What does it take for a company to sue someone in another state

A company can very easily bring a claim in another state. Alternatively, if you have sufficient contacts with the state that the company is based in, the company could sue you in that state. That being said, your question seems to imply whether you could be held liable for making a grievance known by posting it in public. You'll be pleased to know that as long as everything you have said is true, you cannot be held liable. You have a right to freedom of speach. Just imagine if you couldn't make a negative opinion known, we would have no food critics, movie reviews, etc.. Based on your representations, I beleive the company should be more worried about improving its customer service than suing you.

I take it that you're in CT and the auction house is in another state.

The answer is more complicated that you might think. It's a Constitutional issue, with the question generally being whether you have sufficient "minimum contacts" with the state where the suit is brought such that it's fair to require you to defend there.

These minimum contacts can occur in many ways. For example, it's possible that, in buying the goods at issue, you agreed (possibly without realizing it) that any litigation over the goods would be brought in a particular state. That could lead to questions whether a defamation action is covered by that agreement.

Aside from a contract, the next most obvious thing is whether your publication of your web site, which is available in that state, subjects you to jurisdiction. Different states may have different rules on this, but it's pretty well recognized these days that just posting something on a web site doesn't create jurisdiction in any state where the site can be seen.

Finally, you might have offices, bank accounts, etc. in that state. There's no indication from your question that you do.

In the end, these jurisdictional questions are complex, very fact specific, and can vary state by state.

I hope this helps