Another Adventure, Part 4

What’s the saying: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing? Unfortunately, I was the inadvertent cause of my own undoing, at least temporarily. By publishing a price guide on Jazz Collector with very specific details on pressings and condition, I was able to provide enough knowledge for my new friend in Toronto to be a little bit dangerous, at least dangerous to the prospect of my ever getting my hands on his records. I will spare you all the grim details, but we went through several weeks of negotiations and couldn’t agree on a price. I still hadn’t seen the records, but I had pulled enough information that I had a good sense that most of the Blue Notes—but not all of them—were original pressings, including Cool Struttin’ and Byrd in Flight, among others. And I was promised that the records and covers were in excellent condition.

We had reached the end of our negotiations, which were very cordial and, at the close, I sent him a note thanking him for allowing me to have the first crack at buying the collection and basically telling him that the price was too high, particularly since I hadn’t seen the records in person. I was even quite gracious, if I must say so myself, in giving him advice as to what he should do next. This was from the note I sent to him:

 I have a couple of suggestions: My first is the original one, which would be to sell the records yourself on eBay. That way, if the Sonny Clark gets top dollar, you can really do well and tap the full retail value. eBay is the quintessential market for jazz records these days, so you know you are getting market price. My other suggestions would be to contact a couple of the reputable jazz dealers, particularly:
Fred Cohen in NY — I think Fred takes records on consignment and I’m pretty sure he’d be interested in the Blue Notes if they are in VG++ condition. Fred tends to get top dollar for his auctions and is a reputable guy, very nice to deal with. If anyone would get $2,000 or more for the Sonny Clark record, it would be Fred. If you do a deal with Fred, please mention my name.
Atomic Records in LA — They also have a good reputation on eBay and I have heard that they will pay top dollar for good records in nice condition.
Euclid Records in St. Louis — The owner, Joe, also has an excellent reputation and tends to get top dollar for his records. He may buy the lot, or may do a consignment deal. 
If you explore these options, and after that research, it looks like the money I offered is around the number you’ll get for the collection, let me know and hopefully we can work something out between us. Keep me posted either way, if you don’t mind: I’m always interested in how these things turn out. All the best and thanks again. Happy to have been of some help. – al

That was it. It was now early October, more than a month since we had started our correspondence and, while intrigued, I had exhausted all my options and had given up any hope of ever seeing those records, except perhaps on an eBay auction. Weeks passed. The leaves turned from green to red to orange to brown. The trees were just about bare when I went to my inbox in late November and saw an e-mail with the subject line: Re: Collection. The note was very simple: My friend in Toronto had done nothing to sell the collection since our previous correspondence, it was getting close to Christmas and he could use some cash. Would I be interested in buying the collection at around the same price I had previously offered?

Would I? Tune in for chapter 5.