Judge Judy and consignments 1 1

[shadroch]

Interesting case on JJ this week that I think people should be aware of. A woman made custom jewelry and gave a couple thousand dollars of it to a shop on consignment. The shop lost its lease and moved to anther location. Somewhere along the move, the woman's stuff disappeared and she wants the shop owner to compensate her. A pretty open and closed case, I thought, but Judge Judy said the shop wasn't responsible. That even when an item is on consignment, you should maintain insurance on it. If I have a book on consignment with Glorious George and it disappears, is stolen ,is damaged or is eaten by The Almighty Spaghetti Monster, I think he is responsible, not my insurance company. 

[wolverine180]

I would have thought the same as you that it was a pretty open and closed case.  You would think there would be something in place to cover you.

Theoretically the consignment shop could sell your item/items and just claim they misplaced, collect money and never pay you. 

[marmat]

That is ridiculous 

[Artboy99]

11 hours ago, wolverine180 said:

I would have thought the same as you that it was a pretty open and closed case.  You would think there would be something in place to cover you.

Theoretically the consignment shop could sell your item/items and just claim they misplaced, collect money and never pay you. 

quite a few accusations of exactly that with a local store that has closed.

-missing or non returned consignment items

-books submitted to CGC not returned 

[wolverine180]

1 hour ago, Artboy99 said:

quite a few accusations of exactly that with a local store that has closed.

-missing or non returned consignment items

-books submitted to CGC not returned 

That is so horrible. I would be devastated. Sympathy to all those who have been victim. 

[MK Ultra]

From what I understand, the Uniform Commercial Code covers this.  Generally, and California Law may be different, the consignee assumes the risk in a consignment situation while the goods are in possession of the consignee.  However if the seller/consignor didn't file a financing statement as required by section 9 of the UCC...

Also, I suspect if there was a contract it would supersede these guidelines.

[comicwiz]

15 minutes ago, Bronzed Jbone said:

Also, I suspect if there was a contract it would supersede these guidelines.

This. Get everything in writing.

Any place that accepts consignments will have insurance, however it is something I would make sure is written in the contract terms, specifying exactly what was left (take lots of pictures, including where the item is displayed in the shop), its value, what is expected to be covered and for how much, in the event of loss/damage/destruction/etc.

Sure a shop is going to have insurance, but what's important is they understand they are accepting responsibility for any loss while in possession of your stolen property, and not using the insurance as an instrument to get people to leave consignments with them and then tell them they don't feel like putting in a claim, it's going to raise their insurance, yada-yada.

One thing I should point out is that a lot of these antique malls, where you are given a space or display, do require insurance coverage. The one nearby where I live offers it as an addon cost, so in addition to paying a monthly fee and commission, you have to pay a certain amount for insurance or you aren't able to use them. I see public notice ads with surveillance stills showing people who have walked through and are suspected of stealing, so there is no way I would EVER leave my personal property with anyone under such circumstances.

[chrisco37]

That was going to be my question as well.  Was there a written contract?  Haven’t watched a Judge Judy episode in ages but, from what I remember, she’d usually rule in favor of contract stipulations.

Edited May 20, 2018 by chrisco37
Spelling