What fossil do you regret buying ?

[Yoda]

So I guess the opposite of the "White Whale" thread. 

 

What fossil do you regret buying? 

 

For me it must be the Mioplosus I bought when I first started collecting fossils.

It's an ugly, heavily stained example. And it was quite expensive for what it was. 

Whenever I look at my fossil shelf and see it, I think to myself that I should never have bought it. 

 

All part of the learning curve I guess 

[Bobby Rico]

Give it to charity or put it away there is no point in displaying something you don’t like. Somebody may love it . 
 

“If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

William Morris

[musicnfossils]

Some cheap mosasaur vertebrae I bought a while back, glad I didn’t lose much money on them but they’re in horrible condition and had to be glued back together in multiple places. Far from a good display item but they still sit on my shelf. I’ll probably just give them away eventually. 

[Praefectus]

I regret buying my fake mosasaur jaw. The teeth are real, but the rest is plaster. I guess I got a nice box with it.

 

 

[-Andy-]

An unhatched hadrosaur egg

 

This happened 6/7 years ago. It was my 2nd dinosaur egg and my first hadrosaur egg. I've wanted hadrosaur eggs for a long time. Sadly, this egg started the fracture in a friendship I treasured

 

One day when exploring a street of antique shops, I discovered a particular shop that had fossils. I looked through it but sadly, all the eggs I found within were fake or composite. Nonetheless, it had other splendid fossils. I brought my buddies to that shop hours later.

 

A young collector had sharper eyes than me and he saw this amazing hadrosaur egg in a hidden corner that although unprepped, looked very real. Excitedly, he brought it to the counter. I cursed myself for not seeing that egg earlier but I said nothing. Still, deep down I prayed the young collector would pass on the egg. My wish came to fruition as he hesitated for a long time but eventually, opted not to buy the egg due to its price tag and because he wasn't 100% sure of its authenticity. Immediately, I said: If you aren't buying this, I will. Okay?

 

He said 'okay' and I immediately paid and brought my egg home proudly. As said though, the egg was unprepped so I invited another friend over and we spent the day wiping, prepping and cleaning the egg (not that we achieved much as eggs are very hard to prep) but at least we confirmed the egg was definitely real.

 

Two days later, my good friend (another collector who was there that day), messaged me to express his disappointment in me. He said he knew just how much the young collector wanted the egg. Yet, the moment I saw his moment of weakness, I pounced right in to snatch up that egg. Perhaps the young collector would've bought the egg the next day. Perhaps he would have paid a deposit to secure the egg. Perhaps someone could have loaned him some cash (as he's young and doesn't have as much money as us). Whatever it is, since I am older and am considered a more senior collector in the group, my enthusiasm in securing that egg made the young collector too afraid to speak up.

 

The thing is - perhaps he's right. I was far too quick to jump right in to buy that egg. My first question as a friend should have been: "You want this egg right? Why don't I just lend you a hundred or so to secure a deposit first?" or "I am so confident about this egg's authenticity that I would buy it straight. I suggest you buy it."

 

I messaged the young collector and confirmed to him that I've prepped the egg and confirm it's real. I then asked him if he truly wanted the egg. He said 'yes'. This is the part where I should've been gracious and let him have it. Instead, I said: "My friend and I spent a day prepping it. I think it's only fair if you paid a bit extra for our efforts."

 

The young collector rejected me as the egg was expensive enough as it is, and he couldn't afford to pay more. When I told my friend of this development, he expressed his disgust in me. Back then, this should have been the cue to me immediately giving the egg to the young collector but I chose not to; I justified it with the price I paid for the egg and the prep effort I put into it.

 

Afterwards, my friend and I drifted apart completely. The young collector never did get a hadrosaur egg but it seems he no longer want one anyway. In case you're wondering, that egg is still with me. I still like it as it's very much a beautiful and rare unhatched hadrosaur egg.

 

Sorry for the rant. In my shoes, knowing the story as you do now, would you have lent money to the young collector? Or gifted him that egg? Or kept the egg because he opted not to buy it in the first place?

