[drc]

Until the buyer pays for it, the consignor is the owner of the lot. The auction house facilitates the sale, charging a fee for the service, but never owns the lot. Obviously, a contract will have agreed upon ground rules and time lines for sale and payments-- for examples, a consignor can't pull a lot in the middle of an auction, an unsold lot is to be promptly relisted, unpaid for lot goes to the underbidder or a bidder has to allow at least 30 days before receiving payment .

If the late lots have not been paid for, they still belong to the consignor, even if they were shipped a year ago. I don't see why the consignor can't go to the non-payer's house and pick up his stiff. If the buyer never paid, the items certainly don't belong to him and some might label the items as stolen property.

Beyond the practical pitfalls of shipping early (the buyer might not pay), I don't believe the auction house has a right to ship before payment. Unless there is contact details allowing the practice, the lot isn't theirs to ship before payment. Once purchased (paid for) by the winner, then the lot should be promptly given to the new owner.