Guy Buys $123 Safe on eBay, Finds Major Cash Inside

Seller James Labrecque tries to get half the cash, fails
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 17, 2012 8:48 AM CST
Guy Buys $123 Safe on eBay, Finds Major Cash Inside
One man got a lot more than he bargained for when he bought an old safe on eBay.   (Shutterstock)

When James Labrecque listed an old safe—to which he did not have the combination—on eBay, the seller warned, "What you see is what you get, no returns, and no money back." A Tennessee man purchased it for $122.93, had a welder cut it open—and found $26,000 inside. The buyer shared the news with Labrecque via a positive review on the auction site, and Labrecque quickly attempted to convince the buyer to give him some of the cash, to no avail. In fact, WMC-TV reports, the buyer quoted Labrecque's own eBay disclaimer right back to him when turning him down.

"I made a mistake, you know, that's what it boils down to. And it cost me dearly," says Labrecque, who adds that he shook the safe and didn't think there was anything inside. "I feel like the stupidest idiot in the world. … I gave away a safe with $26,000 in it." He also insists that if he were in the buyer's place, he would have offered to split the cash 50/50 with the seller. "That's a chunk of change, you know. That's life-altering money." (In more big-money news, click to read about a man who tried to cash a $100 check ... and ended up with $3.3 million.)

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