[RJB]

 Back in my early days I bought a really nice Moroccan trilobite for resale.  I was a fossil dealer in those days.  Someone at one of my fossil shows told me it was a fake!  I was flabbergasted.   I did a bit of asking around how to tell fakes from real and simply took a jewelers loup and made a very close up inspection.  Sure enough i could see where air bubbles were in the fake parts!  My heart sank.  Ive always considered myself a very honest guy and knew full well I could not sell this and was going to  have to eat the cost myself.  I didnt have a lot of moneys in those days so it hurt.   Well, one day, at one of my fossil shows I ran into this trilobite while setting up for the show.  A guy came over and asked how much it was cause there was no price tag on it.  I told him the whole story and showed him exactly what was fake and what was real and what I had paid for it.  He said he will take it!!!   Carma was on my side for that one.   

 

RB

[FossilNerd]

1 hour ago, -Andy- said:

Sorry for the rant. In my shoes, knowing the story as you do now, would you have lent money to the young collector? Or gifted him that egg? Or kept the egg because he opted not to buy it in the first place?

This is a tricky situation Andy and doesn’t really have a good clear cut answer. 
 

I think in the beginning, I would have undoubtedly jumped on the egg and bought it as you did, once the young collector decided not to get it. I would have been excited, as I am sure you were, and once he declined to get it, I would have deemed it fair game.

 

I would like to believe that once my other friends pointed out that the young collector was in fact interested, but just didn’t have the funds or confidence to buy, that I would have sold it to him at the cost I paid the shop, but... it would have been a hard thing to do, and I don’t know for sure what I would have actually done in the end. There would be questions and concerns going through my head, as I am sure they were going through yours.

 

Things like, if he didn’t have the money to pay the shop, and made payments to me, would I ever get all my money back? If I had put a day’s worth of prep into the egg, and did a lot of work to verify it’s authenticity, I would have been even more excited with the purchase and it would be even harder to give up. Would I ever find another if I did give it up? Would the young collector appreciate it as much as me? Etc, etc.

 

I think the situation is unfortunate. You lost friends and the new collector may have been put off of fossil collecting by it. But if you did just give it up, in the end would you have been happy? Would you all have still ended up being friends? You may been as heart broken over giving it up as they were over you buying it, and may have fallen out of friendship with them anyway. Again, it’s an unfortunate situation that doesn’t have a clear cut answer.
 

I think you probably did what you thought was right at the time, and even if you could go back and change some decisions, the end result may have been the same.  

[Bobby Rico]

7 hours ago, -Andy- said:

 

Sorry for the rant. In my shoes, knowing the story as you do now, would you have lent money to the young collector? Or gifted him that egg? Or kept the egg because he opted not to buy it in the first place?

Very difficult but it sounds like you have beaten yourself up enough about it   In reality fossils purchases are not essential buys and if they are not in your price range well that’s life . Once you walk away from a purchase that is your involvement  with the item finished.  So Andy don’t worry and let’s have a look at the egg of contention  .

 

cheers Bobby 

[FossilNerd]

I have two regrettable purchases.  I didn’t spend a lot of money on either one, but I still regret them. It’s more of a hurt in pride than anything.

 

When I first started collecting, and thought I knew more than I actually did, I made a purchase of a small common Knightia fish from online. It wasn’t very expensive, but it turned out to be more brown paint than actual fossil.
 

The other was an Otodus shark tooth in matrix that I purchased from a gift shop. Again, I though I knew what I was buying. The matrix was real and the tooth looked authentic. Later I found out that the main tooth was real, but one of the cusp was a composite of plaster and a cusp from another tooth. I was sure it was a real complete tooth at the time of purchase.
 

Moral of the story is knowledge is power. I still keep those fossils around to remind me to research, study, and get opinions from others, before purchasing. I also like to use them as educational pieces to show others what to look for before buying.

