Story Archive

Bonus Prize

James Labrecque of Memphis, Tenn., sold an old safe. Without the combination, he couldn’t determine the contents. “I thought it was empty,” he said. “I shook it and I didn’t feel anything inside of it, so I figured, well, maybe it’s just a locked safe, you know. So I put it on eBay.” When the buyer had the safe cut open, though, he discovered it wasn’t empty: $26,000 in cash. The buyer posted a positive review on eBay and shared the news, prompting Labrecque to ask for a cut of the cash. The buyer declined, citing Labrecque’s seller policy: “What you see is what you get, no returns, and no money back.” But Labrecque thinks this case is different. “That’s a chunk of change, you know. That’s life-altering money,” he said. On the other hand, he adds, “I told my friend, I won the stupidest idiot in the world award the other day.” (MS/WMC Memphis) ...Caveat venditor — let the seller beware.