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EBay Bids ARE legally binding for bidder and seller

Jagspete

Jagspete

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Just read this story in the mirror about a UK guy selling a seventies tape deck on eBay, he cancelled auction with 8 days left as realised it was faulty. The high bidder then took him to court (albeit in Germany) and under a law that was enacted in Europe in 1980, and which we adopted and still have, he was deemed to have broken the contract formed when a bid is placed which binds the bidder and SELLER . Although we all ‘knew’ this , it’s the first time I realised it was legally enforceable. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/germa...n=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target
 

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I guess it's no different to an auction house, with face to face bidding. People seem a lot more blase about eBay but they forget it is legally binding. I've had a lot of people cancelling sales after winning because they changed their mind over the last few years and it's incredibly frustrating. And you can't even leave them negative feedback!
 
Ebay now doesn’t really chase non payers. instead it just advises you to wait until deadline is up and then cancel the sale. it even auto realists the item if you choose

This suggests to me that non payment is rife on ebay and they’re just letting it happen. they aught to move to a 10% deposit on bid model.
 
I’ve used ebay a lot in the past 15 years. They favour the buyer over anything even if the buyer is a douche and causes issues.
Also if you don’t send via some form of registered mail you will get screwed. I’ve had people say it hasn't arrived and open a claim when tracking show it does and they have denied it
If you don’t post in time because you’re away with work or can’t then they will have you.
most of the time it’s the other party who have some life issue or gripe with the world and take it out on you like that case above.

But yes i think ebay have a glazed eye approach to their sales as so many happen daily . The site is extremely expensive but it does get you worldwide viewing

Just had someone with 0 feedback buy my sons old foot brace bars. They bought both sizes ??? i mean why would anyone want to mess me around over such an individual product ?
I’m waiting for the time limit to expire so i can mark them as idiots but i think that option has now been removed so they can just carry on wasting peoples time
 
Ebay a long long time ago realised their business model is best served by charging the fees, keeping everyone as quiet as possible, and avoiding covering things financially unless they really have to. That's why they've done so many things that seem counter-intuitive to an auction concept, right from introducing buy-it-now, to making the feedback system so corrupt it doesn't serve any real purpose to anyone.

I totally get it, it's just not possible to move an auction house to online-only and have everyone act honorably, and they probably realised they were on a hiding to nothing way back, when there was some semblance of trying to resolve disputes. And frankly, while there's loads of great sellers out there, who are probably trying to work out how to get ebay and amazon out of their lives, it also attracts the dodgy gets.

I do use ebay all the time, more so since letting amazon prime lapse (£100!!!). And yea it nowadays sides with the buyer all the time, which is kind of good assuming the buyer is honest. Most 2nd hand stuff I buy is absolutely fine, but the amount of sellers selling fake and usless new stuff, then want to mess you around when you politely ask them to sort it, is unreal. I don't even give them a chance now and file a dispute, and end up getting my £ back, albeit with a bit of inconvenience.

Regard tracking I find that problematic these days too, I've had sellers change the auction completely, send me absolute tut, and then show the tracking. Case closed. And I've had situations where the tracking shows deivered, but it definitely has not been. The race to the bottom in the courier market has caused this problem too.

The other problem for ebay of course is now facebook marketplace are eating their lunch. I would hate to be in charge there!

I do say I use eBay every day safe in the knowledge that I'll get ripped off again shortly :)
 
I have found that it does depend on what you are selling to what sort of interaction you will incur.
 
Crikey, does this mean that if you went to buy something you bid on and on collection it was absolute rubbish and you walked away that means you have to buy it by law? and if the thing did genuinely break i.e. the seller can’t prove that he didn’t sell it to someone else surely he’s just being honest🤷‍♂️
 
This is not law in the UK. It was bought in fornt of a German court.

Ebay wont case you. They could not be bothered.

Best thing to do is not accept anyone outside the UK to bid in the first place.

What he should of done is 'cancel bids before ending auction early' instead of 'ending auction early' - there is a clear difference. If he did the later (wording suggests he did) - then the guy would have a case, however daft it seems.

It is a shock that a court anywhere would award £7551 to the 'buyer' as he did not actually hand over any money.

That machine is worth over £10K. He should get it fixed (maybe a few hundred) and sold it - then paid the original £7551 and kept the rest in his pocket.
 
Pick Holder said:
This is not law in the UK. It was bought in fornt of a German court.

Ebay wont case you. They could not be bothered.

Best thing to do is not accept anyone outside the UK to bid in the first place.

What he should of done is 'cancel bids before ending auction early' instead of 'ending auction early' - there is a clear difference. If he did the later (wording suggests he did) - then the guy would have a case, however daft it seems.

It is a shock that a court anywhere would award £7551 to the 'buyer' as he did not actually hand over any money.

That machine is worth over £10K. He should get it fixed (maybe a few hundred) and sold it - then paid the original £7551 and kept the rest in his pocket.
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I didn't understand the article tbh, i.e. I don't get how a UK resident can be subject to German law / German court decisions (even if the original EU law had been retained by the UK post Brexit as the Mirror article suggested). If I hadn't read the article, my advice to the guy would have been to tell the buyer and his court decision to do one, and good luck to them retrieving it.
 
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Sold a projector last week, the buyer has just requested a refund claiming it's defective. He's sent 2 images of spots projected on a wall that aren't from the projector menu or test screen, the source seems a bit odd. I had checked before auctioning that there were no issues. The buyer appears to be just a reseller of projectors so if disingenuous has a stash of used projectors where he could be claiming this regularly, by sending images from a faulty one. If genuine then this has sadly occurred in transit. I've added my response but eBay are never going to rule in my direction are they?
 
Unfortunayely not, and as long as he provides a tracked receipt for posting he can send you a box of kitty litter!(ie not even the 'broken' projector you sent) Best option is a partial refund where he keeps it
 
Crewey said:
Sold a projector last week, the buyer has just requested a refund claiming it's defective. He's sent 2 images of spots projected on a wall that aren't from the projector menu or test screen, the source seems a bit odd. I had checked before auctioning that there were no issues. The buyer appears to be just a reseller of projectors so if disingenuous has a stash of used projectors where he could be claiming this regularly, by sending images from a faulty one. If genuine then this has sadly occurred in transit. I've added my response but eBay are never going to rule in my direction are they?
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Just get it back, all you have to pay is return postage.
 
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