[Bobby Rico]

1 hour ago, FossilNerd said:

When I first started collecting, and thought I knew more than I actually did, I made a purchase of a small common Knightia fish from online. It wasn’t very expensive, but it turned out to be more brown paint than actual fossil.
 

The other was an Otodus shark tooth in matrix that I purchased from a gift shop. Again, I though I knew what I was buying. The matrix was real and the tooth looked authentic. Later I found out that the main tooth was real, but one of the cusp was a composite of plaster and a cusp from another tooth. I was sure it was a real complete tooth at the time of purchase.
 

That is all part of the learning curve I think and better to learn it on less expensive items . When I stated collecting fossil I never really purchase them because music was my big love and still is one ( and no online auction site too) . So when I did start buying  fossils years later I already had a good knowledge of what  I wanted.  

[FossilNerd]

56 minutes ago, Bobby Rico said:

That is all part of the learning curve I think and better to learn it on less expensive items

So true Bobby! I’m glad they were not expensive fossils, and the experience has made me a better fossil buyer and collector in general. So in the end it all worked out. 

[RuMert]

4 hours ago, -Andy- said:

would you have lent money to the young collector? Or gifted him that egg?

IMXO no need to torture youself on that subject, you did more than enough. And being more experienced as you state, you deserve the good egg more then him, he can buy a worse one for now and a good one afterwards, it's a natural order of things. He didn't show enough determination to get the egg, so didn't want it so badly in the end.

[RJB]

7 hours ago, -Andy- said:

Sorry for the rant. In my shoes, knowing the story as you do now, would you have lent money to the young collector? Or gifted him that egg? Or kept the egg because he opted not to buy it in the first place?

Hey Andy, like @Bobby Rico has already said,  youve already beaten yourself up too much.   Its this very reason how people are about things that I purty much keep to myself nowadays.  Make it black and white, he decided NOT to buy it and that decision should stand.  What if you didnt buy it and then someone walked in right after you guys left and bought it?  What youve been through is already waaaaay to much cra-p for me. 

 

RB

[-Andy-]

6 hours ago, FossilNerd said:

This is a tricky situation Andy and doesn’t really have a good clear cut answer. 
 

I think in the beginning, I would have undoubtedly jumped on the egg and bought it as you did, once the young collector decided not to get it. I would have been excited, as I am sure you were, and once he declined to get it, I would have deemed it fair game.

 

I would like to believe that once my other friends pointed out that the young collector was in fact interested, but just didn’t have the funds or confidence to buy, that I would have sold it to him at the cost I paid the shop, but... it would have been a hard thing to do, and I don’t know for sure what I would have actually done in the end. There would be questions and concerns going through my head, as I am sure they were going through yours.

 

Things like, if he didn’t have the money to pay the shop, and made payments to me, would I ever get all my money back? If I had put a day’s worth of prep into the egg, and did a lot of work to verify it’s authenticity, I would have been even more excited with the purchase and it would be even harder to give up. Would I ever find another if I did give it up? Would the young collector appreciate it as much as me? Etc, etc.

 

I think the situation is unfortunate. You lost friends and the new collector may have been put off of fossil collecting by it. But if you did just give it up, in the end would you have been happy? Would you all have still ended up being friends? You may been as heart broken over giving it up as they were over you buying it, and may have fallen out of friendship with them anyway. Again, it’s an unfortunate situation that doesn’t have a clear cut answer.
 

I think you probably did what you thought was right at the time, and even if you could go back and change some decisions, the end result may have been the same.  

 

Thank you. You're right in that it's an unfortunate situation. I can safely say I wouldn't be able to find another similar egg if I gave it up. I'm unsure if it's because of this incident or not but when I asked the young collector why he never went for other hadrosaur eggs, he said he's not that into dino eggs so I guess he wouldn't have appreciated this as much as I.

 

I can safely say I wouldn't have been happy and it could have been me falling out of the friendship with my friend, or at the very least, feeling resentment over this issue.

 

As for the young collector (no longer young), he's still collecting fossils and we are still friendly with each other.

