My Question of the Day for 29 March 2010 – UPDATED
My Question of the Day: You’re on a popular auction site looking for a particular item. By chance, you come across an auction of someone you know—a close relative, actually—and this person is selling an item he/she borrowed from you months ago for a family function and never returned. The item is an antique family heirloom that has been passed down for many, many generations, and you have irrefutable, written proof that it belongs to you. There are several bids on the item, and the latest bid is for over $10,000. What do you do?
My 2 Cents: After I calm down, and stop seeing red, I print out the auction and head over to my relative’s home with that and the irrefutable, written proof that the item belongs to me. If my relative refuses to give me what’s mine, I leave his/her home and go to the nearest police station and file a theft report. If my relative gives me my property, that’s the end of the issue.
We don’t sell family heirlooms if we can help it. If the family was in dire straits, then I would consider selling a family heirloom, but the sale of the keepsake would have to guarantee that the family would get out of its current mess and would keep us from getting into more mess. I’m not selling family heirlooms so Cousin Pete can make his next mortgage payment. 
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I’d take a completely different approach. I’d bid on the item. An insanely high bid, one that no one in their right mind would outbid, say… $50,000 (assuming the item isn’t worth that much). Then, when the auction ends and they email you inquiring about payment, I would email back and say “I was just kidding about my bid, just like I’m sure you putting it up for auction was a joke, Now, all kidding aside, give me my item back”.
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LikeDislikeI would wonder why this close friend/relative is trying to sell the item. Maybe he or she is in some type of trouble and needs some quick cash. I would call the relative and ask if everything was alright and tell he or she that I am coming to get the item the next day.
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LikeDislikeI give the person a call and ask them what happened to the item I let them borrow. If they don’t fess up I tell them that I came across an identical item on an auction site and ask them if they’re selling it. I let them know that I didn’t give the item to them so I expect to receive it back.
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LikeDislikeI would come over & pick up my antique since there were borrowing it. Unannounced. If they didn’t give it back then I’d show the printed out page from e bay. I’d ask what was up w/needing so much $. Hope they weren’t in debit to the mexican mafia!
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LikeDislikewhoa thats alot of money i say we come to a deal and divy up the money
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LikeDislikeI immediately contact that person and demand that he/she remove it and notify ebay immediately with my proof. If the person does not cancel auction I notify authorities.
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LikeDislikeI'd print the page first. Then I would make sure I outbid everyone by an astronomical figure. After winning the auction, I'd go to their home and collect like Deebo from Friday.
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LikeDislikeI can’t take you anywhere, can I? Haha. Thanks for your input.
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LikeDislikeFirst, I would call my relative to let him/her know that I've seen the ad. Then, I'd give them 24 hours to remove and return the item to me. If that doesn't happen, then I'm resorting to violence….joking! I'm contacting the administrators of the website, the police and Judge Mathis.
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LikeDislikeHaha. Not Judge Mathis! Whoa!
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LikeDislike1) I would immediately contact the site of the auction to let them know I was the owner of the item, not the seller and the seller did not have my permission to sell it. Ask them to remove the auction, immediately. 2) I would inform my family member what I have done, and request the item be returned to me ASAP or I would bring get it legally. Family heirlooms are not to be sold, regardless of how much they are worth.
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LikeDislikeI contact the auction house and ask how I should proceed with this. Technically this is a stolen item and not eligible for auction. Any reputable online auction site [ie eBay, etc.] has guidelines for this scenario. Then I'd call my relative and let them know either they GIVE IT BACK or I'm reporting the property stolen.
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LikeDislikeNotify the local police first, notify ebay 2nd, call the relative out of the blue and chat them up about what they've been up to. Casually ask about the item to see what they say. Either way 5-0 is on their way to them. No sympathy for a thief.
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LikeDislikeI would print out the ad and show up at their home. And then I would take my stuff back.
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LikeDislikeI report the item stolen and tell them they can find the theif and thier contact info online and provide the link. Ill tell the thief I reported them to give them time to return item or face the consequence.
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LikeDislike$10,000 is not my grandfather's army trunk. I would go to them, or call them if they aren't local, and let them know they they will be returning it. I would hope it didn't escalate beyond that point. But I would be getting my antique back.
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LikeDislikecall relative to give them a chance to “give it back”… if not, take further steps like; notifying ebay, police, etc . just get ya antique/10k back
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