eBay - buying from a business, when is contract concluded

MamaMoo_2

Ok, so if you see an item on eBay that is clearly mispriced (£20 instead of £600), and you hit "buy it now", according to eBay you've entered into a legally binding contract. There are no provisions for misprices etc. and it stipulates contract is formed upon the buyer clicking the BIN button, not on dispatch etc.
So then, where would one stand if the retailer refused to honour the agreement?

boo_star

Small claims I imagine.

Poppie68

Ebay usually say you can't force a seller to sell you something, the same as you can't force a buyer to pay, also maybe wrong but i thought contract was concluded when the item had been posted?

bris

BIN is like a shop the seller can refuse your offer, auction sales are legally binding, don't confuse the two.

MamaMoo_2

Poppie68 wrote: »

Ebay usually say you can't force a seller to sell you something, the same as you can't force a buyer to pay, also maybe wrong but i thought contract was concluded when the item had been posted?

bris wrote: »

BIN is like a shop the seller can refuse your offer, auction sales are legally binding, don't confuse the two.

From eBay...

When a buyer places the successful bid on an item or clicks "Buy It Now", the two parties will have entered into a legally binding contract (with very few exceptions as detailed in our Non-Binding Bid Policy).The terms of the contract are set out in the seller's listing and in agreeing to buy the goods or services the buyer is accepting those terms.

Truepat

In your quote it says "The terms of the contract are set out in the seller's listing and in agreeing to buy the goods or services the buyer is accepting those terms.".

The seller may include an "E&OE" reference in their T&C - so make sure you read any additional T&C from the seller.

MamaMoo_2

Truepat wrote: »

In your quote it says "The terms of the contract are set out in the seller's listing and in agreeing to buy the goods or services the buyer is accepting those terms.".

The seller may include an "E&OE" reference in their T&C - so make sure you read any additional T&C from the seller.

Seller has no additional T&Cs, only a delivery, returns & cancellations policy

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

My understanding is if the price was clearly wrong it would be deemed no contract has taken place but I'm not sure what this is based on.

bris

But you are talking about Ebay policy, which is their T&C's not the law of the land, even then they will not get involved if the buyer refuses to sell.

A small claims action would rely on the UK contract law of offer and acceptance, the offer was declined so no case to answer.

Aucion sales by bidding are a different matter, if your the highest bidder then that must be honoured.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

I know this is a consumer rights forum rather than a here's my moral opinion forum but for a small business to lose 580 quid is very painful.

We're all human and mistakes do happen from time to time.

MamaMoo_2

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head wrote: »

I know this is a consumer rights forum rather than a here's my moral opinion forum but for a small business to lose 580 quid is very painful.

We're all human and mistakes do happen from time to time.

It wasn't actually so much a mistake, the actual £19.99 option was for a shroud for the scooter, however it had been worded and advertised incredibly misleadingly so it appeared you were buying a scooter in a certain colour. The shrouds, at the time, were not mentioned, so there were several colour options under a losing for the scooter. The as said "scooter available in various colours", so it appeared as if you were buying the scooter in a certain colour. They changed their listing after quite a few complaints, but some people were wondering whether they could push for loss of bargain.
I was under the impression that should it end up in court, a judge would likely side with the seller due to it being fairly obvious that it was an error.
It was then that I went looking for the usual "contract is concluded upon dispatch" clause in the T&C's, and found the bit I quoted from eBay. I then searched seller's page and they had no additional T&Cs, so I began to doubt myself a bit and decided to ask for opinions on here.