Car seller won't honor his ebay auction

[TimG]

Guys,

I bought a car on a no reserve ebay auction fair and square and the seller backed out of the sale. He also cancelled his Pay Pal account so I couldn’t pay him. I’ve asked him for his mail address and he won’t respond. We did correspond through ebay numerous times during the auction. He still has the car, he thought it was worth more. I don’t know if I want to pursue this, but I’m wondering what my options are.

[MosportGreen66]

Tim, that's a shame. I was always under the impression the eBay auction is a binding contract. I would make eBay customer service aware of the situation immediately. You do have rights as a buyer and eBay has been fairly diligent in weeding out the bad apples from the seller community.

1 (866) 540-3229

Dan

[TimG]

Dan, I did let them know. Here was the sellers response to my question about how to make payment when his Pay Pal account was canceled.

Sorry Tim but you didn't buy this car for that amount of money. No way shape or form is this happening in this life time.

[Lynn]

I doubt you will get anywhere. Technically, you do have the right to enforce the contract via "specific performance", although that is a more common remedy in real estate transactions. Lawsuits are expensive.

I had the same thing happen last Nov.
Seller "canceled" the transaction.

Seller admitted to me that the car just didn't bring as much as he thought it would.

Paid the deposit of $1500 which he refunded on the next day, but get this... the refund was canceled. I received NO NOTICE from paypal that it had been canceled. You would think a transaction that affects your account by $1500 would merit notification, right? I didn't know until I got my bank statement.

I filed a claim with Ebay, and they don't give a crap about the transaction being canceled. They did say I was eligible to make a claim with their insurer, which I have done.

I don't believe you will get anywhere with Ebay.

I have still not been reimbursed the $1500. Seller says paypal canceled the refund by mistake, and all I need to do is give him my banking info so he can wire money. Yeah, right, I am going to give out banking info to a perfect stranger that I ALREADY don't trust.
Adjuster says they will pay my claim then refer the guy to the appropriate authorities for prosecution.

[ds1]

I tried to leave negative feedback on an item. Ebay would not allow it. They have become a joke. It is now buyer beware

[Mr70]

The sad news is,a seller can keep the item & move on.Right or wrong.
The same way a buyer can return an item after paying & receiving it for a full refund,even if it was as described and the seller states NO REFUNDS..Right or wrong.
Today Ebay/Paypal is a fickle B****,which is why many have left it for good over the years.

[HawkX66]

Sorry to the OP. That sux. eBay is a beeahtch sometimes, but find me a better marketing tool for car parts...

[Lynn]

At least I was able to leave negative feedback for the seller.
Of course, now he is no longer an Ebay registered user.

I still use Ebay for buying, and sometimes for selling. Hard to beat the exposure. I do wish there was a viable on line alternative.

Even CL has gotten ridiculous. I get emails and text messages from idiots (scammers) who obviously don't even know what I am selling.

[marxjunk]

move on and forget it...theres absolutely no way to enforce it...

you can take them to court..but thats a waste of time for sure

[Craig_Maiorana]

I had the same scenario go down on E-bay except I was at the sellers house when he ended the auction. I even shook his hand and said ok cool 2,400 for the truck he said yup. Ok cool be by tomorrow with the money and a trailer. He wouldn't answer e-mails or phone calls even hung up on my wife. Finally she got ahold of him and said he wasn't selling it to me for that price. We flagged his account left whatever negative feed back that we could and moved on. Had this happened back east and not in California I may have gone back to his house and thrown him a whooping. Its best to walk away. Some of these sellers aren't worth getting jammed up over. Chalk it up as a life lesson.

[bbbentley]

School of Hard Knocks tuition VS.Good deals, I think I am about even <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/cry.gif <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/sick.gif...still a bunch of good guys in the hobby.

