The official thrift/discount store bragging thread - Page 3691

I think this argument could go a million of different ways. I think there are legal arguments for both sides. If it was "misplaced" the rightful owner would get it (in this case rightful ownership transferred to GW). If it is abandoned, it is fair game (legally, not morally). Something on the floor is a bit more obvious of being abandoned while finding a wallet in a restaurant booth is most certainly not abandoned. In this case the quirk comes in the fact that the jacket was donated. Can an owner abandon something they do not even know exists in their item? I don't know the answer to that. It seems that we all agree that if there is something else in what is found that is actually chattel (like a diamond ring in a purse), than the ring should be handed over to GW. Money is no different, even if the law is on your side.

 

This is definitely a moral question then, and I think the fair thing to do is to buy the jacket. The aforementioned discussion of leaving the jacket to be mated or for someone else doesn't really fly because the jacket can be re-donated minutes later.

 

Bottom line: Legally I think it would be successfully argued that you found abandoned property. However, the thrift gods may place a dry spell in your future.
 

It has been a long time since I have taken property, but I think it becomes abandoned when the owner donates the jacket forgetting the money was in it. The jacket was certainly not abandoned, but the money inside was.

Maybe. Or maybe Goodwill got the jacket and the money. We saw a story a few pages back of a Goodwill that got shoes with several thousands dollars in them. Their policy was they hold it for some period of time, but then they keep it.

It seems both unsavory and risky to take $20 from a jacket you know someone else owns on the hope that it's ok because they didn't know it was there.

Yeah, horrible, horrible example. With a rolex box, the rolex inside is expected and obviously integral to what's being sold. And the lining of the jacket is an integral part of the jacket- something found in a pocket isn't. You can't take the item for sale or part of the item for sale, obviously, since that compromises the sale for the store.


Nobody's disputing that you can pick up a bill (or let's just say a quarter) off the floor of the goodwill, even though goodwill owns or otherwise controls the store. It's inside their property, so it must be theirs, right? What makes that so different to you?

With the shoes, there were laws that applied- to confirm property above a certain value (depends on state, but usually a few thousand I think) as abandoned rather than misplaced or lost, you have to hold it and publicize the find so that an owner has a chance to reclaim it. So if you find a large bag of cash in the bushes, or somebody's left a new BMW in your driveway for a week with no apparent reason, you have to let the authorities know so that the rightful owners, if there are any, can reclaim it. If they don't, you get a nice visit from the IRS so that you can pay taxes on the value of your windfall.

Found EXACTLY what i've been looking to rock for the holidays  Polo Ralph Lauren made in italy blackwatch blazer.. fits great in the body... shoulders a bit too wide even though it's more like wearing a sweather than a blazer.   oh well.. still worth a pickup....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shoulder:  19.25

Sleeve:  26

Chest:  20.5" (x2)

Waist:  19" (x2)
Length:  31.5" from bottom of collar seam

How about this one: if it were a pocket square left in the jacket pocket, with no price tag, would it be ok to walk out with it? Or would you see it as store property, even if they didn't realize it was in the jacket?

It's easy to see the money as different, but is it? It doesn't really matter what the previous owner "abandoned", as it was donated or sold part-and-parcel to the store.

I think the argument is whether or not the PS/money is considered part of the jacket, not if it was abandoned. It's in the store, so it's their property, at least in my view. Even if it were just sitting on the floor, it's a hard argument to make that it's up for grabs, whether it's a PS or money.

Thought faced with the money, my logic may have taken a different path. The reality of the situation is that it's not likely to make it back to who it belongs to at any rate.

Because there the bill was clearly just lost/abandoned. I have a harder time swallowing that Goodwill wasn't taking ownership of the jacket and everything about it when they took it. I have no issue (lets talk morally) with paying the less than $20 price for the jacket, that's no different from getting a good name on a brand name clothing. You are operating on information Goodwill hasn't bothered to collect.

But I do have a problem with reaching into something that is clearly Goodwill's (and was Goodwill's when they acquired it, unlike the store which they bought with no lost money in it and money was subsequently lost) and extracting value from it. Would you take spare buttons from inside the jacket? No one here fakes garments, but say you did and found a sweet Kiton but it was too beat up to just buy to resell. Could you take the labels from inside the jacket to use on your fake?

Perhaps I was unclear with my answer above.

Did I enter the store with the item? No.
Did I remove the item from the store without it being accounted for by the store?

• Yes, I took the item (money) that was not mine without the store's knowledge. Theft.
• No, I purchased the coat that contained the item (money), thereby accounting for the coat and any contents as presented by the store. Not theft.

One thing to add...If it was a garage sale, and you found $20 in the pocket of an item...would you feel differently about it? Probably...but it is the same principle.

 

 

Let's break this up a bit.....

 

 

Brooks Brothers Navy Check Suit 42S 35/29

 

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

Brooks Brothers Hunter Green Camel Hair SC 46R

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

Brooks Brothers Tan Suit 42XL 38/31

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

Old Label Burberry Check SC 44S

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

H Freeman & Sons Gray Plaid Suit 40R 36/30

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

Harris Tweed 38L

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

Malcolm Kenneth Top Coat 40S

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

Whoa do you see the lapels on this thing??? 100% Cotton - 38R

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

Orvis Plaid SC 44R

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

Orvis Unstructured Linen/Cotton SC XXL (52R-54R)

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

Peak Lapel Tweed Overcoat 40L

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

Here is that bespoke Pritchett (London) suit again...40R 34/28 

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

Southwick Flannel Suit (3 roll 2) 44S/R 37/28

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Looks dangerous!

 

That's a pretty good example. I actually found a "made in Italy" handrolled PS in an orphan the other day without a price tag. I ended up taking it to the register and asking if I could just buy the pocket square.

 

They ended up just giving it to me for free but the point it that it was their property first.

Actually, I think it's a very GOOD example. Your reasoning -- granted by extension -- would justify taking it. You now recant. QED, your reasoning is shit.

SHIT IN ITEMS IN STORES AIN'T YOURS UNTIL YOU PAY. You don't have any more claim to a $20 in the pocket of a jacket than you do to a Rolex in a box or to a $20 bill in the pocket of MY jacket that I leave on the hanger while trying on other jackets or to my dog if it wanders off my property onto yours. It's been years since I took property (or philosophy or morality or Kindergarten) too, but I know this: "Finders Keepers" isn't the law of the land. It's at least more complicated than that. In this instance, everything is magically solved if you BUY THE FREAKING JACKET. Now the $20 is yours. And you still walk out richer than you walked in. Everybody. Wins.
Oh sweet mother of God!
+1

congrats! that's one of the first blackwatch jackets i've seen posted that didn't look super old or fuddy-duddy.

Spare buttons, labels, and all are still part of the jacket. You are removing attached elements- it's still not a comparable situation.

You're not extracting value from the jacket, because the bill is not part of the jacket, just as the quarter on the floor in the store is not part of the store simply because it is inside the store. You're not extracting anything away from the jacket at all- it's simply where the abandoned property happened to be found. They are two entirely different items- one of which has clear ownership, one of which does not.