Originally Posted by
The_Cretin
If the guy is paying restitution then recovering the stolen goods from those who purchased them may not be necessary. Otherwise, the victim may be recovering twice (getting the goods back plus the proceeds from their sale).
I don't know, first off, he might not be able to pay the court judgment. Even if he does, you have to factor in the lost profit on the sale that could have been made by the shop, cost to restock the product after it was stolen, devaluation when trying to sell the reclaimed bike, appropriateness of punitive damages, etc. I can think of a lot of good reasons why they should get the bike back AND get its value.