Most people understand that if you want something, you eventually have to come pick it up.

This homeowner recently found herself in a frustrating situation after offering a vintage China cabinet to her husband’s cousin for free.

The only condition was that he needed to find a truck and enough people to move it because she couldn’t help transport it.

Weeks passed, but every plan fell through and the cabinet never left the house.

Then the homeowner received an offer on the property and suddenly needed the cabinet gone as soon as possible.

After she sold it to someone else, the cousin insisted the cabinet already belonged to him and demanded part of the money.

Here’s how the whole thing played out.

AITA for selling something after agreeing to give it away to a relative and not paying him the proceeds?

I have a vintage China cabinet that I was trying to get rid of. It’s very top-heavy, full of glass, and takes three or four guys and a big truck to move it. I have none of those things.

So I told my husband’s cousin that he could have it if he could find someone who has a truck and maybe three other guys to help lift it. I made it clear that my husband and I would not be providing those services.

For a few weeks, he kept telling me that he might have someone to help him move it, but nothing materialized.

It seemed like all of his plans fell through.

Last week, he told me the latest plan to get someone over fell through.

I really needed to get this thing out of the house so the house could be sold. An offer was made on the house, and it became necessary to put the china cabinet up for sale.

Yesterday, I sold it to someone online. When I told my husband’s cousin, he was furious and demanded that I pay him a share of the proceeds from the sale. In his reasoning, I sold “his” China cabinet, and I had no right to do that.

Ultimately, she gave him a small loan.

I told him that I did not give him anything because he did not have it in his possession. “Possession is 9/10 of ownership,” I told him.

We went back and forth, but he would not budge. In his mind, I sold what he believed was his property, even though it still belonged to me and was in my house. He told me he was desperate and broke and really needed the money.

So after all the shouting and screaming (and trying to get my husband in the middle of things), I agreed to loan him a small amount of what he needed. Still far below what he believed he was entitled to, but enough to shut him up.

AITA?

Eek! It’s easy to see why he was upset, but he didn’t have anything in writing.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a mom who is irate after she gave a group leader money for her daughter’s lunch, only to have him pocket the cash and ask all of the kids to pay their own way.

Let’s see what the folks over at Reddit think she was wrong for selling it.

This is probably true.

This person thinks he’s a user.

According to this comment, she could’ve warned him.

As this reader points out, it didn’t belong to him yet.

The woman went above and beyond by even offering the China cabinet for free in the first place.

So, after weeks of waiting, she had every right to sell something that still belonged to her.

It’s unfortunate that the cousin missed his chance, but that’s not her fault, and she certainly didn’t owe him a share of the proceeds.

As for the money she loaned him, hopefully he proves everyone wrong and pays it back. Based on the way he handled this situation, though, she shouldn’t count on it.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a person who abandoned their own D&D campaign when their friends stopped paying attention.