Do I owe him money? (1 Viewer)

[Larry Allen]

Hello gents,

With all the fantastic items that have been released the last year or so, from K&C, JJD, TG and others, I decided I needed to thin out some of my "other" collectibles.

This past weekend I moved many militaria collectibles, wood ship models, glass items, R/C items and such. I had a some folks come to my house and they brought a lot of my goodies.

However, there is an Antique / Collectible store that I have been doing business with for 20 years. On Sunday I brought to him a vintage "Oil Painting by a fairly well know artist."
In the past, he has either purchased items outright from me or I fixed a minimum price I wanted and then he sells it and takes a commission fee.

Since it is near the end of the summer season in Maine for him .. (he moves far south for the fall / winter) … he decided that he did not want to buy or take the painting on commission.
Three times he said "Thank you but no thank you, see you in the spring." I wished him a good fall and winter and took the painting back to my car.

As I was loading the painting into the car, a person who I believe was in the store called out to me and offered to purchase the painting then and there for CASH!!! After a bit of negotiation I was very happy with the price. The man took the painting a was on his way. At that moment the antique dealer came rushing out of the store and demanded his commission??????? ^&confuse

He said that since the man saw the item in his store and the sale took place on his property I owed him the commission. I said that he refused the item and did nothing to promote the sale, so I don't owe him anything. {His commission would be something like $300}

He replied that he would never do business with me again and I should expect not to be accepted by any other dealer in the area … for $300 really {eek3}

Do you think I owe him anything?


--- LaRRy

 

[zblang]

I don’t think you do. That being said, what’s your relationship with him? If you want to keep it, might be worth the $300. But in general terms, nope, you’re free and clear

 

[Sahara]

Wow, that's shady. I can't believe he expects to get a commission out of that. To bad the customer didn't pull you aside in the parking lot then you wouldn't have to deal with the headache.

 

[bradleyl30]

I could see his point if he didn’t explicitly say No. I think it’s sour grapes.

 

[Larry Allen]

I don’t think you do. That being said, what’s your relationship with him? If you want to keep it, might be worth the $300. But in general terms, nope, you’re free and clear

Hey Zach .. Well, I have brought him a lot of business over the years as well as provide him with a tidy sum in commissions so he might miss/need me more than I need him. There are many antique and collectible shops in the area. I am not sure if he can turn the other shops against me as most of them are only concerned about the $$$$$$!!!!

Wow, that's shady. I can't believe he expects to get a commission out of that. To bad the customer didn't pull you aside in the parking lot then you wouldn't have to deal with the headache.

Yes, that what he said. The customer DID pull me aside far away from the shop in the back of the parking lot. I really don't know how the dealer saw what was happening but I never saw the old geezer move so fast in my life. The guy who purchased the painting pulled out his wallet and the dealer shot out of his shop like there was a bee up his … ummm …. well, pants!


--- LaRRy

 

[Warrior]

Boy that's a tough one.

I guess it all depends on what sort of relationship you have with the store owner, it is worth keeping for the 300.00.

The only example I can think of is if toy soldier person A came into our rooms at Chicago and wanted to sell us some toy soldiers and we looked them over and said thanks but no thanks, then toy soldier person B who was in the room said to the guy "Hey, I'll buy those"...………….technically the deal took place in our room, but I wouldn't expect toy soldier person A to give me a commission.

I guess technically if you weren't in his store, the deal would not have gone down.

Actually, the example I gave did happen at Chicago once, toy soldier person A bought me a couple of beers at the bar the next night to thank me, which I thought was nice of him but not necessary.

Again, I guess it all comes down to do you want to continue to do business with the store owner; if you do, then it's worth the 300.00.

 

[Alexander the Great]

You do not owe him anything, even if you did, the way he acted I would not have paid him anything.

 

[Horus]

Hi Larry

I would say that since the guy approached you outside the store, you don't owe the Shop guy anything after the way he treated you. He had his chance to buy or even just to take commission.
Ok, you say he goes South for the Winter, but if he'd considered you a good customer he could of said something like, Sure Larry, but the shop is only open for X number of weeks, if it doesn't sell, I'll need you to come by and collect it or leave it in the shop / storage over Winter. That'd be fair.
But he did nothing like that, just kicked off when he thought there was some easy money to be made treating you like a fool and made bullying threats to you about blackballing you at other Antique shops. Sounds like he has little respect for his customers. Guys a Tosser !

I'm sure other stores will like the colour of you money, just as much as he did.

Steve

 

[Combat]

Not a close case in my opinion. Sounds like he clearly said no. In which case, you can do whatever you like. He made a bad business decision. Tough luck. I doubt his competitors have much concern for his opinion. Particularly under the circumstances. Making a threat like that is sour grapes. Not a person I would miss doing business with.

 

[villagehorse]

For my two cents I think the way the sale went down you should not pay the commission and the dealer expecting to get something out of your boot sale is just plain greedy. Even if you pay now, the relationship or what you thought you had, will not be the same. Perhaps an apt time to reconsider your future dealings in the antique world. All the best Larry. Robin.

 

[jazzeum]

Larry, for you to owe him a commission there would have had to be some sort of employer or broker relationship between the two of you or a contractual relationship. As there was neither and one could not be implied, you don’t owe him anything. Assuming for arguments sake that there was some some sort of relationship, what were the terms of that relationship. If the terms were not sufficiently precise (how, amount and so forth), then there would not be any basis for his claiming a commission. It’s black letter law.

Now, while you may not him owe him a commission, my bill will be in the mail tomorrow!

 

[Larry Allen]

Now, while you may not him owe him a commission, my bill will be in the mail tomorrow!

Oh … darn … I should have paid him the $300 instead of your $3000.

 

[Larry Allen]

Assuming for arguments sake that there was some some sort of relationship, what were the terms of that relationship. If the terms were not sufficiently precise (how, amount and so forth), then there would not be any basis for his claiming a commission. It’s black letter law.

The only relationship was that of 20 yrs where I would sell it outright and I would get a receipt; or I would sign a consignment agreement which stipulated the minimum price I would sell the item for and his commission percentage.

He argued that since this was similar to all the previous transactions the same conditions held true even though there was NO signed contract or receipt despite the fact that he repeatedly refused my offers or proposals.

--- LaRRy

 

[Sentaapua]

Larry, reading your description of what happened, IMHO if someone owes something to someone, that is him an apology to you for even voicing his claim, not to mention for threatening without any reason to defame you before the other antiquarians...

 

[jazzeum]

There was a course of conduct between the two of you over a number of years from which the terms could be inferred but I think the problem for him is that he said he didn’t want the item. At that point there was no contractual relationship between the two of you that I can see. Now, if he had said he wanted it and the customer came to you and said I will take it, I think the dealer might have had a case.

 

[Rutledge]

Split the difference and call it a day?

 

[jazzeum]

Split the difference and call it a day?

That’s the best, more sensible solution. You can stand on principle but sometimes it’s not worth it.

 

[mikemiller1955]

should of punched in the nose a good once or twice and said..."there's you commission".

jk...but no...he missed the boat when he declined...

 

[jazzeum]

should of punched in the nose a good once or twice and said..."there's you commission".

jk...but no...he missed the boat when he declined...

Is that the way to solve a small problem :rolleyes2:

 

[mikemiller1955]

Is that the way to solve a small problem :rolleyes2:

Brad...
please...
calm down and quit rolling your eyes...
you're showing your age...^&grin
I guess you missed it and that's okay...
but...
jk...
it's an acronym for "just kidding"...
you know what that means right?
you're lagging in your texting terminology...
ask your son...
he can explain it to you...