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Hi,
What are your thoughts on this recent transaction? I think all that can really be said is that there are a lot of sellers on there who stupidly refuse to use the Reserve function, the item then sells for less than they were looking for and they simply cancel the contract for some specious reason. Ebay does little about it. They know they can get away with it.
Anyway, I bought a bike off ebay and it went for around two thirds of what similar bikes are going for on there. The seller clearly was not pleased what the sale amount, and seemed to be trying to wriggle out of completing the transaction.
The seller then cancelled the transaction. He initially said that he damaged the brake whilst tinkering with the bike. The component that he claims to have damaged is the caliper, which is a relatively inexpensive one. A replacement part can be easily sourced and it would be around a half hour for a mechanic to fit it. I suggested that we complete the transaction, and that he reimburse me for the cost of a second hand brake and along with the cost of installing it. The brakes fitted to the bike were described as new, and looked spotless in the pictures, so I think I was being quite reasonable in only asking for the equivalent reimbursement for used ones.
He responded thusly. "Unfortunately the bike is now damaged and not in a usable state, and I'm not prepared to sell it in that state, nor in a position to repair it in any reasonable time."
Essentially, I am in the position, because he reneged on the sale, of having to buy another similar bike, which are presently selling for considerably more than the amount I obtained the bike for. The seller then clearly stated afterwards that he can sell the bike for parts and get far more for it that way, and that is why he's not prepared to sell it to me. I am happy, more or less, to complete the transaction with him, as I need the bike in a rush and I've been looking for that model for a while. I'd rather not deal with this person, but I need the bike.
I have no idea why I persist in buying things from ebay.
Not worth your time, move on.
You have his name and address.. sign him up for all sorts of unwanted mail order crap. If you have his phone number.. just fill out one of those just had an accident claims online. He'll get pestered to death.
Otherwise just find a different bike to buy and leave him negative feedback.
Had similar, a lovely Whyte got for a really cheap price. Seller pulled out (can't remember the reason they gave, but it was pretty obviously because they thought they could get more). As you say, nothing you can do, move on, find another bike. Hope it's not being sold by a similar arsehole.
I know people say don't waste your time, and in general i agree, but i got messed about in a similar situation a year or two ago over some wheels, to the extent I wondered if you could use a small claims court to get them. After all, when you click on the place bid you enter a 'contract' to buy, and I guess similarly when you post something for sale, so a contract has been breached when they refuse to sell, no?
Do people get away with it because 'it's not worth the effort' or is there a legal reason - for example contract to buy is with ebay so you don't actually ever have a contract with the seller themself?
Morally (and probably legally) you're in the right. But no-one can force him to sell you the bike.
eBay will hide behind their T&C's, and if he claims it's damaged (an old eBay trick to wiggle out of sales) then he can get away with it.
Life's too short to deal with dicks, do just move on.
Negative feedback, and if you're vindictive use his email and/or name abd address to sign him up to loads of crap. If you have a mobile no, then put up a few adverts for cheap, dodgy stuff on gumtree. That'll learn him.
Realistically there is nothing you can do about it. It's not like he took your money or anything. Doubt any court is going to help you.
Do people get away with it because ‘it’s not worth the effort’ or is there a legal reason
Thing is, what if they've sold the bike outside of ebay anyway? What can ebay do? Bike is no longer available, so you've just lost out. Ebay aren't going to ban them, because they'll just be losing a potential source of income!
If you wanted to be vindictive - another good way is to open a fake ebay account - bid/win their auctions and don't pay up. (I wouldn't do this myself, obviously 😀 )
At least ebay will still charge him fees even though he cancelled the sale.
I am interested in where I stand regarding breach of contract. Ebay told me that my contract is with the seller and that they are merely the platform for the sale. The annoying thing is that the only other model of this bike on the site at the moment is well over £500 what I shelled out, and there are upgraded components on top of that which bumps my effective loss up all the more. As I understood it, because he breached the contract, he's obligated to put me in the position I would have been in had the contract been performed, namely with my having the same model bike in my possession. I might be wrong though. I really am not sure where I stand legally, and I’ll maybe find some sort of English law forum to ask the question on. It’s infuriating.
