[ARC5] Dynamotor on ebay (now somewhat OT)

[Leslie Smith]

  Hello Charles,
  Coming from Australia, I can't speak about the law of contract that
  applies in USA.
  Here, in Australia (and presumably the UK) auctions proceed under 'law
  of contract'.
  This involves 'offer' and 'acceptance'.  Example:  In my city,
  Newcastle, the council ran a parking station (for cars).
  A customer, a woman, parked her car at the parking station.  The car
  was damaged (somehow).
  The woman sued the council to recover the damage.
  The council pointed to a sign that said, "Park at your own risk" (or
  words to that effect).
  However, the sign wasn't visible at the place the woman bought her
  ticket.
  In court the point of dispute became 'conditions of the offer'.

  Since the sign wasn't visible BEFORE the woman paid for the ticket,
  "Park at your own risk" was NOT part of the offer.
  The woman won the cost of repair, paid for by the council.

  So far as your situation is concerned, the 'offer to sell' came from
  the seller.
  I will sell the dyno, there is no reserve.
  You made an offer, and I would be interested to hear legal argument,
  based on law, as to why the seller had a right to withdraw the sale.
  This will be a matter of contract law, and HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH EBAY
  RULES (I suspect).
  (That would have to be tested, of course, but without a reserve price,
  the seller has cut of the branch on which he sits.)

  You will do every-one a favour if you complain loud and bitterly and
  make people think carefully about any "offer" they put forward.
  I suggest you document the original condition of sale, and the new
  condition of sale.  
  (This goes to motive for withdrawing the item for sale.)

  Find a reliable (but free) source of reliable legal advice.
  Threaten legal action, based on that advice.  
  Make the seller aware of his obligation.
  That's my 2c worth.  


  73 de Les Smith
  vk2bcu at operamail.com


On Sun, Mar 8, 2015, at 03:08, Charles wrote:
> Thanks... This obviously is the latter, as the auction in no way has
> changed except for a very much higher initial price...
> 
> I didn’t realize it was allowed, thinking that both parties were
> “committed” once a bid had been placed.
> It may be legal, doesn’t make it ethical. I will not be bidding on
> anything this person has in future, anyway...
> 
> -Charles
> WB3JOK/0
> 
> From: Ian Wilson 
> Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2015 9:34 AM
> To: Charles 
> Cc: ARC-5 
> Subject: Re: [ARC5] Dynamotor on ebay
> 
> Cancelling an auction, even with active bids, has always been legal 
> by eBay rules. Sometimes sellers make honest mistakes. Sometimes
> they get greedy. No way to tell.
> 
> 73, ian K3IMW
> 
> 
> On Sat, Mar 7, 2015 at 6:52 AM, Charles <charlesmorris800 at centurytel.net>
> wrote:
> 
>   There was a decent looking receiver dynamotor on ebay (although the
>   shipping was a somewhat high $10) which I and someone else bid on,
>   starting at $1.00.
>   So my high bid was $1.25 although my max was considerably higher.
> 
>   Lo and behold, the listing was canceled last night "due to an error in
>   the listing"... then it reappears (with identical pics/text) with a
>   $30.00 Buy It Now, plus shipping, and a "Make Offer" button.
>   I offered my previous high bid (which is a lot more than $1.25) and it
>   was automatically, instantly declined.
> 
>   It is obvious that the seller was afraid he might actually have to
>   honor a binding contract to sell it, even at $1.25. Which it would not
>   have, I'm sure. He just wanted more money... thought this was against
>   ebay rules, once bids had been placed. No good mechanism to report it
>   (as if they'd give a rat's ass, all they want is their steadily
>   increasing percentage). This really ticks me off though.
>   Just wanted to rant. ;)
> 
>   -Charles
> 
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