 

6 hours ago, Bobby Rico said:

Very difficult but it sounds like you have beaten yourself up enough about it   In reality fossils purchases are not essential buys and if they are not in your prize range well that’s life . Once you walk away from a purchase that is your involvement  with the item finished.  So Andy don’t worry and let’s have a look at the egg of contention  .

 

cheers Bobby 

 

Thanks. I guess the shock of a once-close friend expressing his disappointment and disgust has left a rather deep impression in me. I often go back to the moment and wonder if I could've salvaged the friendship. This is the egg.

 

 

2 hours ago, RuMert said:

IMXO no need to torture youself on that subject, you did more than enough. And being more experienced as you state, you deserve the good egg more then him, he can buy a worse one for now and a good one afterwards, it's a natural order of things. He didn't show enough determination to get the egg, so didn't want it so badly in the end.

 

Thank you. I think the part which gets me the most is that my friend was right: I could've done a number of things to nudge the young collector or help him to get this egg, but I didn't. I got the egg that I wanted but in turn, I lost a friendship I cherished. I don't think the situation would've changed if I gifted the egg to the young collector though; chances are I would have resented my friend afterwards.

 

2 minutes ago, RJB said:

Hey Andy, like @Bobby Rico has already said,  youve already beaten yourself up too much.   Its this very reason how people are about things that I purty much keep to myself nowadays.  Make it black and white, he decided NOT to buy it and that decision should stand.  What if you didnt buy it and then someone walked in right after you guys left and bought it?  What youve been through is already waaaaay to much cra-p for me. 

 

RB

 

Thanks RB. What's done is done, and perhaps a friendship so easily lost isn't one worth keeping. I will move on.

[RuMert]

11 hours ago, Praefectus said:

I regret buying my fake mosasaur jaw

BTW I wouldn't regret this either, you bought not just a fossil, but a typical  piece of Moroccan art. Two in one, a good deal (and a quality box too)l

[Bobby Rico]

3 hours ago, -Andy- said:

Thanks. I guess the shock of a once-close friend expressing his disappointment and disgust has left a rather deep impression in me. I often go back to the moment and wonder if I could've salvaged the friendship. This is the egg.

This is a sad story. I still don’t think you did much wrong. There is two sides to every story and I feel your friends is been to hard on you. 
 

all the best Bobby 

[Tidgy's Dad]

12 hours ago, Praefectus said:

I regret buying my fake mosasaur jaw. The teeth are real, but the rest is plaster. I guess I got a nice box with it.

I rather like the thin straw sort of stuff. 

[Tidgy's Dad]

When i was a tiny tot, my grandfather and grandmother took me to Lyme Regis to hunt for fossils. 

I even had some pocket money. 

First thing I did was rush into the Fossil Shop and spend all my money on a little ichthyosaur vert. 

Later, I found three much better ones on the beach. 

Stupid boy. 

[Abstraktum]

@-Andy-

 

Andy, I really don't get the problem with your purchase. Why is this a tricky situation? Maybe there is a different mindset or just general cultural difference between our nations or parts of the world, but I seriously don't see how anyone could get mad about your behavior. 

 

You didn't trick him. You didn't make any false statements. You didn't break any law. You didn't break any promise you made. 

 

You said straight forward what you want:

 

18 hours ago, -Andy- said:

Immediately, I said: If you aren't buying this, I will. Okay?

 

He said yes and you bought it. You wanted the egg and you were willing to pay the wanted price. If he can't purchase it, because he doesn't have the money or just hesitated, than that is non of your business. Maybe you prevented him from going in debt. 

 

And wanting more money because you prepped the egg,  is the most normal thing I can think of in this situation. After all you made the egg better and put time and knowledge in it.

 

Why is your friend mad about this? 

You are older, more experienced and got more money. You didn't trick him. You have every right to own that egg. 

 

 

 

And regarding the topic: 

 

I don't really regret any fossil I bought. Maybe my first Meg tooth.

