Ebay seller refuses to honor auction

[sunroof]

Here are the facts:

I bought a name on ebay, paid via paypal. I was expecting to get transfer info from seller, but instead he refunds my money and says the name is no longer available.

I check whois, and he is still listed as owner of the name. After several emails back and forth, in succesison he says he tried to cancel auction, says he will give me double my money back, offers me other domain names, etc. It seems obvious to me that he has sold it elsewhere, or thought he underpriced it, which I believe he did.

I have told the seller I that if he has sold the name to someone else, it would be in his best interest to refund the money to that person, and transfer the name to me. I also told him that an ebay auction is a binding legal contract, and that if he reneges, I will contact ebay and turn it over to my attorney.

I contacted ebay by phone and email, and told them the facts, and they said they will investigate.

The price of the auction was only $xx, but I have very good use for the name, and want it, and think its worth a lot more. The facts of the case are not in dispute, and they are well documented.

Any ideas on a course of legal action here? Ebay always reminds bidders that they are entering a binding contract when they bid, but the dollar amount here is so low, that I'm not sure if that affects how to prodeed.

Assuming the seller doesn't live up to the auction, I've thought about following up on whois, and if it changes hands, contacting both my seller and the new owner to let them know that there was a prior contract to sell the name to me.

Obviously, I wouldn't put this much time and energy into a $xx name if I didn't think it was worth a lot more.

Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Acro]

Put a dispute in with eBay. However, the most they can do is cancel his account.

[Gerry]

Ditto to Acroplex's suggestion.

Also, regardless of retaliatory feedback, post him a negative for not honoring the sale.

Use this system to alert others.

[GAMEFINEST]

If its a xx dollar amount auction, there is nothing you can do except file a complaint against the seller, nothing else. Ebay wont do much.

[Raider]

He will earn 1 strike against him and that's it, same goes for NPB's

[Seraphim]

You're lucky it was only an XX domain. I had a seller back out on me this year on a domain package I paid upfront for at XX,XXX [via escrow]. And even then there was nothing I could do.

[Focus]

You could knock on his door...

[BELLC1]

Also, regardless of retaliatory feedback, post him a negative for not honoring the sale.

Wrong! Don't do that. The only bad feedback I have was because I gave a non-paying bidder negative feedback. It doesn't matter whether they backed out or failed to pay -- they can (and apparently did, in my case) give you negative feedback if you gave them some, even if you are 110% in the right. Granted, a potential buyer can look at my feedback and figure out what happened, but most buyers won't do that.

The worst part is, the person who did it later got kicked off Ebay. I made a complaint to Ebay to have it removed since they were obviously shady but Ebay said it stands whether the other party is a current Ebay member or not.

As for the original situation here -- just drop it. In this business, sooner or later you will lose domains no matter how much it frustrates you. Live with it and move on.

[jestew]

I agree with Bell. you don't really have anything to gain by giving bad feedback and it's guaranteed negative feedback. you need to take him up on him giving you double your money back and give him good feedback and he will give it to you.

[Raider]

I agree with Bell. you don't really have anything to gain by giving bad feedback

Perhaps, but you have responsibility to warn others.... I would take the negative if I thought it would prevent someone else from falling victim to this guy again.

[Andrew Shaw]

I have told the seller I that if he has sold the name to someone else, it would be in his best interest to refund the money to that person, and transfer the name to me. I also told him that an ebay auction is a binding legal contract, and that if he reneges, I will contact ebay and turn it over to my attorney.

That might be where he decided to continue with his other transaction. I know I would have. People dont like to be threatened. You also shouldnt threaten unless you are going to stand by your word. Threatening legal action over a $xx transaction, regardless of what its worth to you is laughable. Unless ofcourse you are willing to front a few hundred dollars for a cheap lawyer, or a few thousand that guarentees that he will get you the name back, then its not quite worth it. Ebay wants nothing to do with it, and when the auction is over; they will have nothing to do with it. I had someone fraud me over $10,000 on ebay, if they didnt help me then; dont expect any help from them today. So. Is the domain name worth $xxxx to you? Otherwise, just forget it ever happened.

