FYI; Seizure Sale

[Mandojulie]

The lady taking the lesson before me pointed this out to me, I'm pointing it out to you.

http://www.purplewave.com/cgi-bin/mnlist.cgi?090205A/category/ALL

These guys usually charge a 10% buyers premium, i.e. add 10% to whatever you bid.

RIP Mountain Music Shoppe

Julie

(NFI)

[Eddie Sheehy]

I guess you have to live close to the auction site, they provide no shipping info....

[mrmando]

Here's some more info (http://blogs.pitch.com/wayward/2009/01/mountain_music_shoppe_seized.php) about the seizure.

[barney 59]

Why are these instruments being seized? There are instrument seizers out there? Do we need to worry?

[Bill Snyder]

I guess you have to live close to the auction site, they provide no shipping info....

The site said they ship via FedEx.

[Bill Snyder]

Why are these instruments being seized?

Back taxes.

[Steve Ostrander]

These are probably items seized for bankruptcy or unpaid taxes or such.

[Mandojulie]

The instruments were seized by the Kansas Department of Revenue for store's failure to pay taxes.

I drive by this place many times a day. I would be willing to pick up and hold for up to six months or so anything a cafe member purchased. I don't feel confident packing an instrument for shipping. I could probably take it to Glenn's Music and I think they would pack it and ship it for a fee.

I only make this offer because of the fine people here on the cafe. I am facilitating your purchase, not advocating.

Julie

[Jim Garber]

Not too much in the way of mandolins.

Mandolin only list (https://www.purplewave.com/cgi-bin/mnlist.cgi?090205A/category/MUSIC-EQUIPMENT-MANDOLIN)

The Webers are the best and there are some imports. They do have quite a few Huss & Dalton guitars which are, of the current crop of new guitars, among my favorites.

Too bad about the music store. It would like it was a nice place and the giuy even posts his telephone number for customers to contact him saying he is not trying to hide. it sounds like just another victim of the current economic downturn.

[TomTyrrell]

If I had an instrument there on consignment and the state seized it I wouldn't be too happy.

[greg_tsam]

I got dibs on the Webers.:grin:

[Eddie Sheehy]

You spelt BID backwards

[zeke]

Boy this is just a sad commmentary, if what he says is true, that he was on a plan and being faithfull to it. Sigh.

That being said, the '58 Gretsch Clipper is interesting (oh to have money...).

[Roger Renfro]

In the article referenced above, it says:

"Curley owed back taxes. He was working to pay them. "I was on a payment plan, I thought I was doing good, things were going great with the business,"

In another local article I read that, yes, he did have a payment plan, but had missed a few payments. I can't vouch for the reliability of the article, but that's what was stated.

I have played the Weber Big Horn that shows up on the auction. It's a KILLER mandolin. I, generally, don't particularly like Webers, but this one was spectacular. It's, by far, the best Weber I've ever played. If I didn't value my marriage so much, I'd be biddin' on it.

[jim_n_virginia]

The IRS came in and seized every instrument in his shop including one's on consignment, on lay-away, in for repairs AND instruments that have been paid for and waiting to be picked up I would assume.

Can you imagine how it would feel to lose your prized instrument that way???

What a nightmare it must be for Curley and those who had instruments in the shop for various reasons.

I wouldn't buy one of those instruments if I could get one for a dollar. Too much bad mojo on them.

[hattio]

Mandojulie,
Thank you for your offer to hold instruments and have them shipped through a local shop. Would you also be willing to hold if I bought a lot of strings and/or CD's?

[Mike Snyder]

Jim Curley has been a well known supporter of acoustic music and musicians in the Mo/Kan region for at least two decades to my knowledge, and has developed an enviable reputation for honesty and accessibility. Many KC area musicians have benefited from his generous guidance through the years. Hopefully they will do what they can for him now. Sounds to me like there is some lack of reason on both sides. Jim always seemed more of a free spirit music man than button down buisnessman. Hard times indeed, mama.

[Bernie Daniel]

Just a little more information.

I called the Manhatten, KS branch who is handling the auction. You can put in your bid and also place a second maximum bid.

Then all items will go the the live auction on Feb.5th 6:00 pm -- someone will from the company will enter your maximum bid from the floor if the items goes above the $$ you entered in your regular bid.

If your max bid wins you will be notified by email.

They will FedEx the item to you with a handling fee (she said $15) and the shipping (she did not mention insurance) charges.

When I asked the girl if they were going to back off the string tension before shipping she was shocked at the need for that. So expect that now maybe they will charge for "string slackening", then packing and also shipping. I'd add $100 to the bid at least. (my fault on that).
:(

[ApK]

Boy this is just a sad commmentary, if what he says is true, that he was on a plan and being faithfull to it. Sigh.