This one: 

 

 

Because I got a way better and bigger one with superb serrations. 

This one here doesn't have any serrations at all. But well, it's still one solid 5.35inch Meg tooth  

 

 

[Uncle Siphuncle]

9 hours ago, -Andy- said:

An unhatched hadrosaur egg

 

This happened 6/7 years ago. It was my 2nd dinosaur egg and my first hadrosaur egg. I've wanted hadrosaur eggs for a long time. Sadly, this egg started the fracture in a friendship I treasured

 

One day when exploring a street of antique shops, I discovered a particular shop that had fossils. I looked through it but sadly, all the eggs I found within were fake or composite. Nonetheless, it had other splendid fossils. I brought my buddies to that shop hours later.

 

A young collector had sharper eyes than me and he saw this amazing hadrosaur egg in a hidden corner that although unprepped, looked very real. Excitedly, he brought it to the counter. I cursed myself for not seeing that egg earlier but I said nothing. Still, deep down I prayed the young collector would pass on the egg. My wish came to fruition as he hesitated for a long time but eventually, opted not to buy the egg due to its price tag and because he wasn't 100% sure of its authenticity. Immediately, I said: If you aren't buying this, I will. Okay?

 

He said 'okay' and I immediately paid and brought my egg home proudly. As said though, the egg was unprepped so I invited another friend over and we spent the day wiping, prepping and cleaning the egg (not that we achieved much as eggs are very hard to prep) but at least we confirmed the egg was definitely real.

 

Two days later, my good friend (another collector who was there that day), messaged me to express his disappointment in me. He said he knew just how much the young collector wanted the egg. Yet, the moment I saw his moment of weakness, I pounced right in to snatch up that egg. Perhaps the young collector would've bought the egg the next day. Perhaps he would have paid a deposit to secure the egg. Perhaps someone could have loaned him some cash (as he's young and doesn't have as much money as us). Whatever it is, since I am older and am considered a more senior collector in the group, my enthusiasm in securing that egg made the young collector too afraid to speak up.

 

The thing is - perhaps he's right. I was far too quick to jump right in to buy that egg. My first question as a friend should have been: "You want this egg right? Why don't I just lend you a hundred or so to secure a deposit first?" or "I am so confident about this egg's authenticity that I would buy it straight. I suggest you buy it."

 

I messaged the young collector and confirmed to him that I've prepped the egg and confirm it's real. I then asked him if he truly wanted the egg. He said 'yes'. This is the part where I should've been gracious and let him have it. Instead, I said: "My friend and I spent a day prepping it. I think it's only fair if you paid a bit extra for our efforts."

 

The young collector rejected me as the egg was expensive enough as it is, and he couldn't afford to pay more. When I told my friend of this development, he expressed his disgust in me. Back then, this should have been the cue to me immediately giving the egg to the young collector but I chose not to; I justified it with the price I paid for the egg and the prep effort I put into it.

 

Afterwards, my friend and I drifted apart completely. The young collector never did get a hadrosaur egg but it seems he no longer want one anyway. In case you're wondering, that egg is still with me. I still like it as it's very much a beautiful and rare unhatched hadrosaur egg.

 

Sorry for the rant. In my shoes, knowing the story as you do now, would you have lent money to the young collector? Or gifted him that egg? Or kept the egg because he opted not to buy it in the first place?

Often these situations are dropped in your lap without warning, and you are forced to make snap decisions without the benefit of experience or deliberation.  Once you evaluate your motivations and the other person's motivations fully, over time, and realize that kneejerk reactions are often self-serving, sometimes you aren't proud of your conduct.  I can look back and note an experience or 2 in my past similar to yours, in slightly different context.  Often things are too tainted to have the same friendship going forward.  The best you can do going forward is to consider your evolving compassion and conscience next time an opportunity comes up with one of the other 7 billion people in this world.  Lots of opportunity to do better, but not always with the same person.

