When an Ebay seller backs out...

[UnVme7]

I've had this happen twice in the last month where the seller didn't like the price and automatically refunded my money.

It just happened to me tonight where I bought something for a few hundred dollars that happened to be worth a few thousand dollars. Someone had then told the seller what value the item was after the auction ended and he then refunded my money and 10 minutes later, relisted the item.

I'm guessing I'm SOL on that, right? There really isn't anything that I can do except complain to Ebay which would result in...well, nothing, correct?

[Rollingstone206]

...

[the 'stache]

Report the seller. That's just terrible. The seller entered into a legally binding contract with you. I'm sure one of our attorneys can answer this definitively, but I would think this amounts to breach of contract.

Now, will Ebay do anything about this? It's doubtful. But you should try nonetheless.

[irishdenny]

Where's he reside at?
Joey bagadonuts & da boys could use a road trip...
We'll let ya know when the jobs done & where ta deposit
the clams.

[HexsHeroes]

.
... you should report the seller. Perhaps even consider suggestion of legal action, especially if buyer & seller reside in different states. Then becomes a federal interstate issue I believe. My very limited general business law knowledge also leads me to believe that consideration was tendered, so that the seller did entered into a legally binding contract with you. But refusal/refunding of that payment might negate the consideration accepted portion of the conract. I also have to believe that eBay has insulated itself (and possibly the seller) with provisions somewhere in all the fine print to the user/member agreement terms that we all agreed to, inorder to use eBay services and products. Just my two cents worth . . .

[steve B]

Yes, report them as a non-performing seller. The one I had that did that claimed through Ebays messge system that they had sold the cards on Friday but "didn't have the time to remove them" Before it ended Monday.

They did offer a discount on their other stuff which was all crap. Framed but uncerted autographs and a few modern cards.

They got banned, although not a hard ban since their other stuff was allowed to finish. And of course, they probably rejoined with a new name.

Steve B

[Leon]

Originally Posted by HexsHeroes

.
... you should report the seller. Perhaps even consider suggestion of legal action, especially if buyer & seller reside in different states. Then becomes a federal interstate issue I believe. My very limited general business law knowledge also leads me to believe that consideration was tendered, so that the seller did entered into a legally binding contract with you. But refusal/refunding of that payment might negate the consideration accepted portion of the conract. I also have to believe that eBay has insulated itself (and possibly the seller) with provisions somewhere in all the fine print to the user/member agreement terms that we all agreed to, inorder to use eBay services and products. Just my two cents worth . . .

And my tiny bit of understanding of law tells me a lot of what you said is correct BUT at the end of the day no way would this be worth the trouble to sue. I would probably disagree with the refund negating the contract unless it was a mutually agreeable refund. I do think it's a legally binding contract but in 15 yrs on ebay I am not sure I have heard of anyone pursue a matter like this (I am sure it's been done but rarely) in the courts. I would report him to ebay and move on.

[Exhibitman]

Please 'out' the seller; without that info we cannot boycott him, and that is probably the best weapon we have with eBay.

[Republicaninmass]

Do we devote a thread to it?

I'm not sure if it matter because at the right price, it seems people dont care who they do business with

[calvindog]

I think that's the problem -- the right price will result in a voided auction.

[UnVme7]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Do we devote a thread to it?

I'm not sure if it matter because at the right price, it seems people dont care who they do business with

Completely agree. If someone wants an item bad enough, they'll pay for it regardless of how many people the seller screws. Just ask that probstein character.

As for last nights issue, I threw the word "attorney" and a few other words I didn't know the meaning of and he decided to honor the original auction. Now, if I get an empty package, we will have problems.

Thank you all. I was just curious to know if there was anything one could do if the seller wasnt cooperating. I was getting tired of this happening once every 2 months. Long story short, nothing can be done and move on, or threaten them :-)

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by UnVme7

Completely agree. If someone wants an item bad enough, they'll pay for it regardless of how many people the seller screws. Just ask that probstein character.

As for last nights issue, I threw the word "attorney" and a few other words I didn't know the meaning of and he decided to honor the original auction. Now, if I get an empty package, we will have problems.

Thank you all. I was just curious to know if there was anything one could do if the seller wasnt cooperating. I was getting tired of this happening once every 2 months. Long story short, nothing can be done and move on, or threaten them :-)

I think you did exactly the right thing in these circumstances. I have heard of cases where the $$$ involved was enough that it made sense to take legal action (against the seller, not against eBay who, as was alluded to earlier, are well-insulated against this sort of thing). In some cases, such as this one, just the threat of legal action is enough to bring the seller to their senses. In others, perhaps a letter from your attorney would have done the job. In any case, you're left to pursue the matter yourself, as eBay will never FORCE a seller to hand over something they've sold. They won't allow the seller to keep the item AND your money, but as far as eBay is concerned, refunding your money in full, closing the case, and removing/disavowing all knowledge of the original listing is the end of the matter.

