Company sold my jewellery without my permission.

ameliaroseob

Hi,

id love some advice please. I sent a piece of jewellery in to a very popular and renowned online business for valuation and a possible sale. 

However I was unhappy with the price and wanted much more to part with it. 

I’ve asked for it to be returned and they’ve been difficult to get hold off- ignoring calls, emails and trying to increase their offer when finally getting through to someone. 

I have just received an email saying that they have had a ‘technical issue’ and have sold my piece without my permission or knowledge. 

They have offered me 1k more than the last offer ( still not enough)
or for me to select an equivalent piece off their website. (Not sure to what amount) 

They have wrongfully sold my expensive item and I’m not sure what to do next. Shall I get a solicitor involved or will this be very expensive?

would love any advice please! 

lisyloo

Is it under £10K?
what is it you want? (given you can't have it back).

You first option is to ask for what you want.
If it's below £10K then the small claims court is available to you, although you'll need proof that you didn't give them permission to sell it (or absence that you did). texts, email etc.
Are there any terms on their website or in paper of how they operate?
You'll also need some evidence of what it's worth not what you want (just because you wanted much more doesn't mean you're entitled to it).

If they are offering you market value then I'm not sure you're entitled to anything else.

DullGreyGuy

ameliaroseob said:

id love some advice please. I sent a piece of jewellery in to a very popular and renowned online business for valuation and a possible sale. 

However I was unhappy with the price and wanted much more to part with it. 

I’ve asked for it to be returned and they’ve been difficult to get hold off- ignoring calls, emails and trying to increase their offer when finally getting through to someone. 

I have just received an email saying that they have had a ‘technical issue’ and have sold my piece without my permission or knowledge. 

They have offered me 1k more than the last offer ( still not enough)
or for me to select an equivalent piece off their website. (Not sure to what amount) 

They have wrongfully sold my expensive item and I’m not sure what to do next. Shall I get a solicitor involved or will this be very expensive?

would love any advice please! 

How much did they value it at?
How much did they sell it for?
How much are they offering you for it?

What evidence do you have of its 2nd hand value and how old is that evidence?

ameliaroseob

lisyloo said:

Is it under £10K?
what is it you want? (given you can't have it back).

You first option is to ask for what you want.
If it's below £10K then the small claims court is available to you, although you'll need proof that you didn't give them permission to sell it (or absence that you did). texts, email etc.
Are there any terms on their website or in paper of how they operate?
You'll also need some evidence of what it's worth not what you want (just because you wanted much more doesn't mean you're entitled to it).

If they are offering you market value then I'm not sure you're entitled to anything else.

Thanks for your reply. 

Yes under 10k- around 8k. 

Looking for terms but can’t see anything about selling items. 

It’s a branded item so lots of similar items available for a higher price than offered. 

ameliaroseob

DullGreyGuy said:

ameliaroseob said:

id love some advice please. I sent a piece of jewellery in to a very popular and renowned online business for valuation and a possible sale. 

However I was unhappy with the price and wanted much more to part with it. 

I’ve asked for it to be returned and they’ve been difficult to get hold off- ignoring calls, emails and trying to increase their offer when finally getting through to someone. 

I have just received an email saying that they have had a ‘technical issue’ and have sold my piece without my permission or knowledge. 

They have offered me 1k more than the last offer ( still not enough)
or for me to select an equivalent piece off their website. (Not sure to what amount) 

They have wrongfully sold my expensive item and I’m not sure what to do next. Shall I get a solicitor involved or will this be very expensive?

would love any advice please! 

How much did they value it at?
How much did they sell it for?
How much are they offering you for it?

What evidence do you have of its 2nd hand value and how old is that evidence?

They offered 6k. 

I’m not sure what they sold for- I haven’t replied to their email yet as wanted to be sure of my rights. 

They’ve now offered 7k as apology. 

I haven’t had it valued for about 10 years, however it’s a branded item with plenty other available online. 

I really didn’t want to sell but was in some financial difficulty, but managed to sort it without needing to sell. It’s sentimental so wouldn’t have sold unless desperate. 

I originally wanted around £8.5k but feel it should be higher now because of what they’ve done. 

lisyloo

Youre not going to get a shop window price by selling to the trade so their offers don’t seem too far off to me.
theres a big markup on jewelry

I don’t think you’ll get anything for the mistake in court, just straight trade value of which they might have more evidence than you
you could counter offer.

ameliaroseob

lisyloo said:

Youre not going to get a shop window price by selling to the trade so their offers don’t seem too far off to me.
theres a big markup on jewelry

I don’t think you’ll get anything for the mistake in court, just straight trade value of which they might have more evidence than you
you could counter offer.

Thanks for your reply. 

No it’s about 11-12k to buy from a shop, so looking for less than that due to the huge mark up. 

I may try to counter offer but just wanted to know what my rights are really!

lisyloo

To put you back in the position you would have been of the mistake had not happened.

Moneyclaim online has a higher limit,

DullGreyGuy

ameliaroseob said:

lisyloo said:

Youre not going to get a shop window price by selling to the trade so their offers don’t seem too far off to me.
theres a big markup on jewelry

I don’t think you’ll get anything for the mistake in court, just straight trade value of which they might have more evidence than you
you could counter offer.

Thanks for your reply. 

No it’s about 11-12k to buy from a shop, so looking for less than that due to the huge mark up. 

I may try to counter offer but just wanted to know what my rights are really!

Generally your right is to be indemnified, which is to be put back into the same financial position you were before the issue if they cannot return the item itself. You had an item that you could have sold for £X and so they should give you £X. Unfortunately sentiment doesn't add value

Shops will always get a premium over what you as a private seller could have sold it for, the proxy we always used to use was what the sold price on eBay was from private sellers. It should be somewhere between what a shop would pay and what a shop would sell it for. 

ZeroSum

I'd argue it's technically stolen goods, so the person who bought it needs to return it. I'd be telling them you're going to get police involved since it's theft of a high value item

swingaloo

ZeroSum said:

I'd argue it's technically stolen goods, so the person who bought it needs to return it. I'd be telling them you're going to get police involved since it's theft of a high value item

First of all its not 'stolen goods' and secondly the police would not get involved.