Questionable Estate Auction practice

Small claims, as far as I understand it, is when Joe says Frank owes him $X for a service or for an item that was delivered but not paid for. Frank says the service was not performed, or the item was not delivered, or the service/item was not as advertised or agreed upon. Since the $ value of the dispute is less than a certain amount, an abbreviated process with a judge deciding the matter based on the facts as described by Joe and Frank. But what are you gonna claim? The auctioneer does not owe Fse any money. Fse did not suffer any $ loss. He lost the opportunity to buy something. The auctioneer no longer has the item so he can't sell it to Fse at any price.

"But what are you gonna claim? The auctioneer does not owe Fse any money. Fse did not suffer any $ loss. He lost the opportunity to buy something. The auctioneer no longer has the item so he can't sell it to Fse at any price."

I know that sounds like a reasonable way to look at the situation, but there's more to it than that. In this case, you wouldn't be suing for damages. Its not something like a slip and fall where the person that slipped didn't get hurt and wants to collect something anyway. In Fse's case, he would be suing for breach of contract. He can claim damages at some point as a result of the breach, but the fundamental reason for bringing the suit in the 1st place is different. When Fsc won the auction, the speakers were his contractually. The transfer of ownership of the speakers would be complete on payment. When the auction company sold those speakers to someone else, they sold property that wasn't theirs. And that's the real issue. The auction company sold Fsc's speakers, literally.

Just to clarify and give an example, this is what I would do if this happened to me. I would file a suit in small claims court and I would ask for: The auction company to sell me the speakers at the price I won them for, to ship them to me for free, that they arrive in the same condition they were in when I bought them, $5000, all court fees and liquidated damages if allowable. Once I did this, the auction company would almost certainly settle with me for some type of reasonable amount before this would even go to court. If it did make it to trial most likely the judge would start with speakers and if auction company couldn't produce them, they would go down the list to find some type of settlement that would be fair.

To make a long story short, small claims is a very powerful tool that most people overlook. If anyone is interested, I know I have some books on the subject somewhere. Just post and I'll see if I can find the name's and author.

Swampwalker,

A buyer's usual damages when a seller fails to deliver a good for which an enforceable contract exists is the difference between the reasonable cost the buyer incurs acquiring a replacement and the agreed upon contract price. Of course, the buyer has to prove all the necessary elements (existence of a contract, evidence of the contract price, acquisition of a replacement and the reasonableness of the replacement cost), all without the benefit of a written contract, but a damage remedy does exist.

Sometimes a buyer can recover damages for a profit the buyer lost as a result of the seller's default. In this case, the buyer would have to demonstrate that he had the ability to resell the equipment and its likely resale price (Audiogon blue book anyone?)

The fact that the original poster didn't come out of pocket at the auction doesn't affect his right to damages. You don't have to perform your end of a contract when the other party has already defaulted. You just have to be careful not to indicate that your treating the contract as rescinded.

I'm not saying that the OP should have pursued the auctioneer, just that he could have if he wanted to go to the trouble.

One little caveat. As someone else mentioned, the OP may have agreed to the strange way this auction was conducted when he registered.

Look, this is kind of a silly argument but my point is that given the $ limit in small claims (my state is $2500). Even if you "win" by default, then you most likely will have to pay a sheriff or marshal to serve the judgment and then given that they almost certainly will not pay, you have to find the bank where the auctioneer has an account, and pay the sheriff or marshal to seize the $ from the account, assuming that they have not emptied the account and closed down that business entity. Given the limited recovery vs. legal fees to go to "big claims" court, AND the series of facts that you would have to prove, it's extremely unlikely that it would make economic sense to pursue it. Add in the mental energy and hassle and, IMO, it's best to just walk away. Sometimes you just have to say the guy's an unethical jerk and walk away, for your own piece of mind.

What I wonder about all of this is what did the auctioneer say to explain his actions? He had to have said something at some point, it seems to me. For example, when the items were first auctioned individually did he say anything about there being reserve amounts?

Regards,
-- Al