You’ve already spent faaar too much time on this. If you want an easy, smooth ride, deal with a shop and buy new.
Really?
Guy made a mistake not putting a reserve on, no one is any worse off. If he had you still wouldn’t have the bike.
Move on.
Not sure how it works with auctions with no reserve, but a contract of sale is normally not complete until money has exchanged hands.
I had this with a computer component that was miss-priced on Amazon, they hadn't taken any money, so the contract wasn't complete.
You can deal with this through the civil courts. You would take him to court for the difference in price between what you would've paid and what the cost of a similar bike 2nd hand is. I've done it when buying something new and the seller withdrew. I personally would do it, but then I'm a git who believes people should be held accountable.
It may be worth asking for photo's of the damage etc to build up some more evidence.. Small claims court is relatively simple and you can already show you've tried to remedy the situation without success.
You guys are gits.
How would you find a 2nd hand bike that was identical (age, condition, components) to claim the difference? Easy with new stuff, less so with used.
Tell him exactly what you think of him in a private message, leave negative feedback, find another bike to buy.
Life is too short mate and ultimately you would be wasting time and possibly money chasing a ghost when you could be looking for another bike.
Leave negative feedback and concentrate your efforts on finding an alternative bike.
Wish you all the best in your search and sorry to hear you have been messed around like this.
Not worth your time, move on.
This plus lots. You're only pissed because you thought that you'd bagged a bargain below market value. Move on and find something else.
So to sumarise:
by your own admission the seller made an error.
Now you want to force them to live by the outcomes of that error solely because you're (not since you've not paid for it or actually lost anything) out of pocket?
EBay doesn't give the seller the option of cancelling the sale because "ah bugger", hence "damage".
Essentially you want them to be shafted so you can have a bargain.
If you'd missed the decimal point in your bid and ended up bidding way over the odds, would you expect them to take you to court for the money?
People make mistakes, sometimes you might be involved in it. 99% of the time, like now, you'll be completely unharmed by the experience, on those occasions don't behave like a petulant child and move on.
Leave bad feedback, that's what it's for then find another bike. It's only stuff.
[I]<span style="display: inline !important; float: none; background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.4px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">I am interested in where I stand regarding breach of contract. Ebay told me that my contract is with the seller and that they are merely the platform for the sale. The annoying thing is that the only other model of this bike on the site at the moment is well over £500 what I shelled out, and there are upgraded components on top of that which bumps my effective loss up all the more. As I understood it, because he breached the contract, he’s obligated to put me in the position I would have been in had the contract been performed, namely with my having the same model bike in my possession. I might be wrong though. I really am not sure where I stand legally, and I’ll maybe find some sort of English law forum to ask the question on. It’s infuriating.</span>[/I]
I'll save you the effort. You will get nowhere. Move on.
Really! neg feedback if you must then just move on.
I think you need to continue to chase up this person for the rest of your life.
OP, did the guy you bought the collection only bike off of take you to court to get you to drive down the country to collect it, or did he accept you'd screwed up and bought it in error? It's not the same bike is it?
Guy made a mistake not putting a reserve on,
Unlikely the seller made an error. There is a (not inconsiderable) fee to have a reserve, it's not something eBay provide for free! He is (most likely) simply trying to cheat the system to maximise his profits. Very common.So to sumarise:
by your own admission the seller made an error.
I would still be in the move on, life's too short camp though! Although leave neg feedback if possible.
Negative feedback if you can. You've not lost anything. Move on.
It's the same bike. I (among others) offered to collect it and arrange postage for him, not that it's relevant.