[Praefectus]

1 hour ago, RuMert said:

BTW I wouldn't regret this either, you bought not just a fossil, but a typical  piece of Moroccan art. Two in one, a good deal (and a quality box too)l

Moroccan art! I should make a label describing it as an art piece. Haha. 

[Randyw]

11 hours ago, -Andy- said:

Sorry for the rant. In my shoes, knowing the story as you do now, would you have lent money to the young collector? Or gifted him that egg? Or kept the egg because he opted not to buy it in the first place?

Hi! It’s just my two cents worth but I don’t think you have anything to beat yourself up about. The only thing I would have done different was say “I think it’s real. If you aren’t buying this I will O.K.?” Once he said it’s ok then you’re off the hook. And the fossil was up for grabs. I think the friend who expressed his disappointment was out of line. In that situation I think the lack of funds was more the problem then anything else. I was once in a similar situation With something I collected at the time. I saw a diamond in the rough item that was at the edge of my funds so I set it back down and picked up another item a few steps away. While looking at it I realized it was a rarer find so I turned to pick it back up when I saw another collector had it in his hands. He had seen I was looking at it so he asked if I wanted it. I told him I had set it back down and now it was fair game. I even pointed out things that made it more scarce. Long story short (too late now I guess) he bought it and took it home. We got to be friends over it and laughed about it from time to time until he moved away. My point is I like your young friend had my chance and passed on it. Do I regret not getting it yes of course but I never resented him for getting it just like I imagine your young friend never resented you getting it. So don’t beat yourself up over it.

another case more fossil related I recently had a chance to buy a group of unprepared possibly knightia fish. I declined the group at the time but spent time debating it. I finally decided to buy the batch but didn’t do it right away. During the time I was sitting around with my thumb up my but, the seller prepped out one of the pieces and it turned out to be a much better and more uncommon species  then either I or the seller thought it was. I don’t resent not getting that piece as I had declined it originally so it was fair game. I’m actually glad the seller had decided to keep and prep it as he did a so much better job then I ever could have and I know he probably values it highly so I’m glad for him.if he ever sold it I know I’d never be able to afford it so I’d also have to decline like your young friend did after you prepped yours. I’d like to think your young friend feel similarly. So stop worrying and enjoy and treasure your egg.

[Randyw]

16 hours ago, Praefectus said:

I regret buying my fake mosasaur jaw. The teeth are real, but the rest is plaster. I guess I got a nice box with it.

 

 

LOL! I got one of these! I don’t regret buying it as I knew the jaws were fake when I bought it but it was priced out at what the teeth individually would have sold for if loose. I actually do have it in my collection labeled as a Moroccan mosasaur jaw sculpture!

[siteseer]

Andy,

 

I see the moral dilemma.  You feel like you committed a "sin of omission" by not telling the young collector you thought the egg was real and you didn't try make it possible for him to buy it.  I can understand your other friend questioning your ethics to a certain extent but then you weren't sure it was a good egg until you spent some time prepping it.  Specimens can look good in a store but different when you get it outside.  If the young collector didn't have enough money to buy it outright, he didn't have the money to prep it either.  When you told him you put prep time into it, he didn't want to compensate you for that.  He couldn't expect to get the value you added to it by cleaning it up and confirming its authenticity for the same price.  Yes, it would have nice of you to do that but his inability to acknowledge the added value of your prep subtracts from your other friend's position that you should have worked harder to make it possible for the "kid" to acquire the specimen.  That's called "bending over backwards" to help someone.  The kid didn't appreciate it enough in my opinion.

 

Your friend thought you should have done that, and to your credit, you thought you should have as well after you thought about it.  Not everyone can be that objective - that honest with himself - and with other people, holding yourself up to scrutiny as you are doing in this thread.  Uncle Siphuncle is right.  You were younger too.  You were excited about the egg.  You suspected the egg was good but what if it had turned out to be not as good as it appeared after the prep (or maybe you damage it during prep) whether the kid or you owned it?  You would have felt bad - maybe worse than you did then or do now.  You can't always see how you're going to see things in the future.

