Seller refusing to honor E Bay auction

[coastie]

I won an auction on E Bay and paid the agreed to amount for the item and shipping. The seller informed me he would ship the item upon his return from his business trip. After he returned I emailed again to get an update and he told me his assistant had been fired and he had no way of getting me the item I purchased.
As I understand it, if the seller changes their mind about selling an item, they must discontinue the sale before it ends, otherwise they are obligated to honor their agreement.

I have looked online for any previous cases but I have not found any. He did say he would provide me with a refund but only if I gave hime my paypal information. I do not want the refund, I want the item and I don't think I should have to provide him with my paypal info.

Because he made a mistake posting this item, he is trying to get out of it and I don't believe this is ethical. I also looked him up and he is a prominent business man in Colorado.

Does this seem like something I should pursue or just forget about it? If there are no legal ramifications on the sellers side then there should be none on the buyers side as well.

Regards,

 

[justalayman]

Does this seem like something I should pursue or just forget about it?,

If it was for land or on eBay motors, eBay auctions state they are not binding contracts.

Other than that, if you have enough money and time, you could sue the guy.

 

[coastie]

Should I pursue

Thank you for the response. No, it was for a mountain bike, a fairly expensive one.

 

[RRevak]

Look, the guy is saying he can't get you the item and is willing to offer you your money back in full. If he can't get you the item, then suing him prob won't amount to more than loss of money and time on your part. Is it really worth it? My advice; take the money back and look for another bike. Will be much less costly and time consuming than trying to get a bike that may not exist anymore out of a guy who may genuinely not be able to give you the bike. Stop being such an arse, take the refund, and live to ebay another day with another bike. Sheesh