Taking Ebay to court

Buster_Danog

soolin said:

I’ve been selling online since the 1990s and IMHO there is no comparison for good general straight sales than eBay, most things sell if researched and priced properly . I do use other sites, I’ve become rather obsessed with Vinted but you need to be very realistic about pricing...

I forgot about specialist forums. I had that as an idea but never got round to it and I guess people are less likely to trust you unless you have a good few posts. As for realistic pricing, there is realistic on Vinted and realistic on ebay. I suspect Vinted is generally lower, but for quality brand names the prices can be pretty good on Vinted.

soolin

Buster_Danog said:

soolin said:

I’ve been selling online since the 1990s and IMHO there is no comparison for good general straight sales than eBay, most things sell if researched and priced properly . I do use other sites, I’ve become rather obsessed with Vinted but you need to be very realistic about pricing...

I forgot about specialist forums. I had that as an idea but never got round to it and I guess people are less likely to trust you unless you have a good few posts. As for realistic pricing, there is realistic on Vinted and realistic on ebay. I suspect Vinted is generally lower, but for quality brand names the prices can be pretty good on Vinted.

Virtually all of the forums I sell on require sellers to take PayPal using goods and services, so much less risk for buyers. It is not uncommon though to deal a few times with the same person and for the buyer to start using f and f as a thank you for the seller, but any seller asking for f and f or a bank transfer would be likely banned. 

Lisaa21

RFW said:

My advice here is a bit out there but worth a go, try one of the newspaper financial help sites or prior to that get in touch with Ebay media team and let them know that you're going to do this.

After that I'd try and find a local solicitor that has a free drop in/consultation and see how they think you should proceed.

Thanks so much for your suggestion. The only success story I have seen out there was a person going to the media with the issue. Then they suddenly take notice. 

Just wanted to clarify what you mean by a newspaper financial help site? Like the "Me and My Money" section of the Daily Mail? 

Lisaa21

Voyager2002 said:

Have you explored whether you can make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service?

Whether or not the claim is successful, that would bring the issue to the attention of mid-level managers who might be able to find a solution.

Do you believe that Nationwide acted correctly in refusing your funds? If not, their complaints team is fairly responsive.

Thanks so much for your suggestion. Looking at the FOS service it relates to financial services businesses only, so:

• Home, travel, motor, wedding and other types of insurance 
• Bank accounts, payments, cards, cash machines and other banking services 
• Fraud and scams 
• Mortgages including early repayment charges, valuations and equity 
• Loans and other types of credit like car finance or debt and repayment problems 
• Investments 
• Pension and annuities 
• Payment protection insurance (PPI) 
• Other complaints – including complaints involving the impact of Covid-19, economic and domestic abuse or power of attorney.

I feel like Ebay might not qualify as this? 

Lisaa21

sourcrates said:

Ebay is based in Luxembourg, you are based in the UK.

If you want to take legal action against them, you must do so in their country of origin, you can`t do it from the UK.

English courts have no jurisdiction abroad, even if a reciprocal agreement exists, it will cost you a whole lot of money to do this, most likely many 1000`s of pounds.

sourcrates said:

Ebay is based in Luxembourg, you are based in the UK.

If you want to take legal action against them, you must do so in their country of origin, you can`t do it from the UK.

English courts have no jurisdiction abroad, even if a reciprocal agreement exists, it will cost you a whole lot of money to do this, most likely many 1000`s of pounds.

thanks so much for your suggestion. I also fear this might be the case as others say they have not had a response from Ebay after 'winning' a small claims court case in the UK. 

I will look into the European small claims court to see if I can make a claim in Luxembourg.  

Buster_Danog

Lisaa21 said:

I will look into the European small claims court to see if I can make a claim in Luxembourg.  

The equivalent of the Financial Services Authority in Luxembourg is the CSSF. They have an English language website, and you can send them an email enquiry to ask them about ebay and whether it is operating in accordance with their laws. They may also take a complaint about ebay https://www.cssf.lu/en/