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Seller backed out after receiving a better offer!!!

carl_east
carl_east Posts: 476 Forumite
in Ebay, auctions, car boot sales, post & parcels
Hi,

Can someone give me some advice on what I can do about a seller who has backed out of an auction please?

I won a mountain bike on ebay last night for £311. This was a bargain price and probably only sold for that little because the frame builder is little known in this country. I thought I had a bargain. About 30 mins later the seller contacts me to say that he sorry but he's agreed to sell the bike for £500 to someone else. He has over 170 feedback so I was shocked to hear this. Basically, I don't think he has another buyer and just doesn't want to sell at this price. I thought I could try and pressure him by making payment so I did but he returned it straight away. My final email to him was to see if he would accept £500 (which I have to wait to get home to find a reply) but this is blackmail to me. I'm a very experienced ebay member but haven't encountered someone unwilling to sell before. This is of great importance to me because it was such a good bargain.

Is there anything that I can do? What are the chances that ebay will cancel his account if I complain. If I know they definitely will then I'll be happy with that. If they don't then I'm the only one who loses.

Is there anything I can do in terms of legal matters?
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Comments

  • Moglex
    Moglex Posts: 1,581 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    It was rather foolish to offer him £500.

    You could threaten to take him to court for "loss of bargain".

    If he believes you it could give him pause for thought. It basically means that because he entered into a contract with you to supply the item, you are allowed to mitigate his breach of contract by buying the equivelant item as reasonably as possible, and he would have to pay you the difference.
  • me4bargains
    me4bargains Posts: 1,750 Forumite
    Moglex wrote:

    You could threaten to take him to court for "loss of bargain".

    If he believes you it could give him pause for thought. It basically means that because he entered into a contract with you to supply the item, you are allowed to mitigate his breach of contract by buying the equivelant item as reasonably as possible, and he would have to pay you the difference.
    You wouldn't win.
    Just like a seller couldn't sue a buyer who backed out.
    Ebay are pretty soft on outrageous sellers who behave like this. I would file a NPS against him and watch his auctions to see if he relists then report him again.
    Whatever you do, and no matter how desperate you are for the bike - DO NOT OFFER HIM MORE MONEY.
    Third time lucky on WW I hope :j
    January: 13st 11lb :eek:, February: 13st 2.5lb, March: 12st 13lb, April: 12st 10.5lb, May: 12st 2lb, June: 12st 1lb, July: 12st 1lb, August: 11st 11lb, September: 11st 10.5lb, October: 11st 12.5lb, Currently 11st 8lb
  • carl_east
    carl_east Posts: 476 Forumite
    Thanks for the advice. I might say that to him tonight. The only reason I offered him £500 was to see if he would take the bait and say yes. If that's the case then it means that he still has the bike to sell. Couldn't really think of anything else. I did also tell him that as a result of winning the auction on the bike I'd already made two more purchases on ebay for some wheels and shifters to upgrade the ones on the bike. I said that I couldn't back out now and that I would be out of pocket for buying two things that I don't need. He didn't care.
  • smartie1976
    smartie1976 Posts: 1,984 Forumite
    Something to note, if you have offered £500, he accepts and you want to proceed, think about how you are paying.

    £500 is a lot of money to carry for a local pick up.
    If you are paying by Paypal, MAKE SURE you get an ammended invoice for the full £500 - don't let him just tack it onto the postage as should there be any repercussions (ie chargeback if it's faulty) you'll only get the purchase amount minus postage amount.


    Edit/ Seller has only 3 sales under his belt.
    Looks likely he's trying it on because it went for less than he wanted.
    A big fat red neg on his profile will scupper that account good an proper.
    Start a non-performing seller alert as soon as you know either way.
    It's BOUGHT (to Buy), not BROUGHT (to bring) AND you cannot be frauded, only DEfrauded.

    Please do not buy animals from a pet store. Visit your local sanctuary or centre and give a good home to an unloved or abandoned animal.
  • smartie1976
    smartie1976 Posts: 1,984 Forumite
    Further thoughts

    As he's not sold much and seems quite inexperienced, why don't you tell him that this sale is legally binding and he has to complete. You and I know this to be untrue but the seller may not.
    It's BOUGHT (to Buy), not BROUGHT (to bring) AND you cannot be frauded, only DEfrauded.

    Please do not buy animals from a pet store. Visit your local sanctuary or centre and give a good home to an unloved or abandoned animal.
  • Moglex
    Moglex Posts: 1,581 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    me4bargains wrote:
    You wouldn't win.
    ??? On what basis do you say that?

    If you believe that and ever try to pull out of a transaction as a seller, you could be in for a very nasty surprise, believe me.

    It happened to one person who reported it on a forum (Can't find the link - anyone remember, he'd sold to a solicitor) and cost him several hundred pounds.
    Just like a seller couldn't sue a buyer who backed out.
    Who says?
    Ebay are pretty soft on outrageous sellers who behave like this.
    Ebay have nothing whatsover to do with sueing people.

    ebay is a private company.

    People are sued using the court system.
  • Moglex
    Moglex Posts: 1,581 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    smartie1976 wrote:
    You can I know thins to be untrue but the seller may not.
    In English, please?
  • smartie1976
    smartie1976 Posts: 1,984 Forumite
    "you and I know THIS" not thins.
    Simple typo.
    It's BOUGHT (to Buy), not BROUGHT (to bring) AND you cannot be frauded, only DEfrauded.

    Please do not buy animals from a pet store. Visit your local sanctuary or centre and give a good home to an unloved or abandoned animal.
  • Moglex
    Moglex Posts: 1,581 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    smartie1976 wrote:
    "you and I know THIS" not thins.
    Simple typo.
    I must be going mad. I tried all sorts of ways to make that work but omitted the most obvious one.

    I'm not sure that it isn't true, though.

    It would need to be tested in court, but the only case I know of resulted in the seller having to pay the buyer.
  • soolin
    soolin Posts: 74,449 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    We cover the 'does a seller legally have to sell' issue before, and no one has ever managed to prove conclusively that a buyer has ever managed to sue a seller for loss of bargain.

    We can't even sue a shop, otherwise many of us on here would have out TV and DVD packages from two major high street retailers that we all bought *and* paid for a couple of years back, and never received.

    There is also a thead running on ebay.Ca at the moment:

    http://forums.ebay.ca/thread.jspa?threadID=500013413&tstart=0&mod=1160006354509
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the eBay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales, Boost Your Income, Praise, Vents & Warnings, Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning , UK Holidays, Days Out & Entertainments boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know.. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
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