Buyer refusing to pay for item (£1100)

rustynash

personally i think it was out of order to add him to msn, you shouldve remained professional and stuck to ebay emails. also you cannot justify actually threatening his power seller status and leaving a negative feedback its on the edge of extortion. i think these points dont play well for you in this case..

though i do side on the fact it is unacceptable to buy it, waste your fees and then not pay. so carry on through the dispute, do not threaten him or get narky with him and leave him a strike and neg feedback. he will no doubt neg you but you can show that that is a retaliatory neg due to him being disgruntled.

Ashok_2

rustynash wrote: »

personally i think it was out of order to add him to msn, you shouldve remained professional and stuck to ebay emails. also you cannot justify actually threatening his power seller status and leaving a negative feedback its on the edge of extortion. i think these points dont play well for you in this case..

though i do side on the fact he cannot buy it, waste your fees and then not pay. so carry on through the dispute, do not threaten him or get narky with him and leave him a strike and neg feedback. he will no doubt neg you but you can show that that is a retaliatory neg due to him being disgruntled.

I agree it was out of order but I was very frustrated at the time..

steviebabes

I always find Sunday night about 8 - 9pm is a good time to start a 7 day auction or Thursday for a 10 day. I only suggested BIN £999 as you can ask for immediate payment. Good luck!

goshdarnit

RFW wrote: »

Yes he has, a contract is entered into when agreeing the purchase, ie clicking the final buy now button.

Cute_n_Quirky wrote: »

Exactly!! I wish all Buyers would realise that they ARE required to pay up!

Say for example, I was the one who decided I didn't want to buy the item off you, you took me to small claims court, and its now up to you to tell the good folk sitting in the comfy seats how you though I had entered into a contract.

You're going to do this on what point of law, or what legal precedence?

Anyone of you, or anyone else, feel free to answer.

Soubrette

A contract exists when an offer is made, it is accepted and some kind of consideration changes hands (very sketchy concept consideration!)

I don't think an ebay transactions stands up to these things.

It would be interesting to see what the courts decide but I wouldn't want to be the one trying to set a precedent!

Sou

RFW

goshdarnit wrote: »

Say for example, I was the one who decided I didn't want to buy the item off you, you took me to small claims court, and its now up to you to tell the good folk sitting in the comfy seats how you though I had entered into a contract.

You're going to do this on what point of law, or what legal precedence?

Anyone of you, or anyone else, feel free to answer.

It has been done, buyers (non payers) have successfully been taken to court on many occasions. It works on the same principle as buying at any auction. Click the final 'buy now' or place a winning bid you have agreed to buy (there is a difference in law between buy now and auction in that under dsr there is a 'cooling off' period for buy now), it is as legally binding as a signed contract (or even a handshake!). Feel free to keep buying items and not paying for them and test your theory.

goshdarnit

RFW wrote: »

It has been done, buyers (non payers) have successfully been taken to court on many occasions. It works on the same principle as buying at any auction. Click the final 'buy now' or place a winning bid you have agreed to buy (there is a difference in law between buy now and auction in that under dsr there is a 'cooling off' period for buy now), it is as legally binding as a signed contract (or even a handshake!). Feel free to keep buying items and not paying for them and test your theory.

Do you want to quote any law on this one, or have they just won because the other person didn't attend court? A few case historys would be nice.

"It works on the same principle as buying at any auction." That isn't legally correct as ebay is definately not seen as an auction, so at that stage your whole argument collapses. You seem to be suggesting that ebay is an auction.

Since you feel you would win, and are suggesting that people should pursue this in court could you answer this, "If I was the one who decided I didn't want to buy the item off you, you took me to small claims court, and its now up to you to tell the good folk sitting in the comfy seats how you though I had entered into a contract."
Exactly what would you say?
If you said "non payers have successfully been taken to court on many occasions." doesn't tend to hold much weight legally. I would walk away, you would end up paying my costs, the court costs, and all your travel and legal costs. Are you sure that that is what you are sugggesting the original poster to do?

Finally, I don't actually buy anything on ebay unless (I need it and I can go and see it) or I cover myself by buying with a credit card. Strangely enough, I've never lost money yet, and I buy what I do 'win'.


PS the thank you on your post on page one was when I hit 'thanks' instead of 'quote', never mind.

RFW

goshdarnit wrote: »

Do you want to quote any law on this one, or have they just won because the other person didn't attend court? A few case historys would be nice.

"It works on the same principle as buying at any auction." That isn't legally correct as ebay is definately not seen as an auction, so at that stage your whole argument collapses. You seem to be suggesting that ebay is an auction.

Since you feel you would win, and are suggesting that people should pursue this in court could you answer this, "If I was the one who decided I didn't want to buy the item off you, you took me to small claims court, and its now up to you to tell the good folk sitting in the comfy seats how you though I had entered into a contract."
Exactly what would you say?
If you said "non payers have successfully been taken to court on many occasions." doesn't tend to hold much weight legally. I would walk away, you would end up paying my costs, the court costs, and all your travel and legal costs. Are you sure that that is what you are sugggesting the original poster to do?

Finally, I don't actually buy anything on ebay unless (I need it and I can go and see it) or I cover myself by buying with a credit card. Strangely enough, I've never lost money yet, and I buy what I do 'win'.


PS the thank you on your post on page one was when I hit 'thanks' instead of 'quote', never mind.

I bow to your superior knowledge and obvious wealth of experience in both the law and online and offline auctions, well done.:T

First I did not recommend that OP goes to court (the opposite in fact), although he would (probably) win a case I highly doubt he would get any money out of it.

I do know personally of sellers having successfully taken non payers to court (mostly in the motor trade, but a couple of others), perhaps they didn't seek your legal advice first.

I don't believe I claimed to be a lawyer in any of my posts and don't actually have case histories to hand, I apologise for this misdemeanour. I have however worked as an auctioneer for coming up to 20 years both in bricks and mortar auction houses and online auctions.

In some respects (and this also has been successfully tested, no I don't know the case names or numbers, if it worries you so, seek out a barrister) Ebay auctions (and only auctions) are classed as any other auction, in some respects they are not, everything, especially in law is not black and white.

Finally I hadn't actually noticed you thanked me in a previous post, if you wish to have it legally removed I'll put you in touch with a good lawyer.;)

goshdarnit

Sarcasm, the lowest form of wit and the last line of defense when all else has failed.

FloFlo

Ebay t&c: Although eBay is often referred to as an online auction web site, you acknowledge that we are not a traditional auctioneer. Instead, the Site is a venue to allow anyone to offer, sell, and buy just about anything, at any time, from anywhere, in a variety of pricing formats, which include auction-style and fixed price formats.