Legal Question in Business Law in Pennsylvania

Reselling Merchandise on ebay

I was laid off by my employer Dec 30th 2005. I contacted a sales agent still under contract to my employer and arranged to buy his sales samples which the agent bought and paid for at 50% off wholesale. I began selling them on ebay for 25% off wholesale AFTER 12/30/05. My old employer threatened to fire the sales agent for selling them to me, so the agent asked me to remove the unsold items from ebay and return the samples. Since I had not yet paid for them (we had a verbal agreement that I would pay him in 90 days), I complied with his request.

My ex employer then wrote me and told me that I was obligated to inform him of my intention and forbid the agent to sell me his samples. My question is this - is my ex employer allowed to do this? Was I obligated to inform him of my actions after I no longer worked for him?

One of the issues is that I was selling for less than the retail during my ex employer's customer's regular selling season. Is this an issue?

Thank you.


Asked on 1/24/06, 9:15 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mark Johns Mark Johns, Esquire

Re: Reselling Merchandise on ebay

If you had no contractual obligation to refrain from this type of activity, you most likely were doing nothing wrong. You should speak to an attorney to discuss your rights and responsibilities. I offer free consultations.

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Answered on 1/24/06, 9:23 am


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