The MAGIC TOKEN. Is this a morality test or an illustration of subprime mortgages?

[Liability]

I am going to sell you a magic token.

The magic token will grant you three wishes. You can get ANYTHING with those three wishes except it cannot be used for more wishes, it cannot be used for to obtain the power of life and death over anybody and cannot be used to change the binding terms of this agreement.

You must sell the token within one year for ½ of the price for which you purchased it (or less) or you will promptly die and be sent to suffer horrifying agonies in hell for the rest of eternity, and brother, hell turns out to be very real. Now comes the hard part. You must tell the next buyer the very same things I just told you and you must disclose it's recent sale history. My year is drawing to a close, so I am a motivated seller.

I bought it for a million dollars from a guy who had paid two million for it and he got it for 4 million from a guy who had paid 8 million. I will therefore sell you this magic token for $500,000.00 right here and right now.

Sale or no sale?

Why or why not?








Note: This "story" is not original, and it was not created by me. I heard something like this in a slightly different form many years ago. Not sure of its origin, though.

 

[Liability]

Well, since the thread looks to be DOA, I figure I should probably stake a claim.

If I were the recipient of this offer, I'd probably have to hesitate in accepting it. For while it might seem like a great deal, if you think it through, what you are selling is an eventual very dire problem. At SOME point, a person is going to sell the damn token for maybe 4 cents. Who is gonna buy it then? Then, that next guy would have to be AWFULLY optimistic to think he could find a sucker to buy it for 2 cents knowing that HE, in turn, would have to sell it for the last penny.

In other words, at some point BEFORE the second to last step, the prospect gets very prominent that you will not be able to find a buyer!

Sure if Barack buys it for a 1/4 of a million, he can probably pawn it off on some stupid schnook for $125,000.00 but the next guy is gonna have to sell it for $62,500.00 and before long ... somebody is gonna have real trouble accepting the risk of not being able to make a sale in time.

[Also, as an aside, I'm surprised there were no takers on the sub-prime analogy.]

 

[eagleseven]

Will the token grant 3 wishes to each individual buyer?

Because then, purchasing it for 2 cents, and selling it for a cent, is a no-brainer. Everyone wants 3 wishes!