Regency Stamp Auctions In St. Louis

angore, thanks so much for posting the letter.

To also follow up on one of my previous postings, I did receive the response below from Rasdale to the email I sent them.....

from: Darlene Pylar
7:49 AM (4 minutes ago)

to me
We are working for the bank.

Darlene Pylar
Rasdale Stamp Company
35 Chestnut Avenue
Westmont, Illinois 60559
630-794-9900

I had a hard time understanding how the bank or any other creditors could claim material for which Regency didn't have clear title. Now I think it all comes into focus- given that the lawyers for the bank made no claim to consignments and requested a separate inventory for consignments, the Kohls are withholding the consignments and/or may have sold them in order to address their own personal finances. I wonder if personal bankruptcy will protect the Kohls if they continue to withhold property that does not belong to them? If so, now is the time to make a move to get material back that may still be in their hands.

SHERMAE-----I believe Regency had a large inventory of stamps of their own .They had counter books for their retail store . The firm had a on going buying program that continued most likely after they stopped holding auctions .
The letter which was posted here has a interesting note that some consignors were paid while others had funds held back . This a important point that I posted about here on this chat
board . Here is what I speculated about ----
David took care of his friends ,A.P.S. members and A.S.D.A . members and paid them quickly ,all the time "joe the farmer" and overseas clients got to suck wind and let them out to hang .
A good lawyer can rip this dealing apart and get a claw back provision thru the courts ,that would be a circus thru out the stamp community .

Neither the APS and a number of its members did not and have not received payment, the reason for Mr. Kols expulsion.

I cannot tell you who was paid or why, just that it was reported to us that some have been during the course of our attorney's research.

If they owned that much to just the bank, the interest on that line of credit would have been huge cash drain. Money coming in likely had to go to the bank to keep the place running. When Kols said he had no buyers, I suspect they did not want to inherit all that debt and possibly not believing the value of the material Rasdale is now selling.

There are definitely long time consignors who got their unsolds back but are owed many thousands for sold material which they have not received.

What lesson is to be learned from all of this? I for one believe that if you are a licensed auctioneer for items to be kept on premises you should be required to be bonded and insured.

Since there appears to be no accounting for some of the material consigned what would have happened for insurance purposes if there had been a theft/burglary, fire, flood/water damage etc.. A very sad state of affairs indeed.

Where are you getting this continued most likely???

Here are the lessons that I have learned.

1. - When dealing with auction situations understand that consignment comes with risks.
2. - Attempt discovery to seek a better understanding of the organization's financial health. Ask questions.
3. - Read and fully understand the consignment agreement or contract. Ask questions.
4. - Explore 3rd party insurance options that might be available to cover auction consignment risks. Ask questions.
5. - Recommendations for selling in auctions should include a disclosure on the risks involved.

Don

I did receive my (supposedly) one unsold $50 item returned. But didn't receive my $10,000+ payment for sold items.

when did you get it back?

The one unsold lot was returned in May after I pressed Kols to return it.
Who knows, however, if other lots were actually not sold, or shown as sold and he kept them, etc. etc.

In the R-S case, from what I have read is that the firm was slow in paying. There were some key APS members working for the firm in the year before it folded. Any feedback is word of mouth. The fact that APS lost money should show the challenges.

Kols was a member of APS and a showcase dealer for ASDA. If you see the ASDA ads, they refer to buying with confidence.

Just curious but why would the APS consign material to an auction house to sell when it has its own stamp store?

Do we know for certain that the monies owed APS were for consignments as opposed to advertisements in the American Philatelist?