[olredalert]

----Lynn,,,You may have already thought of this, but go to your bank and open a new account with the minimum deposit and give the guy those numbers. Close the account the minute the money shows up. You may want to involve an officer at the bank about this. I have done this and it worked for me!!!......Bill S

[Jim_Hauls]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TimG</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Guys,

I bought a car on a no reserve ebay auction fair and square and the seller backed out of the sale. He also cancelled his Pay Pal account so I couldn’t pay him. I’ve asked him for his mail address and he won’t respond. We did correspond through ebay numerous times during the auction. He still has the car, he thought it was worth more. I don’t know if I want to pursue this, but I’m wondering what my options are.

</div></div>

Why would you want to pursue this ?

Nothing is bought until it is paid for.

People change their mind about selling cars - about who they marry ...

Move on .... <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/rolleyes.gif



Jim <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/3gears.gif

[Mr. Chevy]

The seller should have put a RESERVE on the auction.. But that is part of what is called &quot;wanting his cake and eating it too&quot;. I'm sure he didn't want a reserve to scare off potential buyers, but then when things didn't go the seller's way he wanted to back out... Just a bunch of <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/bs.gif

Rich

[enio45]

print his name, info and ID so we are aware!

[TimG]

Jim,

Thousands of cars will go through auctions within the next two weeks in Florida and Arizona. When the gavel comes down and you buy/sell a car, try to get out of it even though money has not changed hands.

[Mr70]

That's different Tim because those auction houses hold the cars &amp; the paperwork for those cars in their hands,that they're selling for their sellers at that short window in time underneath their tent.And have permission to access private financial information about the buyer/seller too,so basically have both buyer &amp; seller by the balls financially.
eBay,although global wide,is far away from both buyer &amp; seller &amp; the auction item,as well as sells 24/7,so they can't physically pursue every single far away buyer &amp; seller who won't follow through 24/7.
All eBay really sells,is time...

[TimG]

So it appears there's little or no recourse with an ebay auction aside from a sellers integrity.

That's a shame.

[Mr70]

I completely agree with you.

[MosportGreen66]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TimG</div><div class="ubbcode-body">So it appears there's little or no recourse with an ebay auction aside from a sellers integrity.

That's a shame.
</div></div>

They won't even kick him off ebay?

[TimG]

Probably so, I provided feedback and ebay knows he bailed.

[Stefano]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TimG</div><div class="ubbcode-body">So it appears there's little or no recourse with an ebay auction aside from a sellers integrity.

That's a shame.
</div></div>

The scenario sucks, no doubt.

[TimG]

It makes dealing with guys like Stefano all that much better. Yes, we've worked together on cars and the deal is done even without money changing hands.

[Mr70]

Stefano should buy eBay. <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/laugh.gif

[DW31S]

Not all car dealers (not sure if the seller is/was a dealer or not) are bad. The buyer here does have legal recourse in
some states, but attorney fees and the time and aggravation probably would likely outweigh what could/would be awarded. Like Stefano, I make many car purchases/sales with my word and handshake. Had the seller been honest and and admitted his mistake (sounds like he made more than one in this transaction) an amicable solution could have been figured out. Deception is an art and I want no parts of it, but some make a living at it. I'd say to fight for your $1500.00 and forget about it.

[TimG]

I bought a Harley 48 two years ago from a Dallas dealer the week after Christmas, it was an ebay transaction. No reserve auction and the guy sold the bike way under value. He let me know if I wanted out, he would not hold me to the auction. I drove to Dallas and picked up the bike, gave him a cashiers check and we gave each other good feedback. He could have told me to take a hike and relisted at a better time, but he honored the auction.

[GTO_DON]

I know of lots of people over the years that did t honor their deal. Usually you are banned from buying or selling anymore but that's about it. Sorry it didn't work out for you Tim but you can't make anyone sell their car at the end of the day. Trust me I know first hand.

[earntaz]

I think it goes without saying there are more GOOD people in our classic car world than BAD -- but that does not negate &quot;Buyer Beware&quot; ... that's what really sucks about dealing with a$$-holes. TAZ