Is a seller on Ebay legally obliged to sell ?

Equaliser123

Greatgimp wrote: »

All very nice with 'you must do this...', 'they must do that...', and 'you can do this if not...' but in the real world, just try getting your money or goods, or just try enforcing the contractual obligations. It ain't gonna happen. Just give up, call the buyer/seller a twonk and get on with your life,.

This is a board about consumer rights. The OP has asked what they are. "Giving up" doesn't really help the OP.

Greatgimp

Is all the OP can do is make the seller's life a little awkward. In reality he'll probably eventually give up. Ebay is full of holes, which, in reality will never be plugged. Tell me I'm wrong.

suited-aces

esuhl wrote: »

If I remember rightly, sales on eBay are legally binding, with certain exceptions (such as motor vehicles - not sure if this is what the OP meant by "a set of wheels"?!)

eBay probably have certain rights (as determined by their terms & conditions) to take action, but are not obliged to do so (by the sound of it).

If you win an auction and do not receive the goods, you can sue the seller for damages. If most shops sell the set of wheels for £50 and you won an auction in which you offered £20, then you could sue the vendor for the difference (i.e. £30) and obviously anything you'd paid would also be refunded.

It's actually pretty straightforward to sue someone in the County Court. The Courts Service have set up the Money Claim Online website where you can begin a claim online.

Facepalm.jpeg

Good luck suing. Throw in a few grand for distress while you're at it.

woody01

The short answer is no.
There is no binding contract formed until you receive the goods.

esuhl wrote: »

If I remember rightly, sales on eBay are legally binding, with certain exceptions (such as motor vehicles - not sure if this is what the OP meant by "a set of wheels"?!)

eBay probably have certain rights (as determined by their terms & conditions) to take action, but are not obliged to do so (by the sound of it).

If you win an auction and do not receive the goods, you can sue the seller for damages. If most shops sell the set of wheels for £50 and you won an auction in which you offered £20, then you could sue the vendor for the difference (i.e. £30) and obviously anything you'd paid would also be refunded.

It's actually pretty straightforward to sue someone in the County Court. The Courts Service have set up the Money Claim Online website where you can begin a claim online.

Sorry but you are totally wrong.
There is absolutely no legal standing whatsoever on an auction site regardless of what Ebay state!

wealdroam

Greatgimp wrote: »

Is all the OP can do is make the seller's life a little awkward. In reality he'll probably eventually give up. Ebay is full of holes, which, in reality will never be plugged. Tell me I'm wrong.

You may well be right.
But what has that got to do with the OP's question...
Is a seller on Ebay legally obliged to sell ?

suited-aces wrote: »

Facepalm.jpeg

Good luck suing. Throw in a few grand for distress while you're at it.

Interesting thoughts.
But again, what has that got to do with the OP's question...
Is a seller on Ebay legally obliged to sell ?

monkey_spank

Whether the goods have arrived or not, the contract is formed once the auction has ended.

Legally you are entitled to the item, but Ebay have clearly indicated they are not prepared to take action on your behalf - for that would be too much like hard work. They are only interested in their 10% fee even though they don't even touch the goods.

You are entitled to sue the seller, but as others have said this will be costly. Also I think you would be reliant upon Ebay divulging the seller's name and address - unless the seller is registered as a business seller.

So essentially the law is on the OP's side - but it may not be practical to enforce it.

woody01

monkey_spank wrote: »

Whether the goods have arrived or not, the contract is formed once the auction has ended.

Legally you are entitled to the item, but Ebay have clearly indicated they are not prepared to take action on your behalf - for that would be too much like hard work. They are only interested in their 10% fee even though they don't even touch the goods.

You are entitled to sue the seller, but as others have said this will be costly. Also I think you would be reliant upon Ebay divulging the seller's name and address - unless the seller is registered as a business seller.

So essentially the law is on the OP's side - but it may not be practical to enforce it.

Sorry but that is all fabricated nonsense.
There is no contract at auction end....why are you struggling to grasp that?

Equaliser123

woody01 wrote: »

The short answer is no.
There is no binding contract formed until you receive the goods.


Sorry but you are totally wrong.
There is absolutely no legal standing whatsoever on an auction site regardless of what Ebay state!

On what basis do you say that?

woody01

Equaliser123 wrote: »

On what basis do you say that?

There is no exchange is any contract in any way/shape/form.
There is also no way you could force, legally or otherwise, a private seller to part with anything you have bought.

1. You have no proof the money arrived with the seller. A paypal receipt or a cheque stub is not proof. Neither is a bank transfer receipt. All of these are only proof the money was sent...not received

2. You could never prove that the person that instigates the sale actaully has the item in the fiorst place.
I could state here that you can have my Ferrari for £50. You send me the £50, but if i haven't got one, there is nothing you can do if i don't send it AS LONG AS i refund your £50.

3. As long as a refund is provided, and the buyer isn't out of pocket, no law in the history of man, would let you sue the seller successfully. There is no consequential loss.

4. A contract is not fully formed until the buyer receives the goods. It is the same as a shop in that respect. If you walk into a High Street shop and see an item marked at £50 when you know it should be £500, the shop are well within their rights to decide not to sell the item to you. Many people do not believe this but it is 100% fact.

5. No matter what Ebay or Paypal state in their T&C's, they cannot circum-navigate the law of the land. The consistently try to by telling their users many things, but it's all pie in the sky.

Ebay state their sales are a binding contract but it is total rubbish.
They state many many things on their site which try to appease the scammers and scammees that use it into thinking it is a safe and nice place to shop. They will tell you anything to encourage you to use their site.
Making PayPal mandatory is a classic example of making a seller a soft target for being scammed yet Ebay found this acceptable, and let the buyers run riot.

The lunatics are now truly running the asylum.

I am not saying what happened to the OP is acceptable, but to say a law has been broken is incorrect. Just Ebays (unenforceable) T&C's.

Equaliser123

Sorry Woody but I don't agree with you at all. In particular, I completely disagree that no contract has been created until the goods have been delivered. If this was the case, there could never be a claim for non-delivery. Further, the remedy of specific performance would not exist.

I think there is clearly a contract here.

Proof is a totally difference concept.