When an Ebay seller backs out...

[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.