SCOTTS MILLS, Ore. - Lots of people turn to eBay or Craigslist to sell stuff they don't need, but one local couple decided on a live auction and what happened may shock you.

For Rick Schnacky's wife, Raeanne, every breath is a struggle. "I have COPD, which is a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease," she explained.

Doctors have given her six months to live so Rick, an artist, closed his small art gallery in Scotts Mills. "She is terminal and my main concern was not to have to deal with anything but just spend quality time that I have with her," he said.

Rick decided to auction off the gallery's contents, plus the couple's many antiques, so they would have money to live on. He turned to auctioneer Rocky Cook after seeing an ad that stated "let our 40 years of experience work for you."

"I thought, here's a man who's real knowledgeable and won't be so callous giving away something so valuable," he said.

Rick said he asked Rocky whether bidders would go to an art auction in the middle of rural Marion County. "He says 'Don't worry about it - I have Internet connections. I have buyers that follow me to every auction.  You don't have a problem,'" Rick said.

So Rick filled the gallery with 90 rented chairs.  Only 20 people actually showed up and that 20 included Rocky's crew. Rick had expected between 50 and 150 people would show up, which he said is what Rocky had told him his auctions usually draw.

"They'd never had that many people in town before, so I don't know why they'd expect that," Rocky told us when we asked him about it.  "There was nothing said of the sort."

It is true - there is no promise of attendance on the contract or any promised profit.

Between his antiques and artwork, Rick estimated he had about $80,000 worth of merchandise based on his research and what prices he was charging at the gallery.  He said he was satisfied, though, with what he said Rocky promised him. "When I hired him, he said 'Yeah, I can get you $30,000 to $40,000 at least for it," he said.

"I told him going into that auction that it wasn't going to bring a lot of money," said Rocky.  "We knew that.  There's no art connoisseurs.  There were none there."

As you probably guessed by now, the auction did not go well.  The Schnackys said Rocky told them not to attend, so we went in search of someone who did.

Frank Ashley owns an antique store and does not know Rick and Raenne.  He goes to a lot of auctions and said he felt shut out of this one. "We were back and forth and all of a sudden the guy said 'sold.'  And I thought, oh, I'm in.  Then someone else won it and it went for less money than I was bidding," he said.

Frank said the artwork at the auction went cheap to a few key bidders.  For example, a lithograph that retailed in Rick's gallery for $1,000 sold for just $10.

"He sold four of my photos for $5," said Mary Akey, a local photographer.  She said the total value of the photos was between $300 and $500.

"Everybody wants to say 'what is this worth?' It's worth what it will bring in our business," explained Rocky.

So how much did the Schnackys end up making from auctioning off more than 300 antiques and pieces of art?  The auction proceeds were $2,602.50 and after Rocky charged them $2,378.02 for commission, advertising and labor, the couple received a check for $224.48.

"I am absolutely speechless," said Rick.  "I mean, I am flabbergasted.  This is just totally inconceivable that this could even happen."

"Mr. Schnacky knew the consequences when he went into this," said Rocky.  "He said he didn't care what it brought.  He told me he didn't care what it brought because he had no place to put the merchandise."

The Schnackys are not the only dissatisfied customers.  They and two other people who had Rocky run auctions for them have filed complaints with the Oregon Attorney General. 

However, the Attorney General cannot help them because they say the cases are simple contract disputes. Unlike Washington and Idaho, Oregon does not require auctioneers to be licensed.  There is a voluntary association, the Oregon Auctioneers Association, which holds members to certain standards, but Rocky is not a member.

"I'm convinced they couldn't sell it, so they're doing this to try and intimidate me into paying what they wanted for those items," said Rocky.

Obviously, there are two very different accounts of the same auction.  Before you consider auctioning off your possessions, make sure you do the following:

• Check if the auctioneer has any complaints with the Attorney General's Office.
• Call the owners involved in the last few auctions.
• Get a very detailed contract, including exact costs for advertising and labor.
• Consider hiring a member of the Auctioneers Association.  Oregon's has a review process to handle complaints.
• If you have something of great value, you may want to sell it yourself so you can control the final asking price.