IMHO - there's 'screwed up' and there's playing the system. If there's a minimum you'll take for something put a reserve on it. But that seems to put buyers off (because they won't get a bargain?) and it costs more in ebay fees. Seller didn't, it went for less than he wanted, now he's inventing excuses why he won't sell. Cake and eat it.
As to "Essentially you want them to be shafted so you can have a bargain"
Nope - just reasonable that when someone enters an auction process, accept that sometimes you get more than you wanted, sometimes less.
I also say drop it, move on, life's too short FWIW, but it is wrong that sellers (and buyers) can do this and ebay allows it by and large. And i also think it's wrong that some people seem to be making the buyer out to be the bad guy when as far as I can see all he did was follow the rules, get lucky, and now want what he made a deal for.
If you ever sold something on ebay and got more for it than you expected - would you refuse to take the extra because the other guy was unlucky?
Hmmm sold a few things that went for way less than worth luck of the draw I guess, never anything serious though.
Had auctions cancelled on me a couple of times on bikes and a few times on parts that I have won the auction for a very cheap price. Last one was a mint Brooks Pro Ti for £60 which the seller cancelled straight away. It is annoying, but I tend to think that the Seller is expecting a fair price for what they are selling, so if it is seriously below that, and they dont want to go ahead then fair enough. That's their option. Personally I just move on and look else where (after maybe fuming for a bit...).
you see Andy, letting people off with it just creates the environment where it becomes OK to do that. You seem like a level, reasonable person, but you actually are the root of the problem. We need more anger and pitchforks. Grrrrrr! 😉
Find where he lives, start buying the pineapples:
May be negative feedback too
Hang on Otherjonv, my mob have already crossed from Berkshire into Surrey with burning torches and pitch forks out, to deal with your outrageous self entitlement that you should be getting a bargain and screw whoever is selling as they are just objects to be swept aside on your path to cheap tat domination..... 😉
Seriously though...Ebay doesnt help in this situation as the fee structure is bollocks. 10% final value fee whether is £1 or £1000, and on top of that if want to put a reserve on thats another hefty fee on top. I wonder how much activity has increased with the recent £1 final value promos
it's not even my cheap tat. That's how angry I am.
PS, anyone want a pair of Shimano road shoes, with Shimano road cleats. Hardly used. No reserve (it's not even on ebay yet)
It’s the same bike. I (among others) offered to collect it and arrange postage for him, not that it’s relevant
FWIW and this thread not withstanding, as soon as "i can't collect but..." came up I'd have cancelled assumed the OP was a scammer, and (if you still can) left bad feedback.
Contents of this thread considered I'd have counted my blessings and cancelled the sale.
My post does read harshly admittedly but, ultimately the OP knows hes under paying.
£50 or so, I'd think the seller really should just suck it up, but a third of the average take home monthly salary? No I'd have expected them to have vanished in seconds. (I'm guessing it's a fairly huge chunk of the actaul "value" too?)
Personally i wouldn't have deliberately listed anything for less than I'd take but i do know i geniunely couldn't afford to loose £500, if i were the seller at that point I'm really not sure what I'd do.
(It is easy done, I've got a listing up at the moment with an or best offer where I've got eBay's suggested figure for the rejection threshold instead of the one i know i typed but clearly didn't save, it only became apparent when i got an offer a few hundred less than the threshold i should have set. eBay suggests some very low figures indeed and you can't alter some of them once the auction is live, if you notice (i can't imagine they didn't, everyone watches their own auctions i assume) you have to either cancel and relist or wait it out and hope for the best)
Sounds like the seller sensed a pain in the arse buyer and cut him loose before getting into a string of post purchase grief.
The pineapple suggestion is good, but doesn’t really go far enough.
Kill yourself. And when your tainted spirit finds its destination, you will topple the master of that dark place. From your black throne, lash together a machine of bone and blood, and fueled by your hatred for the seller, this fear engine will bore a hole between this world and that one. When it begins, he will hear the sound of children screaming - as though from a great distance. A smoking orb of nothing will grow above his bed, and from it will emerge a thousand starving crows. As you slip through the widening maw in your new form, he will catch only a glimpse of your radiance before he is incinerated. Then, as tears of bubbling pitch stream down your face, the dark work will begin. You will open one of your six mouths, and sing the song that ends the world.
