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I sold my boss a laptop and he turned it for profit.
I don't know if this is the right forum or not , but ok here's what happened. I am the IT guy at a mid-sized company, and people perpetually beg me to get them ipods and laptops etc. because I run across great deals all the time. Well I ran across this sweet deal for a dell I don't recollect the model , but it had a nice dual core processor and 2 gb of ram and vista ultimate. I looked it up at the time and retail it was a $800 product. Well the person I bought it from is not a good business man and I always get ridiculous deals from him. I got this laptop for $200, and my boss was wanting it really badly so I sold it to him for my price.
A couple weeks later I come to find out that he just flipped it for profit. It really pisses me off because I COULD HAVE FLIPPED IT FOR PROFIT, but I am trying to make sure that those around me have access to getting some of the cool stuff that I have access to.
I am positive that I told him I didn't have a problem giving it to him for my cost, just as long as he kicked me down if he sold it for a profit.
Well he didn't even tell me he sold it, I happened to hear it through the grapevine, so I asked him. He just smiled at me and said yep he did. I told him he should kick me half the profit, and he basically just said I could have bought it.
It really pisses me off because OF COURSE I COULD HAVE BOUGHT IT. I am not an idiot and know what the product was worth. I didn't sell it to him as a business deal, it was a personal favor and I feel like he slapped me in the face.
Everyone at my work goes through me to get good deals on electronics , but NO MORE!!! this ticks me off so much I am no longer going to do them any favors. If they want to buy anything from me, I will make sure to turn a profit.
I guess my question is: how do you feel about what he did?
Do you think I am being a baby about it?
What would you do?
Do you think him turning a profit (on something I could have easily made money on, but was trying to help a coworker acquire a nice laptop) and not give me a kickback is ethical?
TIA
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Maybe give some free advice about: Etiquette?
That was a real dick move on his part. Never give him anything again.
I don't think you're being a baby; this is a very reasonable thing to be mad about. His actions are definitely not ethical. You had an agreement, and he broke it.
You shouldn't punish your other coworkers for one person's douchebaggery, though. I would continue to get them good deals when it's not too much of an inconvenience.
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How do you feel about what he did?
It was low. He isn't your friend. He's a bit of self-serving jerk.
Do you think I am being a baby about it?
Yes. Choosing not to deal *with him* again is perfectly rational and sensible. Letting it upset you to this degree, or punishing other people because one person is a jackass is petty and juvenile. You don’t hate all women because one of them cheated you and not all barbers are bad people because one them nicked your ear. You are better to look at this as a learning experience, realize that when you are kind that kindness will not always be returned. That is the truth of the universe. Good people, and frankly, happier people, are kind anyways, because the person you are is not measured in the kindness or respect that people give to you (or in the money returned to you) it is measured by the choices you alone make in dealing with others.
What would you do?
I would tell him that I felt we had an understanding about him sharing the profit should he go and resell it. I would tell him I'm disappointed. I would never offer him such a deal again, but I wouldn't rub it in his face or make a big deal of it. I simply would never offer and politely tell him I had different plans for an item should he ever ask again.
Do you think him turning a profit (on something I could have easily made money on, but was trying to help a coworker acquire a nice laptop) and not give me a kickback is ethical?
Well, technically, yes it was ethical. Without a formal agreement or contract what he did wasn’t really wrong. He purchased something from you. It became his and he did with it as he pleased. So he wasn’t as friendly or a kind as you, but he probably wasn't actually in the wrong ethically. He simply understood, or convinced himself he understood, your comments about re-selling differently. You'll never know.
He was only in the wrong, as a friend. He behaved in an unfriendly and ungentlemanly way, but there is a big difference between unfriendly, and unethical.
So, he isn’t your friend. He isn't a horribly immoral, unethical human being; he just isn't your friend. In the future, don’t treat him as such.
However, if you take this experience and decide not to treat anyone as your friend, no one ever will be. So don’t over-react. Accept it and move on.
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