Anybody ever purchase an item and have the seller refuse to sell?

[legaleagle92481]

very well put.



again, well put...



yeah, let me know how that turns out - good grief...


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As my earlier post said I was not endorsing the idea just that it was an option. I was only correcting another poster's misstatement that the guy could not be forced to sell.

[ferro39]

An Ebay transaction is a contract so you can sue for "specific performance" if the item meets certain criteria.

yeah, let me know how that turns out - good grief...

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[eisenreich8]

Just a little background:

I've been a seller/buyer since 1998, 1248 feedback rating on one account (now inactive) and 774 on my current one. I have been ripped off, threatened, and stiffed. But, I too have made mistakes and no one felt worse than I when I botched a listing and either got forgiven or got cursed at and threatened.

Here's on example: An acquaintance gave me a first generation NIB iPhone to sell for him. Factory shrink-wrapped and all. I knew (and still know ZIP) about iPhones, but he wanted me to start it at $200. I mistakenly listed it with a BIN of $200. Even with my vast experience as an eBayer, I f'ed up. So, within 4 minutes or so, it was "sold". I realized my gaffe (and especially with someone else's entrusted item) too late and emailed the "buyer" as such. He threatened me with negative feedback and a lot of cursing and bluster, but I just sent him a second apology (I guess I had more courtesy than your seller) and he still was po'ed. I just had to wave it off and get on with life. I made a mistake and we all should get an allowance for that.

Your "seller" is either careless, dishonest, or both. I find it hard to believe that an experienced seller would not put a reserve or a minimum bid. Sounds like a dope to me, without more facts to go on.

I would just remember loved ones and those you knew or didn't know who perished in wartime. Forty-three thousand lives were lost and bodies unrecovered in the Pacific, alone, during WWII.

As another member stated so eloquently, you're not really out anything. Please move on and stick with those who have more accountability, like those on the GUU Forum. Peace brother.

[Danny899]

yeah, let me know how that turns out - good grief...


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Yeah, sue the guy. Great idea. No wonder the courts are so bogged down.

[soxbats]

I chuckle whenever I read the "its a contract" argument. At its most basic, a contract needs a "meeting of the minds" on all the material terms. Price is a material term. If a seller lists a price in error, or a buyer offers to buy for a price in error, the law will not enforce that "contract."

Of course this is not the same as buyers or sellers remorse. In that case you have a meeting of the minds and then someone later changes their mind. In that case, you would have a better shot at enforcing the contract.

[legaleagle92481]

I would be curious to know how many lawsuits have come out of ebay transactions brought by either party. From other threads on here if the member that posted the thread about the Berkman Allstar jersey a few months went through with his stated intent to take legal action there is at least one from a buyer and I have heard of sellers retaining collection firms to collect from buyers. I am not endorsing it at all and would never do it but if someone really wants an item more power to them if they are willing to expend time and money on it.

[aeneas01]

As my earlier post said I was not endorsing the idea just that it was an option.

so you consider suing the seller an "option" even though there's absolutely nothing to be gained by such a course of action (and arguably much to lose)? doesn't strike me as much of an "option".

the bottom line is there's not a court in this country that would award specific performance in this situation - not unless we're talking about a truly valuable and unique collectible, which i don't believe is the case. frankly, the notion of the buyer pursuing something like this is nothing short of laughable considering the time and expense involved. even if the buyer went the small claims route the most he could expect for his time, effort and expense would be a price difference judgment - but good luck even winning that battle.

btw, i wonder if steelpenguin's ebay name is "penguins_steeler" - if so he often lists some very nice items....

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[legaleagle92481]

so you consider suing the seller an "option" even though there's absolutely nothing to be gained by such a course of action (and arguably much to lose)? doesn't strike me as much of an "option".

the bottom line is there's not a court in this country that would award specific performance in this situation - not unless we're talking about a truly valuable and unique collectible, which i don't believe is the case. frankly, the notion of the seller pursuing something like this is nothing short of laughable considering the time and expense involved. even if the seller went the small claims route the most he could expect for his time, effort and expense would be a price difference judgment - but good luck even winning that battle.

btw, i wonder if steelpenguin's ebay name is "penguins_steeler" - if so he often lists some very nice items....

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Since he did not provide any details I have no idea what the item in question is but alot of GU stuff is arguably unique and money would not be the proper remedy. Some of these particular items rarely come onto the market even if they are not that expensive. For example say the item in question was a baseball used in a particular game of historical significance several years ago and it was MLB authenticated and the first such baseball to surface on the market in the past several years. It is only worth a couple of hundred dollars but money would not be an adequate remedy because he cannot go out and buy the item elsewhere. But if the item was an autograph of a living player of which there are 1,000s upon 1,000s on the market at any given time then I would agree with you.

[JasonBanz]

I have once as a seller had to refuse to sell someone the item. In my defense I contacted the buyer hours before the item ended to let him know. The buyer still paid for the item after the auction. He then sent me a message afterwards complaining that he did not get the message. I apologized several times to him and explained the reasoning behind it. Did I like doing that? No. But I had to.

[yankees506]

If i placed a bid on an item and won, i would not rest until i have my item, if you dont want to sell an item below a specific dollar amount then start the auction at that price. The item could be worth $1 or $1000 i would not be content until i got my item. I read an artice a while back in the New York daily news about a guy having to sell a million dollar yacht for 22 euros because he did not set a reserve price, via a quick internet search i found these 2 links: http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177389 and http://www.thelocal.de/society/20081010-14813.html

Bottom line, you sell it, it sells, its sold