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Pensioner who cancelled sale eBay is ordered to pay £11,600

watchyouwant
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Archer Archer
Seems like the seller didn’t verify the condition before he put it up for sale. First mistake.

When he received bids, which are binding, he ended the auction. Mistake #2.

When the highest bidder, who he has entered into a contract of sorts with until that person is outbid, he cancels the sale and ignores messages from the high bidder. Mistake #3.

It will be interesting to see how his demands on eBay goes...I suspect they will tell him to pound sand, and they would be right to do so.

I know it’s the forum pastime here to crap on eBay, but the seller is really the one responsible for this. Policies do not override laws.

Always end eBay auctions with explanation: "Was Broken" . eBay does not see the merchandise. I'm the Owner. I can throw it in the trash, trample on it, strap it to an New year Fireworks rocket and aim for the Moon ....
 
Arancio601
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Often you see people state "this item is listed elsewhere. I reserve the right to end this auction early" or something to that effect. Is that legal or effective then?

I am of the mind you start your auctions at what you would be ok with getting. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Definitely backfired for this seller. I agree if it was truly broken he should have replied to the highest bidder's messages.
 
Dsloan
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This story makes my brain hurt. Does anyone around know how international trade law works between UK and EU? Does it make sense at all that a German civil ruling would be enforceable in the UK?

Is this pro Brexit propaganda designed to make me angry about EU trade laws? I'm in the US but I suddenly have opinions on the matter for some reason.
 
noelekal
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No matter what errors the Ebay seller may have committed, no matter the ruling of the court, the buyer is an amoral fink for extracting funds from the seller in such a manner.
 
Dsloan
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noelekal noelekal
No matter what errors the Ebay seller may have committed, no matter the ruling of the court, the buyer is an amoral fink for extracting funds from the seller in such a manner.

Would you like to refuse to sell me a DON speedy? After you say no to the sale, I plan to then take you to court and force you to pay for me to get a really expensive example in better condition than the one you refused to sell me.

Is the logic here actually that ridiculous? 😲
 
Tony C.
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noelekal noelekal
amoral fink

As it happens, "amoral fink" is an anagram of "a frail monk", which leads me to the following question: might it be possible that the buyer is both? 😁
 
RevZMan123
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Dsloan Dsloan
Is this pro Brexit propaganda designed to make me angry about EU trade laws?
According to the article I read it says that this was part of law left in after Brexit.
 
Dsloan
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RevZMan123 RevZMan123
According to the article I read it says that this was part of law left in after Brexit.

Ok, new plan then. Any German forum members want to go on a new business venture with me?
 
JwRosenthal
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Dsloan Dsloan
Would you like to refuse to sell me a DON speedy? After you say no to the sale, I plan to then take you to court and force you to pay for me to get a really expensive example in better condition than the one you refused to sell me.

Is the logic here actually that ridiculous? 😲
I seriously don’t understand how this legally works. This happens with real estate all the time where someone (either party) backs out of the deal. Can a potential buyer demand that a seller compensate them for the value of a comparable home after they took it off the market?
 
Archer
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JwRosenthal JwRosenthal
I seriously don’t understand how this legally works. This happens with real estate all the time where someone (either party) backs out of the deal. Can a potential buyer demand that a seller compensate them for the value of a comparable home after they took it off the market?

59AD86EC-49DA-49A8-B48A-85213BD08B8A.jpeg


A bid in most categories is a binding legal contract between the parties...one exception is real estate.
 
Olhenry56
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I stopped reading after the article started listing other random shit from eBay, so I might have missed it, but was the judgment that the seller had to either sell the equipment to the plaintiff or else pay the plaintiff for the difference of the value? I hope the judgment at least considered that the equipment was damaged (if in fact it was).

And I get the binding bid from the side of the bidder, but I never thought of a bid as binding the seller at the moment of the bid. Could one not just argue that their spouse or relative offered a higher binding bid off eBay?

Seems like the judge could have just ordered the seller to relist it and give the plaintiff a chance to win it, but that's probably make believe world thinking and not how civil courts work.
 
Omegafanman
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I posted this so people are aware of the rules. I guess if you have a buy it now option set at a ludicrous level that does give a way to end an auction with help from a friend. My frustration with this is that a pensioner ( all be it a naive one) gets flammed but the real dogey geezers can it seems keep stealing images and setting up fake auctions and bids with abandon and never suffer any real consequences. Its like all the money laundering laws. If it gets harder and harder for the little person to do normal stuff while the big money swirls around regardless.
 
Ron_W
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Omegafanman Omegafanman
A spokesman for eBay said: “We discourage sellers from ending auctions early, as listing an item and accepting bids from potential buyers creates a contractual obligation to sell the item.

“However, we understand sellers may occasionally need to cancel an auction and there are legitimate reasons for them to do so, including if the item is lost or broken. If they do end an auction early, sellers need to make sure they have proof of a legitimate reason.”

Weird as i had a winning bid last december on an item, seller accepted but cancelled a day later ; item lost or damaged. Few weeks later it was listed again by the same seller, so i started a case with ebay. They did absolutely nothing about it, stating only " they would take action against the seller but could not disclose what it was" .
T
he second time on auction it was won by a zero feedback buyer, and relisted the next day again. So he was bidding on his own item or the zero feedback bidder was a fraud ? Again i reported this to ebay and i got the same, non specific answer so i gave up on it.
 
Archer
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Olhenry56 Olhenry56
And I get the binding bid from the side of the bidder, but I never thought of a bid as binding the seller at the moment of the bid.

There are such things as unilateral contracts, but I don’t believe that applies here...
 
watchyouwant
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Ron_W Ron_W
Weird as i had a winning bid last december on an item, seller accepted but cancelled a day later ; item lost or damaged. Few weeks later it was listed again by the same seller, so i started a case with ebay. They did absolutely nothing about it, stating only " they would take action against the seller but could not disclose what it was" .
T
he second time on auction it was won by a zero feedback buyer, and relisted the next day again. So he was bidding on his own item or the zero feedback bidder was a fraud ? Again i reported this to ebay and i got the same, non specific answer so i gave up on it.

Relisted= was repaired ..... No chance to open a case with eBay. Again: eBay is an facilitating virtual platform. They never see the merchandise...
 
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