Hi,
I placed two pieces of jewelry with a consignment jeweler in August. He sold the two pieces right before Christmas '05 and to this day he still hasn't given me the $5000.00 he owes me. He claims someone else gave him a bogus credit card (for a different sale) for which he has gotten a huge chargeback on his account and he claims he doesn't have the money. He tells me every week, "next week". This is ridiculous! What can I do? I'm still waiting for a copy of the receipt which shows that he sold the jewelry. I do have the receipt I got when I dropped it off.

Do I have legal recourse? I've heard small claims court only goes up to $2000.00- is there anything I can do without having to spend a lot of money on lawyer fees? Is my case good enough so that I don't even need a lawyer?

Thanks!

Put you demand for payment in writing, certified mail will 20 days to pay. You can probably go to small claim court for this. By putting it in writing he will understand what will be next.

Just my thoughts

Thanks for replying. I called him today and asked for a faxed letter stating that he had sold the jewelry and that he did indeed owe me $5000.00. He did fax it to me and he signed it. I hope I got through to him, as I have been trying to be nice up until this point. I told him that I have been documenting everything and that if I don't get the money soon I will have to call a lawyer.

I was under the impression that small claims court only handled claims up to $2000.00. Do you think I would be able to go to small claims court with this?

I was hoping to avoid having to hire a lawyer... with all the fees I would have to pay it would kind of defeat the purpose- what do you think?

Thanks so much again!

Call your court ask them the limits?

Where do you live? Some states/provinces go up to $10,000

Small claims varies from state to state, and county to county

Plus if you have to sue him in regular court, you can include the legal fees in what you sue him for. I would move fast, if he planned on paying you he would have, most likely he is planning on not paying somehow.
If he would go bankrupt for example you would just be out your money

Thank you all for your advice! You've been very helpful!

Even if the limit in small claims is $2,000, you could always file a claim for each piece, it is a very common practice.