I understand your concerns mbbrutman. And just like I wouldn't expect a brand new never been opened monitor shipped all the way from New York, or Maine, I have seen some generic ones go pretty cheaply. And, as stone has offered here too, there are plenty of people out there who are glad to just help out.
In this case, I'm asking because I know my customer very well. They have been clients for quite some time; although usually with newer computers. They are not what I would call friends, and they do have a legitimate business. The fact that they choose to continue using their IBM 5150 as their primary system says two things here. And I hope this makes my point. 1. They aren't making a lot of money, and 2. they choose to continue using what they're comfortable with instead of just getting rid of it. Is it a good thing that they don't want to upgrade their procedures? Probably not, but I'm not going to judge them on that choice. They asked me if I could help them locate a monitor they could buy cheaply, and I found it by posting this thread. The forums did it's job.
I was lucky enough to find a generic green mono monitor in the San Diego area for only $25.00, (Which is what I was hoping for), and passed that info on to my customer. They went out and purchased the monitor yesterday in the late afternoon. It was because of this post that the monitor has a new home. Had the seller had not seen this post, he was going to throw it out, so two things were accomplished.
Finally, I would never expect to get something like a 5151, or anything high end for the price I mentioned. I may be a pain in someones side but I'm not stupid. If you look at the original post, I'm leaving it wide open as to what, if anything is out there. Personally, I see no harm in asking these kinds of questions. What better place than in this particular forum? I'm not trying to get anything for free. At the same time, why not ask? I'm certainly not making anything by doing so either. I already got paid for what I did. They just needed a monitor, and one where the text is readable. So, my customer got what they need, and a monitor that would have otherwise been tossed out was saved from a landfill? So what's the problem? (Not meaning to sound sarcastic here, sorry if it comes off as such) We have a wonderful tool at our disposal. That tool is these forums. If we can connect those who need, with those who have, again, I don't see an issue. We're all here to help, right?
Unless you find something local, you are effectively asking for a free monitor (or close to it).
Before anybody considers this, what kind of business is this? I can see somebody being more willing to do this for a non-profit. Second, you say "customer". That implies a business relationship. Are you charging or not charging for your services?
I don't mind requests to help others but the nature of the arrangement needs to be clear up front. Somebody might be upset if they find out they let a piece of vintage equipment go for dirt cheap to a business that could have easily afforded to pay for it (including the cost of the middleman). People sourcing parts for a non-profit are probably going to be treated differently than resellers just looking to source cheap parts.
And regardless of this particular request, it needs to be made very clear up front.
Mike
They actually use their 5150 on a daily basis as part of their daily business! 