Highly, highly unlikely. "The Man" (as the obviously unbiased and fair-minded article calls it) very rarely comes to take your stuff when you pay what you owe. The state wants it's money, not musical instruments.

But I guess "Yeah, I screwed up and didn't pay what was I supposed to" doesn't play with The Pitch's readership. Guess they figure 'The Man' needs to mellow, and not be so hung up with up with baggage like law and civic responsibility.


it sounds like just another victim of the current economic downturn.
Victim? Just going by the same reading everyone else is, and it could all be wrong, he didn't go into bankruptcy, he didn't get foreclosed because he was strapped for cash and couldn't make mortgage payments.
Apparently, he collected $145,000 of sales tax for the state and at some point apparently decided he'd use the state's money for something he thought was more important than turning it in like he was supposed to.
You can feel bad for a good guy who made some bad decisions, if that's the situation with him, but VICTIM?

:mad:

[Bernie Daniel]

Well we don't want to take this in to Polly-Ticks (like a clock). And boy could we take it there this week :)

BUT you are probably right --it is doubtful anyone who is cooperating via an approved "paydown" program will get clobbered like that. It would make no sense to do it because no one in the future would cooperate with the state.

It is still sad to see -- because most folks have a family to feed and a house payments to make. Small business is the backbone of this country.

[ApK]

It is still sad to see -- because most folks have a family to feed and a house payments to make. Small business is the backbone of this country.

Yes.
And as someone said, it'll be a nightmare for those folks who had their stuff in the shop at the time. Even if everything goes by the book, getting your stuff back through a state bureaucracy is not likely to be quick or simple.

[greg_tsam]

You spelt BID backwards

Actually I spelt sbid backwards. I got dibs on the Webers and no one else can have them...:whistling:

[Bill Snyder]

Same thing happened to a music store chain (6 or 7 stores) here in Texas. They had collected sales taxes and failed to send them to the state. A payment plan was set up and they did not stick to it.
As far as I know everyone that had an instrument in the stores for repair or could prove that they had been making payments on them, etc. was able to claim their instrument but it took a few months.

[Jeff Chu]

they kind of just threw everything up there didnt they? The strings are a little bit overwhelming. maybe they should have hired someone who knows something about stringed instruments to take care of this...maybe they would get closer to the value the items are actually worth. its kinda wierd to have bass strings, guitar strings, and mandolin strings all bunched together. oh well. still might be worth it.

[barney 59]

Even Senators don't pay their taxes. Even when you don't collect taxes such as a cash sale where you don't use the register the receipts won't jive with the declared inventory.(That you probably declared as a tax write off, maybe) Someone looks and realizes 2 & 2 don't add up and then they really look. Then they go backwards through the years and you can be on the hook for your shenanigans going back a long time. There is no statute of limitations for "fraud". It seems that if the auction is in a few days then customers who had goods confiscated are out of luck.

[jefflester]

Though a sad story, I'm glad this was not a "seizure" of the medical type causing the sale, which was my initial thought based on the subject title. :(

[Barbara Shultz]

I hate to hear this... I've bought several instruments at the Mountain Music Shoppe, and have found Curley & his crew to be great..... I didn't realize, at first, that this was the shop that had been seized!

Barbara

[fiddledoc]

My friend had a violin shop in Kansas seized last year under similar circumstances. It was auctioned by the same firm. They did allow him to seperate customers instruments from stock stuff. I bought 4 bows and 2 double bow cases online and had them shipped to Nashville. I emailed and asked that the bows be packed in the cases(seemed to be obvious). I got the packages with the bows rattling around loose in a large box along with the two empty cases. Amazing the bows arrived in one piece.

[TomTyrrell]

Never safe to assume an auctioneer will carefully pack items for shipping. You can, however, assume there won't be any extra packing material inside the case and usually only enough packing material in the box around the case to keep it from banging around.

Transfer of ownership happened when the gavel came down. No matter what happens to it you can't send it back.

[Michael Cameron]

My mandolin started having seizures;and,I got rid of it.


~:>


PS:Not the Kimble.

[EdSherry]

So -- Did anybody here on the Cafe buy an instrument through this sale? I ended up not bidding, but I'm interested in seeing if others did.

[Mandojulie]

I bought an entry level Cort guitar. I was looking at the fiddles but the prices exceeded my need/budget matrix.

It was fun to be at the auction. I learned a lot and music people are fun to be around.

Who got the ever-so-lucious Bighorn?

Julie

[dougiebe]

I got one of those Danelectro Baritone Guitars via the online bidding. It's a blast to play!

[Eddie Sheehy]

Doug, how did the shipping on that work out?