[Gerry]

Wrong! Don't do that.

I have 10 negatives, all retaliatory feedback after leaving a negative for the seller/buyer for non performance. I still have 99.3% ranking, have not lost any buyers for antiques or what ever. And yes, many of them are domain names that I purchased.

At one point I left 19 negatives for one domain seller who ignored every single email from me, paypal, and ebay. It was only after I contacted the British authorities did he respond and transfer the domain names. This was about day 120 or 140 after the sale of 19 LLL's. Once I received the names, I amended the negatives.

It is just like this forum should be. I feel I have an obligation to warn others of non payment, bogus payment (fake and falsified money orders), or non delivery of goods.

Look at all the spats right here regarding bad sales, non transfer, I won but he sold to someone else. If some asshole is playing games and pulling stunts like this, I want to know about it. And so does every other member have the right to know who NOT to deal with. That is a big reason why members are being banned. Once all the facts and both sides weigh in, usually someone is gone.

The falsified money order payor is now in prison in the state of Nevada.

I have been dealing on ebay nearly 8 years now. It is those that do not leave negs that keep the pond scum on ebay to pull their stunts.

To each their own, but I have no problem leaving a neg after all measures fail and even usually wait 60 days or more to work things out. And if someone wants to take my money and not deliver, then screw him/her. And retaliatory neg can also be responded to.

Plus, I have been known to create a website, publish all the details, publish all the emails, publish the item or who is info, and notify the seller. Off ebay there is not a damn thing they can do. But it sure as hell gets their attention. Defamation? Great, let them take me to court. If the proof is in my favor, then they pay court costs.

Sound ruthless? Well, when you pay thousands of dollars for an item that is not what it is supposed to be the seller acts like a real asshole, you better believe I can be ruthless.

So I say neg the hell out of them.

[James Jean]

seriously... an xx name is nothing to fuzz about... go watch some British porn or something... that will put you to sleep mate

[Beachie]

Providing the seller is in a favorable jurisdiction, you probably have a binding contract of sale, particularly if you can prove you sent the money.

In the past I've successfully sued over a breach of contract of sale for a domain, in very similar circumstances to yours (although outside of eBay). Be aware it will easily cost mid $xx,xxx to get it through court. That said, I was awarded specific execution of the original contract and $100,000 in damages, so whilst I'd have prefered to avoid it altogether it was a profitable experience. I was also able to get an injunction preventing the sale of the domain until the court case was concluded, which I'd advise if you really want the name - it gets more complicated if there's another buyer involved.

[Gerry]

Providing the seller is in a favorable jurisdiction, you probably have a binding contract of sale, particularly if you can prove you sent the money.

In the past I've successfully sued over a breach of contract of sale for a domain, in very similar circumstances to yours (although outside of eBay). Be aware it will easily cost mid $xx,xxx to get it through court. That said, I was awarded specific execution of the original contract and $100,000 in damages, so whilst I'd have prefered to avoid it altogether it was a profitable experience. I was also able to get an injunction preventing the sale of the domain until the court case was concluded, which I'd advise if you really want the name - it gets more complicated if there's another buyer involved.

Good advice.

Other avenues to take...

Contact the losing registrar's legal department. Most use the email legal@(resigtrar).com and submit copies or urls of the ebay sale, payment records, etc. Submit everything you can anticipate they would need in the first contact as this may be your only chance to get their attention.

In my case regarding 19 domain names, it was a matter of contacting the authorities in the jurisdiction where the domainer lived. All facts and documentation was presented and only facts...no opinions. I figured I had one shot. England also had an internet fraud task force in place.

In less than 72 hours, the seller was contacting me telling me he "forgot" to transfer the 19 domain names.

By the way, PayPal is useless in these matters. They do not investigate nor refund for "intangible property" which is how domains are classified.

And for those that think CC offers protection, it does and it don't. You may get an initial credit, but PayPal will rebill and remind the CC issuer of the user agreement.

[Raider]

If you take the legal route, Winning a judgment is one thing, recovering on that judgment is another.....People who usually pull this kind of stuff are not financially well off, so consider this before spending money you might never get back.