Over the past year, hundreds of you have asked Whistleblower for help. While we can't investigate each tip, we want to share more of what you tell us. In 2009, we started publishing a few tips each week to stimulate online discussion and create ways for our readers to help each other. Unlike our news stories, we have not verified this information. If you have a tip, send it to whistleblower@startribune.com.

A woman thought she would get paid after bringing some clothes to a Richfield consignment store. But when she picked up the items that hadn't sold, she was told that a $14 skirt couldn't be found. The store owner told her that it had likely been shoplifted. When she asked what the store owner would do to compensate her, she was told the store wasn't "liable for anything like that."

"Seems like a very convenient policy," the woman wrote to Whistleblower. "How am I to know that this isn't an excuse? What if the item had been sold and the owner just didn't want to give me the money?" The woman wants to know: "Is this just the nature of the consignment business?" What are your experiences with selling clothes on consignment?