On the other hand, forget it and move on.
As has been said above. Setting a reserve is bloody expensive on Ebay. They want things selling cheap to attract more buyers to their service. Not great for sellers though especially durable things like bicycles
Essentially, I am in the position, because he reneged on the sale, of having to buy another similar bike, which are presently selling for considerably more than the [b]amount I obtained the bike for.[/b]
So you are in exactly the same position as you were before then ?
And you didn’t obtain anything, you just kept all of your own cash
The annoying thing is that the only other model of this bike on the site at the moment is well over £500 what I shelled out,
You didn’t shell out anything.
...and there are upgraded components on top of that which bumps my effective loss up all the more
You don’t have any “Loss” at all, effective or otherwise.
Seriously, I get that it’s a bit annoying , but you are carrying on like you’ve had your bank account emptied by some scammer 😳
Just move on, you’ve lost nothing.
To balance this I got a wheelset with a rohloff rear hub for quite literally pennies a couple of years ago. Reason - the bloke selling could not spell rohloff and I was sneaky enough to set search alerts on variations of the spelling as I know it's a brand name we brits struggle on and I was the only person to bid. He was gracious enough to sell it for what was quite a ridiculous price.
Getting too stressed about someone pulling out of an ebay purchase does mark you out as a bit of a twit*. Life is too short.
* I used another word, but hell I'm on holiday and in a good mood. Also have not used 'twit' for about 30 years and thought it needed a run out.
I'd have been more honest and just cancelled it because the buyer dicked me about by bidding on a collection only item that he wasn't in a position to pick up. Soz OP.
I sold a non-functioning Genelec monitor on eBay a while ago. It went for way over what I thought it would (sold for £200 when I expected £100ish).
I emailed the buyer to double check he knew it was broken, and I offered to meet him halfway on price, as I felt a bit guilty.
He just paid the full final price by paypal, and didn't even reply! Gave me good feedback too.
otherwise just find a different bike to buy and leave him negative feedback.
If he has cancelled the sale nobody will be leaving any feedback.
Not sure about that. I sold some forks cash on collection recently but the buyer paid PayPal the. Wanted to come and collect. I smelt a rat and cancelled transaction refunding him. He then started becoming abusive demanding I send him the forks at my cost ‘or else’ he then left me bad feedback, which eBay kindly removed for me when I pointed out how abusive and threatening he was being. I sold the forks for significantly less via Singletrack. I have since given up selling on eBay. Too many scammers and questionable activity.
I would say to the OP...just move on! eBay won’t do anything.
I’ve just realised (possibly a bit slow?)
is this the same bike deal that you said this about a few days ago...
I’ll likely have to ditch the transaction, and my spidey senses are telling me that it’s for the best
I presume, if it was, you would have been more than happy to be taken to the small claims court by the seller for the full sale price?
Because...
As I understood it, because he breached the contract, he’s obligated to put me in the position I would have been in had the contract been performed...
You can’t have thought that just applied to other people, and not you surely ?
This story has the potential for a brother in law cameo.
This story has the potential for a brother in law cameo.
Part of me is hoping, deep down, that it transpires the reason the OP now needs this bike in a hurry it's he's sold it on on ebay for the extra £500 and his buyer, who has paid, is now getting upset with him over the delay.
Obviously that would be a horrible thing to wish on someone but it would make a wonderful thread.
Limitation of eBay. People get away with this all the time. Stop crying because you haven’t made the saving you thought, and move on. You won’t get anywhere trying to get what’s yours according to ‘the contract’. Accept that eBay is crap, and allows people to behave like dicks.
...Part of me is hoping...
I hadn’t thought of that.... but now I can’t think of anything else.
That would be brilliant.
