Originally Posted by
Haywood_Milton
Ignorance of the watch's status / acting in good faith are no defence of your legal position with regard to title / liability to the "purchaser."
Though you may not have known that you did not have title to sell it, the fact may be that you did not. As such, you could not pass title to the "purchaser" and he has a valid legal claim against you for the full amount of monies paid to you for same.
This is a most unfortunate and not uncommon example of why private sales can be fraught with risks. You can end up "holding the baby" and bearing the loss, as well as ending up without a watch to show for it!
In this position, there are a few steps I would go through, none of which will happen quickly.
Ask for the circumstances of the claimed loss, police investigation etc. If it was a domestic theft, for example, what proof was there that it was not a case of collusion? I am peripherally involved with about 800 high-end watch insurance claims every year, acting as advisor / salvage expert. Many of these are in fact fraudulent claims, where the owner has reported his watch stolen, claimed on the insurance and then sold it, for example. You need to push for proof that this cannot be what happened in this instance.
If it is a black and white case ( a recorded robbery from a shop, for example ), you have few places to turn. Unfortunately you then need to refund the purchaser and it cannot be acceptable to say that you don't have the money right now. He may be in exactly the same position financially and it is sad but true that you have a moral and certainly legal liability to him.
I do wonder if the savings made from private purchases are so great as to make these risks worthwhile. I say this not to annoy at a time when you least need it, but because private "forum" trades are celebrated by many as safe when they really may not be.
Good will and knowing the seller do not protect you from all risks.
I wish you luck --- you appear not to have had it so far.
Haywood Milton