Buy it now, when is a contract made?

gringobble

Hi, I've not found a similar case from a search so thought I'd post a new thread. This isn't my first ever post but I can't access my old account it has been so long since I used it! The issue I'd like advice on if anyone can help is at what point a contract is made on ebay using buy it now. The situation, I bought a rare and expensive item (1200£) as a buy it now, received an invoice with 30 days terms. I contacted seller to say that given the terms I would pay the next week, but in case he had any concerns I would pay a deposit in the meantime. He agreed to this straight away, but when I asked him to invoice/ raise a paypal bill for the deposit (I offered 200£) I received nothing. The next day he tells me he has changed his mind about the whole sale. I don't accept him changing his mind as I really want the item- it's a one-off which cannot be replaced. I sought advice from citizens advice who advised that a valid contract consists of an offer to buy, acceptance of offer and a promise to pay. I think I have got this all, and I cannot find anything on e-bay which says I must pay before a contract is made. I am of course reluctant to pay now because he informed me he wouldn't sell before I paid as agreed. If this goes to court I must have taken steps to mitigate my loss; paying someone who has told you they have no intention to sell to you does seem like throwing the money away foolishly, thus creating a larger claim for no good reason. Can anyone point me in the direction of clear info from e-bay about the point at which a contract is made using buy it now? Best, Gringo

celestius

gringobble wrote: »

Hi, I've not found a similar case from a search so thought I'd post a new thread. This isn't my first ever post but I can't access my old account it has been so long since I used it! The issue I'd like advice on if anyone can help is at what point a contract is made on ebay using buy it now. The situation, I bought a rare and expensive item (1200£) as a buy it now, received an invoice with 30 days terms. I contacted seller to say that given the terms I would pay the next week, but in case he had any concerns I would pay a deposit in the meantime. He agreed to this straight away, but when I asked him to invoice/ raise a paypal bill for the deposit (I offered 200£) I received nothing. The next day he tells me he has changed his mind about the whole sale. I don't accept him changing his mind as I really want the item- it's a one-off which cannot be replaced. I sought advice from citizens advice who advised that a valid contract consists of an offer to buy, acceptance of offer and a promise to pay. I think I have got this all, and I cannot find anything on e-bay which says I must pay before a contract is made. I am of course reluctant to pay now because he informed me he wouldn't sell before I paid as agreed. If this goes to court I must have taken steps to mitigate my loss; paying someone who has told you they have no intention to sell to you does seem like throwing the money away foolishly, thus creating a larger claim for no good reason. Can anyone point me in the direction of clear info from e-bay about the point at which a contract is made using buy it now? Best, Gringo

Whilst ebay consider the transaction to be binding, there's actually no way of forcing the seller to go ahead with it.
Report them as a non performing seller and move on.

gringobble

Thanks for your reply, but according to citizens advice I can take a legal route which I am prepared to do for this particular situation. I know that my options to do anything through e-bay are limited. But are you saying there is some sort of info available which demonstrates that the ebay transaction is legally binding?

Enfieldian

gringobble wrote: »

Thanks for your reply, but according to citizens advice I can take a legal route which I am prepared to do for this particular situation. I know that my options to do anything through e-bay are limited. But are you saying there is some sort of info available which demonstrates that the ebay transaction is legally binding?

If Citizens Advice are telling you that you can take the "legal route" I would be asking them to provide more details to substantiate this.

Alternatively a solicitor may be able to provide more information, but they would probably expect to be paid for their time.

gringobble

Thanks for your reply Enfieldian. Citizens Advice have said that if I have a valid contract (offer to buy, offer accepted, promise to pay) then non-delivery of goods constitutes a breach of that contract. They have said that under contract law I have a right to the goods, and if these are not supplied I can claim for damages and consequential loss. I have made several losses on this already. They advised me to check whether e-bay add any clause to the transaction which states when a contract is made, but I can't find anything so far. I was quite happy with the information they supplied, do you think there is something missing here? I can get back on to them if necessary. Best wishes, Gringo

gringobble

As an aside, has anyone else had problems creating line gaps in their posts? None of mine are showing so my posts look like I'm garbling everything!

mrsHall2b

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/safetycentre/rights.html


What have you agreed to?

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.

Consumer Direct has produced some helpful guidance regarding contracts.

cootuk

afaict you haven't actually paid anything yet (there's been no performance on your side of the contract in terms of payment), so you shouldn't have suffered any loss...therefore I guess there hasn't been a loss of bargain.

jeffuk

What losses have you incurred?

pinkshoes

The first thing you need to do is pay the full amount.

Only then can you start thinking about the legal aspect.

If you don't pay, then there is no loss of bargain.

gringobble

Thanks for all the replies.

There were a few questions to answer.

Firstly, payment. I would have assumed you would have had to actually pay, but according to citizens Advice (CA) a contract can be made from a promise to pay- remember I was invoiced with a 30-day limit, so I am within my rights to not pay yet. He has said he won't sell to me so it seems more rational to wait to see if the seller will actually make the item available before I part with £1200. If I do pay knowing that the seller won't deliver, and have to claim the money back through the courts I will have unnecessarily increased my claim significantly.

Secondly, losses. I had hoped to keep the details out of it, but the item is a vintage vehicle, hence why I cannot simply buy another one. I have spent quite a few hours researching the vehicle, its history, components, bodywork and so on before embarking on a restoration project. To illustrate some of the complexity, I have been in touch with a scrap yard in Jeddah to source parts for this vehicle! I am a professional researcher and charge anything between £25 to £40 per hour for freelance work, if I was doing that job for a client we would be talking upwards of £250. I have bought a workshop manual for this vehicle (£60 +p and p), I have spent money on sending letters recorded delivery. I have phoned round hauliers to get a quote for transport, I even have an agreement with a haulier which I will have to break (who knows what they will ask for this?). I have found and agreed upon a workshop/ storage space to rent. This is a verbal contract and I do think I'll be able to get out of it, but the farmer in question may be put out by this; I should offer him something for his trouble.

This was a buy it now, not an auction, so once I entered into what e-bay called a legally binding contract I assumed that the vehicle was mine. I then set about incurring these various costs the vast majority of which were necessary undertakings prior to even collecting the vehicle!

Direct reply to Mrs Hall, the listing makes no specific mention to terms beyond e-bay's standard terms. I thought that the contract was made at the point of clicking to "buy it now" at least, that's what e-bay warns.

I just want to state again that CA advise that a promise to pay can constitute a contract just as well as actual payment.