Online Auction of Pickleball Rocks Inventory

Christy’s of Indiana is currently holding an online auction to sell off the entire inventory of the now-defunct Pickleball Rocks business. Jack Christy, Jr., the owner of the Indiana auction house, anticipates a successful auction due to the current high demand for pickleball gear. Spread across 7,000 square feet of storage space at Christy’s, the inventory includes a wide array of pickleball items such as hats, shirts, balls, nets, promotional magnets, license plate frames, and a significant number of paddles. Notably, there are 3,200 carbon fiber paddles, mostly bundled in lots of four to attract individual buyers and players.

The auction aims to maximize proceeds by keeping the lots small, appealing to end users and recreational players. This strategy is crucial as the funds generated from the auction will go towards compensating victims of a significant pickleball investment scam. Rodney Grubbs, the former owner of Pickleball Rocks, had enticed numerous investors with promises of high returns through promissory notes, which ultimately led to his bankruptcy. Grubbs' total debt amounts to approximately $47 million, and the auction proceeds will be a small part of the effort to recover some of these losses for the investors.

Attorney Matthew Foster, representing over 300 investors, has been diligently investigating Grubbs' financial activities but has found no substantial hidden assets. The remaining assets include the pickleball business inventory and some properties in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Foster estimates that the sale of these assets will generate around $2 million, offering a minimal recovery of about 3-5% for the creditors. This auction marks a critical step in the ongoing process to provide some compensation to the defrauded investors, despite the overall grim outlook on recovering the full amount owed.