being sued on ebay

samprowse

can anybody help, i will explain

i advertised a jet ski on ebay, sombody bought the item with a fair bid, unfortunately i could not sell the item to them for certain reasons, i explained the reason to the buyer but he says that is not good enough. he is now sueing me for £2000 loss of profits as he says he could sell this jetski on for £2000 moor than what he won the auction for. is he right? does anybody no where i can get advice on this?

BillScarab

This is only my personal opinion but i don't see hwo he can sue you for loss of profits. I would have thought he could possibly sue you for breach of contract though.

I doubt if the techie bard is the best place for this query anyway. Consumer rights board might have a better idea.

Taffybiker

Does this help?

busenbust

Sounds like a long-shot (on his part) IMO. Have you informed Ebay about this?

computershack

When you sell something on Ebay, the seller and the buyer form a contract. Either party is able to sue the other for breach. Obviously the excuse you trotted out is the same as many other people have used in the past and maybe the buyer is sick of hearing them.

The buyer can only sue for costs and damages, i.e a set amount to cover the time taken to find another, not an imaginary profit for something that's not yet even been put up for sale.

ormus

hes just trying it on.
no one in their right mind is going to spend good money chasing a possible court decsion in their favour and then the problem of collecting any moneys due.
and also when you consider the possible distance involved twixt buyer and seller?
do you really think hes going to travel maybe 200/300 miles to a court?

Snakeeyes21

ormus wrote: »

do you really think hes going to travel maybe 200/300 miles to a court?

I would for 2k

Ever heard of loss of bargain, its been through the courts many times.

I doubt if it will happen but the buyer could buy elsewhere then pursue the op for the difference between what they agreed to sell for and what the buyer had to buy for.

But it does just sound like a miffed buyer.

What was the reason for not selling?
cat died? dog got run over?

bristol_pilot

He could buy another jet ski and sue you for the difference in price. Simply deciding for 'some reason' not to sell an item once the contract has been made is a pretty cadish thing to do and yes you are open to being sued if the buyer chooses to pursue the case.

KeithP

OP, try posting on the ebay board.

Lots of knowledgable people there.

JasX

samprowse wrote: »

i advertised a jet ski on ebay, sombody bought the item with a fair bid, unfortunately i could not sell the item to them for certain reasons, i explained the reason to the buyer but he says that is not good enough. he is now sueing me for £2000 loss of profits as he says he could sell this jetski on for £2000 moor than what he won the auction for. is he right? does anybody no where i can get advice on this?

yes he can quite likely sue you for price difference between the price he agreed with you and a 'reasonable' price he now has to pay for a replacement.

-and quite rightly so since you breached a contract, my Lawyer friend tells me if it gets there courts generally take a dim view of those entering contracts then friviously breaking them

m00nie

if it was the other way round and the buyer didnt pay and the item then sold cheaper could the seller sue the original buyer for the difference ??