Was this a scam?

[dbblsanta]

So I'm waiting for the bus, and this guy comes up to me (about my age), and asks if I go to NYU. I say yes...he then asks me to do him a favor, and he'll pay me $10. He has two big bags of textbooks on him that he wants to sell back at the bookstore across the street. He forgot his student ID however, so he wants me to sell them back for him. I am wary of any stranger offering me money on the street in return for favors. It just sets the scam-artist siren off in my head.

I tell him no, sorry, I cannot help him. He says, "Oh sorry. Oof well I'm going to have to lug these all the way uptown again." He then proceeds to walk downtown. Hmm...Also...who sells back textbooks at the beginning of the semester?

So what was the scam? Were the books stolen? And I'd be the scapegoat if I were caught? Or was he not a scam artist?

[bainsidhe]

Seems a pretty lame scam artist to me. I'd bet the books were stolen.

[lupo pazzesco]

SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM!!!

I can't speak for any other bookstore, but at mine, we refuse to do buybacks if we know for sure the books are not yours (i.e., we see you get books from another person, then come straight to the book counter.) Policy is we need a valid state issued ID or student ID from every person for a buyback, which gets logged into our system (We can check to see buyback history of that ID, thieves tend to try and hit several times in a span of a few weeks, trying to get cash real quick.)

Besides, even if you're not a student, most school bookstores (at least the several I've been to) will still accept state IDs for buybacks, as long as they're valid.

[smileyeagle1021]

"Oh sorry. Oof well I'm going to have to lug these all the way uptown again." He then proceeds to walk downtown. Hmm...Also...who sells back textbooks at the beginning of the semester?

In fairness, he never did say he was going straight uptown... he could have been stopping on his way to work and will have to lug them home uptown after work... or something like that. That part of his story isn't a continuity error (damn you Film and Culture class for making me think in cinematic terms )... but everything else just smells of scam.

[taxguykarl]

Seems a pretty lame scam artist to me. I'd bet the books were stolen.

Seconded...my cousin tried one the same scam back in the '80's. It didn't work out and he was caught b/c he did his own dirty work.

[Seshat]

Was this a scam?

Well, all secondhand stores require ID so that there's a paper trial if the goods turn out to be stolen.

Soooo.... what reason would he have to want them sold back on some gullible schmuck's ID? I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count.