Please let the next post be the “new buyer” that’s paid by PayPal gift 😂
IN an auction the contract is mnade the moment a winning bid is accepted. You could sue him thru small claims for your losses. You losses arre what - a couple of hundred? Small claims will cost you IIRC £60 plus your time to prepare the case plus the cost of bailiffs to enforce the judgement. forgert it and move on
I sold a load of kitchen stuff on ebay - brand new but surplus to requirements. One went for far less than it was worth and I also underestimate the postage. I messaged the seller saying - you lucky so and so - you got that cheap and I got the postage wrong ( after I had sent it. the sent me an extra £10. thats how adults sort things out
Cutting to the chase...
what bike was it?
And
how much was he ‘meant’ to sell it for?
I had always assumed the contract was only formed when you pay. Apparently this is not the case. The reason you can get away with not paying/refusing to sell on ebay is more to do with how you interpret what the damages would be.
The OP bid on a collection only item. Then told the seller he was going to get it couriered/collected by a forum member/local bike shop as he could not collect it.
If the seller had asked for advice on here everyone would of said the OP was scamming him.
The OP hasn't lost anything. He won the bid dishonestly, and there is no telling how much the seller would have got if the aucition was listed with courier as there would have been more bidders.
I've sold stuff on ebay previously and not used a Reserve and on a handful of occasions gotten way less than I thought I would, sometimes for expensive items. I don't use a Reserve deliberately because of fees, but mainly because it tends to attract more people and higher final selling amounts most of the time. When it has gone for less than I'd have liked, yes, to answer some people's accusations above, I have sold the item. It's a contract, which is legally binding, but it's moreover the decent thing to do.
I was going to be able to collect it, just not in the tight time frame that the seller wanted me to. Hence, I offered to have it collected from him, and eventually that I'd have somebody collect it on my behalf. Why would I bid on an item that I couldn't collect without checking with the seller first?It would not remotely be worth the hassle, even were it to lead to a bargain. I'm not even sure how that would be per se a scam, as some of you are suggesting.
Again, in terms of my loss and how that might be quantified, I don't claim to be an expert on contract law. As I understood it, where one party breaches a contract, the other is under an obligation to put them in the position that they would have been otherwise. Hence the notion of their encountering a loss, albeit one that is not necessarily intuitively arrived at.
I suppose I've had too many transactions on ebay where one party has cancelled because they've not gotten what they've been looking for. It's frustrating.
I won't be pursuing this, just I was curious as to where you all stood on this, and how you've dealt with it. It's interesting that so many are nonplussed by this behaviour and even going so far as to tacitly endorse it.
If you have plenty of experience of eBay, you shouldn't find this sort of behaviour surprising. Perhaps that is why people are trying to figure out why this case matters to you so much?
People are 'nonplussed' because precedence shows there is no point trying to pursue it. Solutions is not to use eBay to penny pinch, unless you can deal with the significant number of dicks that use it.
Ebay used to be a great place to buy and sell though, especially for rare and hard to find items. It's still the only place to go for such things in many cases.
It matters to me because I am limited to buying bike related stuff on here, which I am increasingly doing. The people on here are brilliant and I've no complaints, but you can have a wait on your hands should it be a specific item that you're looking for as the turnover here isn't as high as ebay. Likewise, I try to use the LBS as much as possible, and occasionally online merchants. That said, I prefer to buy certain items second hand, particularly where they're going to be used in environments where they'll take a beating and where I'd rather not use something newer.
Again, in terms of my loss and how that might be quantified, I don’t claim to be an expert on contract law. As I understood it, where one party breaches a contract, the other is under an obligation to put them in the position that they would have been otherwise. Hence the notion of their encountering a loss, albeit one that is not necessarily intuitively arrived at.
You are still in the same position you were before you won the auction, you just are not happy about it.
@aidensmith I was going to post a rambling message then I thought ah stuff it. I think that's what you should do in this case. Move on dude.