 

I'm sorry you lost a friend at least in part over that deal.  However, I think it's a bit overly judgmental of him to expect you to be a perfect person.  He can be disappointed in you in that particular situation, but if he were as wise and magnanimous as he expected you to be, he would have known that none of us can be perfect.  If that's the worst thing you have done, you must be a decent person.  We can try to do the right thing all the time and beat ourselves up when we feel like we went the wrong way on a judgement call but that's life.  Hopefully, we keep growing as adults even long after we stop getting taller. 

 

Jess

 

 

[Wrangellian]

12 hours ago, Abstraktum said:

Andy, I really don't get the problem with your purchase. Why is this a tricky situation? Maybe there is a different mindset or just general cultural difference between our nations or parts of the world, but I seriously don't see how anyone could get mad about your behavior. 

 

You didn't trick him. You didn't make any false statements. You didn't break any law. You didn't break any promise you made. 

 

You said straight forward what you want:

"Immediately, I said: If you aren't buying this, I will. Okay?"

 

He said yes and you bought it. You wanted the egg and you were willing to pay the wanted price. If he can't purchase it, because he doesn't have the money or just hesitated, than that is non of your business. Maybe you prevented him from going in debt. 

 

And wanting more money because you prepped the egg,  is the most normal thing I can think of in this situation. After all you made the egg better and put time and knowledge in it.

 

Why is your friend mad about this? 

You are older, more experienced and got more money. You didn't trick him. You have every right to own that egg.

I can see Andy's concern over how quickly he snapped it up... I might have done the same - as Dan says, it's a self-serving knee-jerk action that you might later regret. We've all been there, I think. But then I can see myself in the kid's shoes too. It might have felt a little an incident that happened when my mother and I attended the first Paleo Symposium in this province. I was still fairly new at fossiling. We went on one of the field trips they had planned to a place I had not been collecting before. We found ourselves poking around in the same immediate spot as one of the experienced guys was poking around (who had collected that area many times before), and he happened to spot a nice ammonite practically under our noses and gleefully snapped it up. I feel we would have seen it if we had been given a few more seconds, but he spotted it first. So you could say he was well within his rights, being the first guy to spot it, but you could also say that, as a 'senior' collector, it wouldn't have hurt him to have let us find it, as he must have known we were newbies and had not yet found much there, and I'm sure he already had many of those same types of fossils from that location. Do you want to encourage the younger generation to take up the hobby, or discourage them early by showing them how dog-eat-dog it is?

When I was that kid's age I could be very indecisive, and also deferential to anyone older than me, so if someone had said "if you don't buy that I will, okay?", I might have reluctantly said "okay" even if I was still trying to decide. I still have regrets about things I did (or didn't do) at that age, including things I could have acquired but passed on, or things I gave away but later felt I should have kept, but on the other hand there are things that mattered a lot to me then but now I think were no big deal. So who really knows what the kid felt? It sounds like he really did want it, but couldn't afford it (or maybe he could have almost, and later regretted not closing on it), but I would not say you should have given it to him after spending money on it. I don't imagine you spent such a small amount on it that you could have afforded to just give it to him, but I guess the prep time on the other hand is not lost money unless you could have been working that day instead of prepping it, so asking to be compensated for that might have been a little over the top! Also, when the kid replied that he's not that into dino eggs after being asked why he didn't go for any of the others, that could have been a show of non-emotion, to show that he's strong, to make you not feel bad about what you did, even if he does feel bad. I believe it's a common reaction among kids to say "fine, I didn't really want it anyway" when you take something from them or prevent them from having it.

 

But I agree it's best to not dwell on things that are done and gone, that you can't go back and change or set right today. It's good to know you're still friendly with one another! All's well that ends well.

I also agree that the fossil may have fared better in your hands than it might have in the kid's hands. I know that when I was young and inexperienced, some of my fossils suffered from my not knowing how to properly collect and conserve them. So in my mind it's fine to rationalize what you did by considering the welfare of the fossil itself, rather than yours or the kid's!