Madera Municipal Code Ch. 3 Jewelry Auction Sales

For the purposes of this chapter, AUCTIONEER shall mean any person who shall at public outcry offer for sale as principal or agent to the highest bidder on the premises any article of merchandise or property.

('61 Code, § 4-3.01) (Ord. 138 N.S., passed - - )

It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or attempt to sell by auction or advertise for sale by auction any goods, wares, or merchandise by falsely representing or pretending that such goods, wares, and merchandise are in whole or in part a bankrupt or insolvent stock, or damaged goods, or goods saved from a fire, or by making any false statement as to the previous history, ownership, quality, or character of such goods, wares, and merchandise.

('61 Code, § 4-3.02) (Ord. 138 N.S., passed - - )

No person shall act in the capacity of or as a capper or shiller at any auction sale or place for conducting public auctions, or offer or make any false bid, or buy or pretend to buy any article sold or offered for sale at any public auction.

('61 Code, § 4-3.03) (Ord. 138 N.S., passed - - )

It shall be unlawful for any person to offer for sale at auction any article and adduce its purchase by any bidder, and then later to substitute any article in lieu of that offered to, and purchased by, the bidder, except with the bidder's knowledge and consent.

('61 Code, § 4-3.04) (Ord. 138 N.S., passed - - )

It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, dispose of, or offer for sale, in the city at public auction, or to cause or permit to be sold, disposed of, or offered for sale in the city at public auction, any platinum, gold, silver or plated ware, precious stones, or semi-precious stones, watches or other jewelry, whether the same shall be their own property or whether they shall sell the same as agents or employees of others, except as provided in § 4-3.06 of this chapter.

('61 Code, § 4-3.05) (Ord. 138 N.S., passed - - )

The provisions of § 4-3.05 shall not apply to:

(A) Judicial sales, or sales by executors or administrators;

(B) Sales by, or on behalf of, licensed pawnbrokers of unredeemed pledges in the manner provided by law; or

(C) The sale at public auction of the stock on hand of any person who shall, for the period of one year next preceding such sale, have been continuously in business in the city as a retail or wholesale merchant of platinum, gold, silver or plated ware, precious stones or semi-precious stones, or watches or other jewelry.

('61 Code, § 4-3.06) (Ord. 138 N.S., passed - - )

Sale at public auction of the stock on hand of such merchants, as provided in subsection § 4-3.06(C), shall be held on successive days, Sundays and legal holidays excepted, and shall not continue for more than 30 days in all from the commencement of the sale, and shall be permitted only where such merchant is disposing of his or her stock for the purpose of retiring from business.

('61 Code, § 4-3.07) (Ord. 138 N.S., passed - - )

Not less than 15 days nor more than 30 days previous to conducting any such sale, as provided in § 4-3.07, the merchant must file with the City Clerk a sworn written application to the Council for a permit so to do, specifying under oath the name and address of the applicant, the location and purpose of the sale and its expected duration, and itemizing in detail the quality, quantity, kind, or grade of each item of goods, wares, and other articles to be sold, the wholesale market value thereof, and the name of the auctioneer who shall conduct the sale.

('61 Code, § 4-3.08) (Ord. 138 N.S., passed - - )

Immediately upon its filing with the City Clerk the application shall be furnished to the Police Chief who shall investigate and report to the Council at the next succeeding Council meeting his or her findings as to the character of the applicant and his or her auctioneer, the bona fide nature of the proposed sale, and whether the place where it is proposed to carry on the sale is a proper place. The Council must also be furnished satisfactory evidence that the jewelry proposed to be sold is a bona fide part of the merchant's stock in trade, and not secured, purchased, or brought into the place of business for, or in anticipation of, the sale. The Council, in considering the application and the attending facts, shall exercise a reasonable and sound discretion in granting or denying the permit applied for.

('61 Code, § 4-3.09) (Ord. 138 N.S., passed - - )

In no event shall any auction sale of jewelry be conducted at public auction between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.

('61 Code, § 4-3.10) (Ord. 138 N.S., passed - - )

The applicant must furnish and file with the Council, prior, to the granting of any such permit, a bond issued by a surety company authorized to do business in the state, in the principal sum of $1,000, or a bond in cash in the sum of $1,000, for the faithful performance of the provisions of this chapter, which bond shall be payable to the city and which bond shall be approved by the Council and filed in the office of the City Clerk. The bond may be cancelled and terminated within not less than six months from the date of termination of the auction upon proper proof being made to the City Clerk, whose statement of termination and cancellation shall be evidence thereof. If the bond shall be cash, the cash shall be returned to the person furnishing the same within not less than six months from the date of termination of the auction upon the same terms and conditions.

('61 Code, § 4-3.11) (Ord. 138 N.S., passed - - )

(A) For every violation of this chapter, the applicant shall, in addition to any other penalties provided by law, forfeit to the city the sum of $250, which shall be recoverable on the bond.

(B) The applicant shall, under the bond, be responsible and liable for the acts of any auctioneer or crier employed in carrying out the auction sale.

(C) The permit granted under this chapter shall not be transferable, nor shall the same be loaned or used by any other person.

('61 Code, § 4-3.12) (Ord. 138 N.S., passed - - )

(A) Each applicant, or his or her auctioneer, must keep a record book in which he or she must enter all sales, the amount paid, and the date of each sale, which book must be open at all times for the inspection of the Police Department. The record book shall be filed with the City Clerk upon the termination of the auction, to be held by the City Clerk in the City Clerk's office for public inspection for a period of not less than six months, and to be delivered by the City Clerk to the applicant personally, or forwarded by United States mail, postage prepaid, upon the termination of the six-month period.

(B) It shall be the duty of the person whose merchandise is thus being sold at public auction to give each and every purchaser of an article, the selling price of which amounts to, or exceeds, the sum of $2.50, an invoice containing a full description of the article and the selling price thereof, together with a statement giving each and every warranty under which the article was sold. Duplicate copies of the invoices shall be kept.

('61 Code, § 4-3.13) (Ord. 138 N.S., passed - - )

It shall be unlawful for any person, other than an applicant who shall have complied with the terms of this chapter, to hold, conduct, carry on, or maintain any auction room or place for holding public auction sales, or to advertise the same, or to conduct, carry on, or maintain any sale of goods by public auction, bona fide or otherwise.

('61 Code, § 4-3.14) (Ord. 138 N.S., passed - - )

(A) Any person aggrieved or damaged by any act of an auctioneer in the city in violation of, or contrary to, the provisions of this chapter may have an action against such auctioneer and the bond for such auction.

(B) Any fines paid by any person under the provisions of this chapter for any violation thereof shall be paid into the treasury of the city for the use of the general fund of the city.

('61 Code, § 4-3.15) (Ord. 138 N.S., passed - - )

The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to any auction held for charitable or benevolent purposes, or for any church fair, festival, or bazaar.

('61 Code, § 4-3.16) (Ord. 138 N.S., passed - - )