I bought, traded and sold used metal detectors from late 1990 until a couple of years ago and still get an occasional call asking what I've got for sale. Had a call a little while ago from a guy looking to buy a detector and something came up that reminded me of a detector deal a few years ago.
About 5 years ago a guy called and wanted to trade a low end Whites for a Fisher CZ I had. I told him what I would trade for if his description of his detector was accurate, he told me his name, where he lived and said ok, we would meet at the house of a mutual acquaintance the next Saturday and trade. I got there first and was outside talking to the guy who lived there when the buyer arrived. When he got out of his vehicle I was impressed, he was at least 6'4" or taller, 280-290 pounds and none of it appeared to be fat. He was one big, mean looking dude. His arms were gigantic, his hands looked to be as big as my head and there was no doubt he could handle a dozen or so wimps like me. While he was getting his detector out I mentioned how big he was to the acquaintance and he told me the guy worked on a Mississippi River riverboat but until a month or so earlier he had made his living as a bouncer in beer joints and night clubs.
We looked at the detectors and made the trade but he said there was a problem. He didn't have the entire amount of money we had agreed on and asked if he could take the detector right then and pay me the rest after he got back from a trip on the boat in two weeks. I told him sure, no problem. He looked at me kinda funny and said, "You don't know me. You mean you'll trust me? How do you know I'll pay you?" I said, "I know where you live." He looked at me with an odd expression and asked what that had to do with it. I told him I was an official in the United Steelworkers Union, which I was, and if he didn't pay me I would make a phone call and 5 or 6 guys bigger and meaner than him would show up at his house to get the money. The acquaintance nodded his head and assured him that I was indeed a USWA official. His attitude changed in a flash, he couldn't be nice enough and repeatedly assured me he would pay me, which he did.
I was bullsh!tting about the phone call but he bought it hook, line and sinker. I ran into him about a year later and the first thing he said was, "Do you still got them leg breakers working for you?"
About 5 years ago a guy called and wanted to trade a low end Whites for a Fisher CZ I had. I told him what I would trade for if his description of his detector was accurate, he told me his name, where he lived and said ok, we would meet at the house of a mutual acquaintance the next Saturday and trade. I got there first and was outside talking to the guy who lived there when the buyer arrived. When he got out of his vehicle I was impressed, he was at least 6'4" or taller, 280-290 pounds and none of it appeared to be fat. He was one big, mean looking dude. His arms were gigantic, his hands looked to be as big as my head and there was no doubt he could handle a dozen or so wimps like me. While he was getting his detector out I mentioned how big he was to the acquaintance and he told me the guy worked on a Mississippi River riverboat but until a month or so earlier he had made his living as a bouncer in beer joints and night clubs.
We looked at the detectors and made the trade but he said there was a problem. He didn't have the entire amount of money we had agreed on and asked if he could take the detector right then and pay me the rest after he got back from a trip on the boat in two weeks. I told him sure, no problem. He looked at me kinda funny and said, "You don't know me. You mean you'll trust me? How do you know I'll pay you?" I said, "I know where you live." He looked at me with an odd expression and asked what that had to do with it. I told him I was an official in the United Steelworkers Union, which I was, and if he didn't pay me I would make a phone call and 5 or 6 guys bigger and meaner than him would show up at his house to get the money. The acquaintance nodded his head and assured him that I was indeed a USWA official. His attitude changed in a flash, he couldn't be nice enough and repeatedly assured me he would pay me, which he did.
I was bullsh!tting about the phone call but he bought it hook, line and sinker. I ran into him about a year later and the first thing he said was, "Do you still got them leg breakers working for you?"
