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Ebay Issue as a seller
Orestus
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Just looking for some Ebay advice from anyone w/ more experience than I have.
About a month ago my wife asked me to sell a bunch of pieces of Jewelry that was found when she was going through her mother's old things (who passed away several years ago). I sold a few pieces over the last few weeks (this stuff is all in the 10 to 100 dollar range) and recently sold a gold necklace for $70. When I took it upstairs my wife flipped out...apparently this necklace had great sentimental value and was not intended to be in that pile, she had been looking for it for a long time, etc.
I immediately contacted the buyer, explained the situation, apologized, and refunded their money. I submitted a cancellation request through Ebay which requires the buyer to also confirm whether they agree to cancel the transaction or not. This morning I got a notification that the buyer had not agreed to cancel it and as such i would still be charged the Ebay sale fee as if I had sold the item (fine, no problem). Ebay lists the dispute as "closed".
I also got a message from the buyer attached to their refusal notification basically saying they wanted the necklace as a gift, that they understood my situation but that Ebay selling is not a game and that if necessary they would pursue legal action.
I get that I am in the wrong here but at the end of the day I'm more concerned about keeping my wife happy than getting negative Ebay feedback. The only thing that concerns me is this guys statement he would pursue legal action. I can't imagine someone would go to the trouble of filing a lawsuit against me to force me to complete a transaction made on Ebay (he's not out any $$ as I refunded him immediately) but who knows what kind of crazy people are out there. My plan at this point was just to ignore it from here on since Ebay is telling me the case is closed, but I wanted to run this by people w/ more experience. Is there anything I should do now to protect myself further? Should I respond back to the guy and tell him I'm sorry but I'm not going to be completing the transaction?
About a month ago my wife asked me to sell a bunch of pieces of Jewelry that was found when she was going through her mother's old things (who passed away several years ago). I sold a few pieces over the last few weeks (this stuff is all in the 10 to 100 dollar range) and recently sold a gold necklace for $70. When I took it upstairs my wife flipped out...apparently this necklace had great sentimental value and was not intended to be in that pile, she had been looking for it for a long time, etc.
I immediately contacted the buyer, explained the situation, apologized, and refunded their money. I submitted a cancellation request through Ebay which requires the buyer to also confirm whether they agree to cancel the transaction or not. This morning I got a notification that the buyer had not agreed to cancel it and as such i would still be charged the Ebay sale fee as if I had sold the item (fine, no problem). Ebay lists the dispute as "closed".
I also got a message from the buyer attached to their refusal notification basically saying they wanted the necklace as a gift, that they understood my situation but that Ebay selling is not a game and that if necessary they would pursue legal action.
I get that I am in the wrong here but at the end of the day I'm more concerned about keeping my wife happy than getting negative Ebay feedback. The only thing that concerns me is this guys statement he would pursue legal action. I can't imagine someone would go to the trouble of filing a lawsuit against me to force me to complete a transaction made on Ebay (he's not out any $$ as I refunded him immediately) but who knows what kind of crazy people are out there. My plan at this point was just to ignore it from here on since Ebay is telling me the case is closed, but I wanted to run this by people w/ more experience. Is there anything I should do now to protect myself further? Should I respond back to the guy and tell him I'm sorry but I'm not going to be completing the transaction?
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Paying ebay their share is small potatoes, the guy has no legal ground to stand on, as far as I know, since you gave him his money back. I'm not a lawyer, though.
Keep records of everything, and tell him feel free to seek legal action against you. It's just a threat, there's nothing behind it he's just being a jerk because he can.
Don't do that, just on principle.
But yeah, just have your documentation in order, and read up on Ebay's terms as they apply to you as the seller.
Don't contact the buyer. Unless Ebay requests any further action from you, you're done.
As much as I'd like to tell him to go ahead and sue me if he wants to waste his time I recognize nothing positive will come from that so my intention is to just not reply.
If you're really concerned, you might want to call eBay support. I've actually been impressed with the help they've given me in the past.
0431-6094-6446-7088
Have your wife look through the rest of the stuff so it doesn't happen again.
but they're listening to every word I say
Probably ignore it and be more careful in the future.
You could probably argue that both ways, husbands and wives sharing assets, etc. It could also be an estate that they're clearing up.
Either way, no judge in their right mind would give this dude anything.
Ebay was the broker and they consider the matter resolved.
Generally I've found people who threaten to sue never do (it's just a tactic to get you to do what they want), and when you get sued you are totally blindsided. They certainly don't give you notice.
Even if he filed a small claims action to be a nuisance, he'd have to serve you. So don't give him your address. He might be able to subpoena eBay for it, at which point t you've won because he's expended more effort and money finding you than he'd recover from you.
This is what I was thinking. First off: Don't respond to anything from him anymore that isn't actually a subpoena. He'll never get around to suing you, it'd be crazy.
And if he was a batshit billionaire who WAS willing to sue you over a $70 necklace, worst case finding against you would be for like $100 anyway. And I'm sure you'd pay $100 to keep your wife happy if the necklace is that important. (And you won't have to, but seriously, impossible never gonna happen worst case scenario.)
Someone sent me a series of increasingly angry texts, eventually threatening to sue, because I didn't sell them a bike I advertised on Craigslist after I waited at our meeting place for 20 minutes and then had to leave for a meeting ("my sister is almost there and u will sell bike to her, 15 min"). There are individuals who can't handle the emotional roller coaster of amateur commerce, or I guess they sometimes get their way with these completely juvenile threats. I laugh about it now, but at the time I was worried the text message harassment wouldn't stop.
IANAL, but even if that's the case I don't think it matters. The value of the necklace would be what someone is willing to pay for it, and that's well established as $70.
In either case, since the buyer's money was fully refunded and in a timely manner, I don't think they would have any legal case.
I agree, just might explain some motive as to why an internet stranger would threaten to go to court over $70. I do agree though, it's very ridiculous.
And then makes a threat.
Mortifies me.
That's my main takeaway as well. I cannot conceive of a situation where my reaction would be the same as his, but its just more evidence that this type of person is out there and probably in greater numbers than any of us would like.
I also forgot to mention in the OP that I'm fairly sure his message that this purchase was intended as a "precious gift" for someone is BS. Upon winning the auction he immediately sent me a note asking that when I send the item i provide the "gram weight" of the necklace in either an email or included in the shipment, so I'm fairly sure he is just a reseller or jeweler who is going to recycle it for the gold value...browsing through his feedback shows alot of purchases from Ebay usernames that sound like jewelry sellers as well.
I greatly appreciate all the advice in this thread. It was greatly helpful in talking about what we should or shouldn't do w/ my wife the evening after I posted it. I don't really have an update at this point, I haven't heard anything further from him and I've not communicated with him at all after receiving his msg and having Ebay's automated service advise the case is closed. He has not yet left negative feedback either, maybe he still thinks I'll be sending the necklace...
If you don't have a great feedback score then this negative will also probably kill any future selling potential.