Ein Paar verkaufte eine afrikanische Maske, die sie für „wertlos“ hielten, für 158 Dollar. Der Käufer versteigerte es dann für 4,4 Millionen Dollar
by giuliomagnifico
Ein Paar verkaufte eine afrikanische Maske, die sie für „wertlos“ hielten, für 158 Dollar. Der Käufer versteigerte es dann für 4,4 Millionen Dollar
by giuliomagnifico
22 comments
Seems to me that the couple could have done the same research on the mask. Since the art dealer also got low appraisals, I don’t think he was guilty of fraud especially since he persisted in his line of inquiry. That suggests he may have had an idea that the piece was more valuable, but no actual definitive knowledge. To top it all off, he even tried to give them 10% of the final sale price as further goodwill compensation to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, but the couple got greedy.
The fact that the couple is suing for more than the total sale price of the mask suggests they are being spiteful and greedy and not dealing in good faith.
I think the couple is going to lose this one.
Probably stolen from Africa anyway.
It is completely irrelevant if the dealer knew the value of the piece. It’s the sellers responsibility to know what they’re selling.
Unless the dealer convinced them it was worthless, no fraud has been committed.
sounds like they should’ve jumped at the $315k the dealer offered and now they’ll get nothing.
Kind of satisfying in a way.
They should have taken the $315,000. There’s no way they’re going to win this, and they’re going to have to pay thousands in damages. Not to mention their own lawyer’s fees.
Greedy ass couple, oink oink
The couple probably won’t win, this was a willing seller and buyer.
Most likely this will settle and the couple will get a small fraction of its true worth.
Was it made of Vibranium?
“The couple — an unnamed 81-year-old woman and her 88-year-old husband — was cleaning out their second home sometime around 2021 when they came across the mask.”
lol for some reason I don’t feel too bad for them
If you sell me something for pennies and i make millions… i give you at least a few K. So the balance of the universe is preserved.
Sure. They had no idea about the origin of the mask. Fuck these people and their thieving ways.
White people fighting over money from looted relics. How frickin’ touching. Any way both sides could lose?
It’s not cool to try to get something for cheap when you know the people are unaware. It’s legal, but not cool.
However, that doesn’t seem to be what happened here. The buyer went on a hunch and invested a ton of time and money to confirm the value.
He later tried to settle, when IMO he really didn’t have to, and they rejected it.
At this point, screw the seller. You had your chance(s). Too bad.
You snooze you lose. I think that’s enshrined in law or something. Not a French lawyer so dunno
That headline should be:
“The buyer then did extensive research, including getting paid evaluations from (3? 4?) different sources before finding out how rare/valuable the item was”
I think the old couple may be getting bad legal advice or are getting good advice but not taking it.
Man i wanna come across something like that 🥲
Can’t analyze this without knowing French law.
i can’t believe the buyer even offered 10%. what the fuck? imagine if people traded stocks like this. sell stocks, realize that it’s worth way more a few months later, and then try to claw back the original sale? fuck these people.
Even more ironic when you consider the mask was likely stolen in the first place
Taking their kids’ advice knocked them out of a $300k something settlement.
I would give them 50% of the money , it just feels like the right thing to do . They aren’t obligated though