Australian Court Says A Deal's A Deal On eBay

from the done-deal,-now-pay-up dept

Fri, Aug 3rd 2007 2:03pm — Mike Masnick

People backing out of auctions or putting up fake bids has long been a problem for eBay (and users of eBay), but that may be changing in Australia, at least. A court there has ruled that a deal's a deal on eBay. This specific case isn't about a buyer backing out, though. This time, it was the seller, who had apparently worked out a private deal to sell something outside of eBay for more than the eBay bid, but the guy who won the online auction demanded that he get to complete the transaction. The court agreed, noting that the eBay auction was a binding contract. So, if you're trying to sell something on eBay (in Australia, at least) make sure you really want to sell it through eBay -- and the same probably goes for buyers.

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Filed Under: auctions
Companies: ebay

10 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 3 Aug 2007 @ 2:08pm

Deal
Bust a deal, face the wheel!
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Aug 2007 @ 3:16pm

Re: Deal
Deal or no Deal?
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Jeff, 3 Aug 2007 @ 6:17pm

Re: Re: Deal
DEAL!!!
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DashRiprock, 3 Aug 2007 @ 7:32pm

I've had that a couple of times, seller backs out of deal, complaints to ebay go nowhere. At least that's the deal here in Canada. I'm glad to see the Aussies putting some bite into it.
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Ajax 4Hire, 3 Aug 2007 @ 8:30pm

Re: Deal
If only...

If only I could use the wheel when someone bust a deal.

This story could also be titled:
"Australian Court proves they have cajones."

We don't need another hero,
We don't need another way home.
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Jazz, 5 Aug 2007 @ 6:26pm

BS
While I applaud the Aussie court for having the balls to do something like this, I have to feel sorry for the seller, who was forced to sell a classic war plane worth AU$250,000 for AU$150,000. Look at it from his perspective. He just wanted to get as much money for the item he was selling as possible and the court just cost him 100k.
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Enricvo Suarve, 6 Aug 2007 @ 12:46am

Re: BS
No one forced him to put it on eBay, he knew it was an auction site and should know what "auction" means

If he was that bothered he should have put a reserve price on it, but he didn't
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Anthony, 6 Aug 2007 @ 2:58am

Re: BS
If he wanted to get as much money as possible he should have had a higher reserve price.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Aug 2007 @ 11:37am

Re: Deal
Gulag!
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Jason Buck, 7 Aug 2007 @ 10:14am

Write your own Legal Blurb!
SELLER HAS THE RIGHT TO TERMINATE THE SALE OR ACCEPT OTHER OFFERS FROM NO eBAY SOURCES AT ANYTIME.

What if the seller had this item posted in the newspaper, Craigslist or other method of selling. I think as long as no money exchanged hands the seller has the right to do whatever he or she wants with their product. eBay needs to put a cancellation policy in affect. Where the seller who terminates an auction where the item is sold is penalized 10% (which goes to the winning bidder not eBay). That way if the seller feels it is worth 10% then he or she certainly has the right to do what ever they want LOL.
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