Charged fees for something ebay perceives as being sold off ebay

Brooker_Dave

forgotmyname wrote: »

T
Ebays stance = her are our terms if you dont like them then dont use us.

But that attitude to unfair contracts that treat ordinary people as low hanging fruit is pretty lame, and just encourages more unfair terms.

And its worth remembering that OP is innocent, they sold their piano on another selling platform after ebay failed to do the job.

d123

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

But that attitude to unfair contracts that treat ordinary people as low hanging fruit is pretty lame, and just encourages more unfair terms.

And its worth remembering that OP is innocent, they sold their piano on another selling platform after ebay failed to do the job.

Not that innocent in Ebay’s eyes, and possibly in the eyes of a court, because of their message which appears to be asking to complete the transaction outside eBay to circumvent eBay fees.

The OP made a bad mistake there, which might come back and bite them on the behind.

RHemmings

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

But are they fair and reasonable, and of a form an ordinary person could understand and absorb?

Being paid for providing a service to someone you are contracted to sounds very fair and reasonable to me. I think that everyone understands that ebay is paid fees for its part in the transactions, whether or not they have read the T&C.

forgotmyname

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

But that attitude to unfair contracts that treat ordinary people as low hanging fruit is pretty lame, and just encourages more unfair terms.

And its worth remembering that OP is innocent, they sold their piano on another selling platform after ebay failed to do the job.

The OP mentioned in post #1 they asked for payment outside of ebay/paypal because ebay's and paypal's charges are high for expensive items. So its easy to see why they have been charged.

They did mention ebay and paypal fees and it does read as an attempt to avoid both fees not just avoid paypal fees.

bris

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

Is this where we pretend ebay law is actual law?

Ebay law is far from actual law but in this case they do actually have a case.


The OP can't advertise on their site then cut them out when someone wants to buy it through their auction.


Their wording certainly seems to point to that.


The only way Ebay wouldn't have a case is if the OP didn't sell it to the person they sent the Email to it too. But the fact is if the person they asked to sell off ebay is the one that bought it they owe the money.

d123

bris wrote: »

Ebay law is far from actual law but in this case they do actually have a case.


The OP can't advertise on their site then cut them out when someone wants to buy it through their auction.


Their wording certainly seems to point to that.


The only way Ebay wouldn't have a case is if the OP didn't sell it to the person they sent the Email to it too. But the fact is if the person they asked to sell off ebay is the one that bought it they owe the money.

Even if it was 2 separate buyers I would suspect the seller would struggle to prove that.

Pierre_De_Grenoble

As the Op pointed out. eBay have charged her £250 even though the item was listed during a promotion which would have given her a FVF of £1.

prowla

forgotmyname wrote: »

The OP mentioned in post #1 they asked for payment outside of ebay/paypal because ebay's and paypal's charges are high for expensive items. So its easy to see why they have been charged.

They did mention ebay and paypal fees and it does read as an attempt to avoid both fees not just avoid paypal fees.

It is perfectly acceptable to request non paypal payment and avoiding paypal fees.

However, it is against ebay's T&Cs to say you want to go off-piste to avoid their fees.

I don't know what the legal position is regarding ebay charging "corkage" as a result of that, but they can certainly stop your account for breaking the rules.

Generally, stating "Reserve the right to finish early as this item is advertised elsewhere." can be viewed as a suggestion that a buyer could look elsewhere too.

However, in ebay's favour, being on there offers your item to a huge audience of potential buyers.