Had 341 today - not too bad

[demismom]

Looks like we got a good Trustee, at least he was at the 341. Very relaxing and VERY informal. He even kidded the attorney that he felt under dressed in front of him! LOL

Anyway, he wants me to do a print out of our inventory values and NOT GARAGE SALE values. So all of you whose attorney's told you that, beware. That's NOT necessarily the case. He wants us to show him anything worth over $200 on there.

[JRScott]

Good Luck

Did he continue your 341?

How long did he give you?

Was this your personal assets or the inventory for a business?

[demismom]

JR - he continued it, but I don't remember for how long. Not long though, I told him I could get the info to him by the end of this week. It was our inventory for the business. I was worried about that, but at this point, I say come and get it!

[BKTango]

Well at least you passed one hurdle, let's hope he's just as relaxing with the list you give him lol.

The pricing is much likes the laws/rules/codes. it can vary state to state, district to district, trustee to trustee. Some want up to date pricing, some prefer quick sale/garage sale type pricing. It also depends hugely on just by glancing if it's personal or business related and if they can tell you have some pretty nice things.

I look around my home and most of the stuff was bought at garage sales, how does one value a couch from 1974? .

Also some of the lawyers/trustees do want to know if you have anything over the value of a certain amount besides vehicles, home etc. Our lawyer wanted to know if we had any ONE item worth more than $300. Of course looking at our list one would think we are poorer than church mice.

[demismom]

BK - I worry though that we'll get in trouble because our attorney said to value them for quick sale/pawn shop prices. We did that and nothing is worth much if you try to sell it to a pawn shop. BUT now that we know he wants retail value that changes things drastically. I don't want him thinking we were trying to hid inventory. We weren't, we just did as we were told and a lot of people on here suggested that their attorneys told them the same thing, evidently that's not always the case.

I'm supposed to email it to him, do you think it would be prudent to explain what our attorney told us to do and that's why our inventory looked so low, when in fact if you wait for the "right buyer" you can get good money for our stuff?

[BKTango]

Honestly I don't know if you should tell hom or not. Depending on how old this stuff is, wanting retail prices seems kinda odd to me.

I mean....if you have a piece of equipment that's 3 years old and you paid $350 the day you bought it. I don't care who you are or what it is, no one will pay that for something 3 yrs old. I guess maybe he wants more reasonable prices since it is business equipment and not so much cheap pricing. For example the same piece of equipment, if you could sale it at a garage sale today for $50 but really you know it's worth and can be sold for $150 then I guess that is more to what he is looking for.

I would list the items, the year it was purchased to show age and then list a fair reasonable value. Don't cheapen it to satisfy him, but don't shoot yourself in the foot either. It seems he's a bit of a stickler and just wants to see if they can squeak out a few bucks from you. It honestly may be nothing to really worry about, just make your list as simple and fair to you both as possible. He may really only be doing this just because it was business inventory and not personal.

[demismom]

Oh no, he wants to know what our inventory that is for SALE today is worth. The attorney said he's just digging, but we told them it was worth around $4700 at a garage sale/pawn shop (which was how we were told to value it). It's actually worth around $7000! That's a HUGE difference.

[Lindsay]

What is the inventory for an eBay or small store? Or does he just mean the big things like equipment or very valuable inventory?

[demismom]

He said anything over $200 individually. We have quite a bit, but I guess I don't know how much is exempted, my attorney just told me that when we gave her the figure of $4700 it was covered, now I'm not so sure how much MORE is covered?

[JRScott]

Of your inventory, I mean of the 7000 dollars, how many items worth 200 dollars or more.

I'd just list those items, maybe it won't be as bad

[freshstart06]

BKtango made a good point, I mean it all depends on how old the stuff is as well. The trustees already know we use garage sale prices, heck it is no secret. You will not be in trouble. I honestly, don't know if I would state $7000 I would say in between. the stuff has not be appraised so how would you know and how can you sell it at retail price if it isn't new, I would be that in a statement to my lawyer. No offense to you because it isn't your fault but all the money paid to lawyers they should help you out of this.

[demismom]

Some are antique lamps and lighting. We've been buying and selling it for 15 years, so we know the value and we know what the market will bear. We know what dealers will pay and we know what the collector will pay. $7000 is bare minimum, it could be higher, it could be lower, but I doubt by much. He asked for all of them, but wanted me to highlight the ones that were over $200. I emailed the list to my attorney and she said "DO NOT SEND THIS OFF TO THE TRUSTEE until I speak with you on the phone tomorrow. I gots a feeling she's worried about a few things.

[cathywhite4495]

From what I've read about pricing, you put down how much it would cost for you to replace the item. For furniture you would like at used furniture store prices and not new prices. My Nolo book also said to use Ebay for items. Could you use that to see the midrange of how much the items would go for? Or do you have to say antique or could you get away with "old." It stinks that your attorney told you the wrong thing in the first place! At least your trustee sounds like a decent person.