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I suppose I’ve had too many transactions on ebay where one party has cancelled because they’ve not gotten what they’ve been looking for.
Do you mean like this .....
..I’ll likely have to ditch the transaction, and my spidey senses are telling me that it’s for the best
I honestly can’t believe you are on here moaning about the seller, and waffling on about contract law after saying that just a few days ago.
You and the seller deserve serve each other frankly. Both people I’d not want to sell to or buy from.
"You are still in the same position you were before you won the auction, you just are not happy about it."
That isn't how contract law operates. It seeks to put the party in the position they'd have been in but for the breach, namely in my case in possession of the specific item or one like it.
nealglover, seriously, I am trying to be patient, but can you explain what you're not understanding? I was willing to cancel the transaction, as my schedule had changed, or rather the schedule of the people I was going to visit, and I was unable to collect the bike within the seller's tight time limit, which they didn't specify in the listing but no matter. I said that this was fair enough in the post you lifted the above quote from, so let's not be selective in order to misrepresent me. The seller was already trying to wriggle out of the sale prior to this, and, frankly, I was being philosophical about the cancellation, as they didn't sound like they were going to be a good person to deal with. I eventually arranged somebody to collect it for me, and when I informed them of this, they then came up with a new excuse. They thereafter simply stated that they didn't want to sell for the amount it went for.
Seriously, explain what's escaping you, or what you think precisely it is that I've done wrong? Indulge me.
Indulge me
Ive explained it pretty well already. If you don’t get it by now, you never will 👍
I was willing to cancel the transaction
Is that how contracts work then ?
One party is “willing” to cancel (because they screwed up basically) so the other party has to accept ?
Well, now the Seller is taking advantage of the same “loophole” you seemed to think you had access to, when it suited what you wanted.
Happy days.
That is how contracts operate, in fact. At least as I understand it. Not all contractual terms are specified, such as how quickly an item needs to be collected. Where there is ambiguity and the seller, says, after acceptance, that it needs to be collected pronto or I'm not selling to you, then, yes, I was willing to abort it. It's important that both parties in such a situation are reasonable, which I think I was, but clearly you think I wasn't
That isn’t how contract law operates. It seeks to put the party in the position they’d have been in but for the breach, namely in my case in possession of the specific item or one like it.
That is simply one possible interpretation of the 'damages' due to the breach. The other is that you have your money and no bike. The same situation you were in before the breach.
the seller, says, after acceptance, that it needs to be collected pronto or I’m not selling to you, then, yes, I was willing to abort it.
So what exactly is it that you are complaining about then?
He doesn’t want to sell it to you because you can’t collect it, and you are willing to cancel it
What is the issue. What are the losses you are supposedly suffering ?
You're either not understanding or being deliberately obtuse.
I was, as it turns out, able to collect it within his stated time frame. He then found something else to cancel it over, namely the broken caliper. Then he was straightforward and said that he simply didn't want to sell it for that amount. Read more carefully my now numerous above posts
The correct spelling is "fuelled" drlex. This isn't the USA you know. Tsk.
The correct spelling is “fuelled” drlex. This isn’t the USA you know. Tsk.
Well done, have a biscuit.
You’re either not understanding or being deliberately obtuse.
On STW, Shirley not?
Apologies, davosaurusrex. [strike]Cookie[/strike] Biscuit for the source?
Seller doesn't want to sell it for whatever reason and as you will have difficulty making him sell it to you just get over it.
If you accidentally listed a Buy It Now item for £10 instead of £1000 as you got the decimal point wrong would you still sell it for £10 ?
If you accidentally listed a Buy It Now item for £10 instead of £1000 as you got the decimal point wrong would you still sell it for £10 ?
Probably not, because it's a genuine mistake. You'd pull the ad as soon as you saw it, not wait till it sold and then certainly not suggest that the buyer recognises the mistake and pays £1000 as that's what you meant.
