing review of the Exp 1 and he shredded the movement. I took a step back and then ended up buying the top of the line Sony XBR "flat screen" tube TV with integrated stand and composite DVD player instead of any watch. I was feeling proud of myself for buying a cool birthday toy, but saving some money versus buying the watch. Ugh.

Flash forward to today. The TV is long gone and was literally worth $0 when I got rid of it. The watch smith later admitted that he wrote that review fraudulently, and he was banned from Timezone. Both of those watches today are selling for 2x what I would have paid for them at the time, and I still want to own them both to this day! Ha ha!

Good story. All I can say is, "I feel ya!" Most of the watches that passed through or made a long stay in my former collection have increased in value exponentially - a couple by a factor or 10 or more. But, life goes on. I just thought it might be interesting to hear other people's stories. This is a good one. TFS!