ethical question

[tdale51@yahoo.com]

Hello all,

A friend at work has somewhere between 200 400 Bdft of air dried walnut that's been taking up space in his grandfathers storage building for several years. He's looking to get rid of the wood for the space and is willing to give it to me. All he's asked in return is that I build his grandmother a wall shelf which I'm very happy to do. I'd build her a china hutch if that's what she wanted. Anyway, as much as I love walnut that's more than I have room to store, especially since I'm military and good 'ole uncle Sam could have me pick up and move at any time. I'm considering keeping some of the wood and selling the rest but I have a nagging voice in the back of my head telling me that it's unethical to sell something that I get from a friend for free. What do y'all think? Thanks for any input.

Dale

[duckkisser]

share the love man find some wood workers who want the wood. or cantact a group of wood workers to make a project that you can then auction off for some charity. see if you friend knows someone who needs it as well. or even better since im a wood teacher donate it to a school for their shop. most schools cant afford walnut.

[rmac]

Imagine that it was your wood to start with, that you gave it to a friend, and then he sold some of it. That should give you your answer.

-- Russ

[tdale51@yahoo.com]

Mac,

That's what I was thinking just wanted a second opinion.

Duck,

The auction idea is an awesome one!

Thanks for the input guys.

[Beechwood Chip]

These are good suggestions. What I'd do is be up front about it. Tell your friend exactly what you told us, and suggest that if you sell some of the wood you'll split the money with him. I think you'll find that selling the wood will be more work that you think, and that's why you should get part of the money from the sale.

[duckkisser]

tdale i bet if you look around you can find some places where you can cram in a board or two.....under beds, on top of beds, closets, under the kitchen sink, under the kitchen table on the kitchen table, on top of you cabinets, under couch etc.......you wife won't mind.

[Keggers]

When I have extra wood, I donate it to the local youth center. You might also think about donating it to a local high school shop class. I agree with some of the others, I'd let your friend know that you won't be able to use all of it and will have to do something with the rest. Then work out the details with him.

[SignWave]

I see nothing wrong with selling part of it. The terms of the deal, which both parties agreed, are that you get the wood, and in exchange you make the wall shelf.

As an alternative thought experiment, think about if the deal was that the friend gave you the wood, but that you had to get approval for what you built with it. Does that sound like a gift or is that trying to control your time and effort?

It's nice that you pause to think about the ethical implications, but in this case, I think you get to do with it what you think is appropriate. Gifts shouldn't have strings attached.

[TimV]

+1 on Beechwood Chip, but I gave him all the money. I've done this in the past with older Craftsman machines. I told my coworker that I would keep xxxx machines and craigslist the others and give him the proceeds. This way, I get what I want for no $ and he gets $. I made it clear upfront that is what I was doing and he was fine with it.