I have also heard of isolated cases where the buyer informed a reluctant seller that they would be there shortly to pick the item up in person, and then got on a plane and did so. Obviously the $$$ involved would have to be enough to make sense in those circumstances as well, but you'd be surprised how much less resistance to fulfilling their end of the deal there is when the distance between parties is a couple of feet rather than a couple thousand miles.

I might also add that there are circumstances such as was described in one of the other replies where an item legitimately sells through another channel and was not removed from eBay before it sold there as well (whether due to forgetfulness or bad timing). I've done it myself on multiple occasions, or mistakenly re-listed something that sold previously. That clearly isn't the case here, or else he wouldn't have re-listed it a few minutes later, but just wanted to throw that in there for anyone else who may be reading this thread to say that sometimes mistakes do happen.

[Republicaninmass]

Recently happen to me where I won an item. The seller stated it was shipped and it must have gotten lost. After pressuring him, I learned someone had contacted him, and offered 10x than I paid!

[sporteq]

Originally Posted by UnVme7

I've had this happen twice in the last month where the seller didn't like the price and automatically refunded money

This bullsh!t happened to me last night, I'm so pissed!! Seller said, the item was sold a few weeks ago... What a liar! I did a search, nothing. I asked for the item number, no response... Whatever!

Al

[Gorilla777]

I'm sure it's easy for you to deduce who it might be that felt like running a cock block move, huh? Anyone you've had a tiff with that wants to get back at you. If you're talking about a game used bat, it's a small industry, for the most part....

[Gorilla777]

As Tony Soprano said, "Revenge is a dish best served with cold cuts"

[drcy]

Let me know when the poster wins the court case for lost profits. Chatboard legal arguments do not a court ordered bank check make, especially when in the real world a federal case starts with finding out how much a lawyer costs.

In the real world the best thing to do is, if founded in fact, to publicize the offending sellers and tamperers so future buyers are aware of their level of hobby ethics.

Of course, collectors will still deal with these people when they have the goods, but that's a major problem with this hobby. Personally, I'm lazy and won't spend the time and effort bidding in an auction where I know the seller may back out. There are better things I can do with my time, such as watching Gilligan's Island or playing Yahtzee.

[Runscott]

If you click 'Find a member', the resulting screen then adds 'by bidder' under the 'Items' search area. I guess ebay missed that.

I was just messing around trying to find what Albert lost out on last night, but only found a couple of $10 boxing cards that ended back on May 27. I guess one of those deals went sideways - sorry to hear that, Albert.

[sporteq]

Was a different ebay user name.. Thanks for looking. This is becoming a new fad with sellers.

Albert

[glchen]

Frankly, I would just neg the seller, put 1's in the DSR's and move on. This happens all of the time with nonpayment from ebay buyers, so I consider this the same thing. I don't think anyone threatens ebay buyers who don't pay with lawsuits.

[ullmandds]

Originally Posted by glchen

Frankly, I would just neg the seller, put 1's in the DSR's and move on. This happens all of the time with nonpayment from ebay buyers, so I consider this the same thing. I don't think anyone threatens ebay buyers who don't pay with lawsuits.

can you even neg the seller?????

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by Runscott

trying to find what Albert lost out on last night

This is problematic when trying to find items that just ended as ebay now hides completed listings from search results for 24 hours after the item ends, and I think this applies when searching users' buying histories as well. If you have the item saved in your watch list or know the item number, you can still pull it up, but it won't turn up in search results for 24 hours, even if you type in the exact title.

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

This is problematic when trying to find items that just ended as ebay now hides completed listings from search results for 24 hours after the item ends, and I think this applies when searching users' buying histories as well. If you have the item saved in your watch list or know the item number, you can still pull it up, but it won't turn up in search results for 24 hours, even if you type in the exact title.

This way you can tell if a board member contacted the seller within that window... wmoments after you started a thread about the good deal you just got (had)

[UnVme7]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

This way you can tell if a board member contacted the seller with that window when you start a thread about the good deal you just got (had)

At the time I started the thread, the seller had already given me a refund. The whole purpose of the thread was to see if there was anything that could be done about a seller backing out.

In the meantime, some punk reached out to the seller and told him he sold the item for too little.

It's all fine. I don't care about the bat now for multiple reasons, and the person who contacted the seller is clearly clueless. I really just care about the person who contacted the seller, that's all at this point. That was such a crummy thing to do.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

I'll play the legal claim game. My vote is going after the third party for intentional interference with a contract.