Yes, so, last night I noticed what looked like a nice Les Paul Custom SIlverburst on ebay.co.uk for £1780. -
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252703158100?_trksid=p2057872.m2748.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT. .I'd had a few drinks and was feeling frivolous, so went ahead and clicked on the buy-it-now option for this listing. Cool, I think as I crack open the next bottle of wine, thats a good price for a Silverburst - I'll paypal him the money when he's got back to me with a few more details and when I know everything is legit. I idly decided to see what completed listing were for these guitars, and noticed...the exact same guitar (same pics,same desciption, same everything) had apparently sold in the US just 2 days ago (
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1978-Gibson-Les-Paul-Custom-Silverburst-SUPER-CLEAN-w-Original-Manual-Guitar-/182401962424?hash=item2a780111b8:g:OHAAAOSw44BYWeF4). Hmm, sketchy. I emailed the guy in the US - yes, thats his guitar and no, he sold it to someone in the US and hadn't shipped it out yet. Ive emailed the fraudster in the UK and reported him but I dont expect to get any answer. So there you go - glad I didnt just go ahead and pay, though weirdly ebay wont let me cancel the transaction until Ive 'worked it out' with the seller. Pretty stupid. Do I need to do anything else to make sure I have no comeback?
Comments
Look on the bright side, by 'buying' it and closing the listing you stopped someone else getting ripped off too.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Good spot BloodEagle & well sussed out!
BTW, whether you make a bid or press buy it now, you are under no legal obligation to complete the sale. Firstly, and EBay does point this out themselves, EBay facilitates person to person trading and despite it being described as an on-line auction site it does not meet the UK requirements of an auction house. A key theme is the agency requirements under the UK auction regulations in that EBay at no time legally takes responsibility for or holds on trust the item being auctioned. All EBay auctions and buy it now therefore fall within the UK's normal contract rules. The key elements are offer, acceptance, consideration, capacity to contract, and intention to create legal relations. Until you make a payment there is no consideration, and therefore no contract.
Further, if the item you're buying is from a retailer/business rather than just an individual (and this includes e.g. E-Bay premium sellers) then distance selling rules apply and even if you have paid for an item you have a 14 day cooling off period in which to cancel the contract and obtain a refund (certain exceptions apply e.g. goods less than £42 in value, holidays, travel tickets etc). Interestingly, and a lot of people may not be aware of this, if the retailer doesn't tell you that you have 14 days cooling off on a distance selling transaction, you then have up to 12 months to cancel the contract - if they tell you of your rights during that 12 months then you have 14 days from that date (nb. distance selling rules do not apply to private sales).
My next door neighbour once bought an old landrover whilst drunk on eBay. A little harder to hide than a guitar....
Adam
I let him off the hook in the end but it's an interesting example of contract law in practice - a valid contract had been entered into and the seller therefore wasn't at liberty to change his mind after the event.
An Ebay auction 'buy it now' or winning bid does not have the same legal status, and even if it did it would be impossible to enforce.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Consideration just means that both/all parties are gaining some sort of benefit from the arrangement. Doesn't have to be physical; legal challenges have proven that payments for questionnaires etc are covered as one party is getting cash and the other is getting insight which is of business value.
Take Gumtree. You receive an email saying someone definitely wants to buy your guitar and asks you not to sell to amyone else and promises to be round with the cash later that day. They don't turn up...good luck in trying to enforce that promise.
See here: http://www.lawteacher.net/lecture-notes/contract-law/consideration-lecture.php
What is clear is that current legislation was never designed for EBay type scenario's and IMO could benefit from a review and legal clarification.
So, using EBay as an example, if the seller had already provided consideration ie sent you a guitar, for which you had promised to pay £200 at outset, then the bare promise becomes a legally enforceable promise. But where the buyer has not paid anything, and goods have not changed hands, so there has been no mutual consideration that has moved between promiser & promisee, and thus this is a bare promise only which is not legally enforceable. Hence the Gumtree example.
Thats an internal matter for Ebay - you probably need to check EBay rules. From what I've read EBay action depends on reasons and frequency. For example if you communicated openly with the seller that unfortunately something has happened eg you just lost your job etc and no longer have the funds, Ebay is unlikely to take any action, they are not acting as agents, and they have no powers to enforce a sale - remember, they are not a bonafide UK auction . If however there is a history of non payment with no acceptable reasons, they can do things like suspend your account.