But that isn't what happened here. The seller listed without a reserve in order to avoid the reserve fee, and as stated several times above because (for some reason) low starting bid / no reserve gets more bidding, and more bidding generally begets higher prices https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=722484
So the seller clearly got it wrong to not have a reserve (rather than 'made a mistake'), opting to game the system knowing that if it didn't hit his unstated reserve he'd pull out and ebay would do SFA about it. And then when pulling out, appears to have fibbed about why he's pulling out (damaged brake) and then finally come clean.
So while I still think drop it and move on is the right option on the basis of there being SFA chance of getting anything out of this situation, I still side with the buyer as being morally and possibly legally in the right having won an auction in good faith that the buyer has now pulled out of, and don't see why he's now being painted as the bad guy.
[The collection / collection later / collection by a mate (helpful bloke off STW) muddies stuff a bit, but doesn't change the bones of the problem]
It doesn't muddy anything. It's part of the 'contract' that it was to be collected by the winner. It hasn't - that's the 'breach of contract'.
OP should pay seller compensation for wasting his time.
and don’t see why he’s now being painted as the bad guy.
He isn't the bad guy but just needs to see it from the other side. Reserve prices are fairly high which is why you can't expect people to pay them so this is the sort of thing that happens because of that. We just have to live with it or not use eBay if it upsets you.
I sell a fair bit on eBay and buy even more and sell pretty much every thing Buy It Now with immediate payment as to me the buyers are much more of a problem than the sellers.
OP should pay seller compensation for wasting his time.
Hilarious. Should I get compensation every time a buyer has wasted my time? How do I go about claiming that?
As hilarious as the notion that the OP is somehow in a worse position and should take the seller to the small claims court - as has been suggested..
Should I get compensation every time a buyer has wasted my time? How do I go about claiming that?
I think the first step is to get all indignant on an online bike forum about contract law, and invent some non existent “losses” that you can apparently claim.
The second step is to do nothing else about it.
OR
Waste a lot of time and money taking a bloke of eBay to court to claim some fictional “losses” off him.
The OP is just at the end of the first step at the moment. Will be interesting to see how he gets on.
Ive just had a buyer pull out of buying my flat on the day of completion, having strung me along for 6 months. What can I claim?
On the day of Completion or the day you were exchanging contracts ?
If it’s actually Completion, then you can claim a fair bit. Read the contract 👍
that it was to be collected by the winner. It hasn’t – that’s the ‘breach of contract’.
Strictly (and assuming the buyer has provided all the details accurately, as I'm just going on that side of events)
* Auction was collect only and buyer was going to collect
* Seller then said they wanted immediate collection, which created an issue for the buyer
* Buyer then arranged (or was in process of arranging) for a local collection who could then arrange onward delivery instead
* Seller then created a new problem about the brake damage, and then finally admitted the true reason for pulling out
I suspect if the seller emailed him now and offered to sell it to him at the agreed price, for collection only, then we'd be back on. I can't see in any form that the failure to collect a bike from someone who won't sell it to you is contract breach on part of the collection!
The 'muddy' bit was more in reference to the starting to sound like a contrived ebay scam scenario where the man with a van collects for you to ship it to the Ukraine, you get no paperwork and then a chargeback request comes, etc. Which i don't think is the case here, it's someone who genuinely is trying to keep his side of the deal, pay what was agreed, and get it collected from the seller asap. Just not by his own hand.
slow day theotherjonv? 😉
the house buying-selling process is ****ed up, it's disgraceful that people can (and do) pull out on both sides leaving not just you but also everyone else in the chain messed up both in having prepped for a move but also the costs of surveys, mortgage advice, etc. To draw an analogy to this situation - it shouldn't be allowed but the government (who make the laws*) / ebay (that decide what is and isn't accepted) let it happen.
* in fairness, not everyone that pulls out of a house sale does it because they got cold feet, and i don't know how to improve that process, i just know it's ****ed up having been on the end of it twice. Urine-footwear or Bombers, I'm afraid.