Posted By:
Josh K.Ok, and now a lawyer's initial thought - w/o doing any research on the relevant legal issues:
1. A valid contract was entered into - An offer to buy a card for a specified price was accepted by the seller. For you non-lawyers, a contract requires only offer, acceptance and consideration (ie the item being exchanged in this case). In case anyone is wondering, with few exceptions, contracts do not have to be in writing (though it sure helps prove things when problems arise).
2. Its not illegal to offer someone money to end an auction and sell you an item off line (though as noted above, it is against ebay rules, and could get you kicked off ebay). Thus, the contract is not void.
3. The seller breached the contract by not selling the item as agreed.
4. If it were me, and it was a rare enough item, I would consider suing for specific performance (i.e. forcing the seller to go through with the sale) (I would also consider seeking an injunction to stop the current ebay sale). Contrary to the opinions above that there are no damages, no recourse, or that a small claims judge would simply say "you got a refund", I think if you could prove that it was not reasonably possible to obtain the card by other means, there are damages and that you could force the sale. Of course, this all would require a lot of money which ultimately might make the whole idea of suing cost prohibitive.
So the question is, how important is it to you. Is it worth spending thousands of dollars in legal fees? If so, you very well may have some recourse available to you.