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Need Advice...Please eBay buyer issue. Threatening to sue

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fleshgrl02

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
Hi everyone,
I sold a sterling silver pitcher on eBay on June 25, 2014. The buyer just contacted me on March 30, 2015 (10 months later) stating "as he was cleaning the pitcher he could see copper coming through." The pitcher is marked sterling & .925. It been about 10 months, and now the buyer wants a refund. I thought maybe the buyer has remorse or maybe he's upset that the silver market price has dropped immensely. Either way, I wrote him that the time limit has more than passed by for a return. He wrote me back stating that he was going to take me to small claims court. Can he do this? Does he have a legitimate claim?
 


justalayman

Senior Member
Apparently you sold a sterling silver plated pitcher and not something of solid sterling silver. Depending on how it was advertised you could have a problem.

Yes he can sue you regardless of the eBay situstion. The statute of limitations is at least a year for fraud, misrepresentation, or contrsct law in general. Which applies I can't say as I don't have all the facts.
 

Dave1952

Senior Member
If I understand you, you sold a pitcher that was marked Sterling .925 and there was no indication of plating. The buyer now tells you that he sees copper coming through. If he sues it will be up to him to convince the judge or magistrate that the item is indeed not solid silver but plated. I wonder if he'll be able to do that.
If you have the time, perhaps a trip to see this copper hue might help you to decide whether to reverse this sale. Right now it's up to the buyer to sue. So, you can go and look at the pitcher or ignore the guy and see whether he sues
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Dave1952;3326482]If I understand you, you sold a pitcher that was marked Sterling .925 and there was no indication of plating. The buyer now tells you that he sees copper coming through. If he sues it will be up to him to convince the judge or magistrate that the item is indeed not solid silver but plated. I wonder if he'll be able to do that.
Um, there appears to be copper showing. If so, proving it is sterling silver plate becomes obvious.


If you have the time, perhaps a trip to see this copper hue might help you to decide whether to reverse this sale. Right now it's up to the buyer to sue. So, you can go and look at the pitcher or ignore the guy and see whether he sues
either it is sterling silver or sterling silver plated something. While sterling silver does have 7.5% of metal other than silver (usually copper), if it is solid sterling silver, you are not going to get a nice spot of copper showing up when polishing it. The metal on the surface is the same all the way through. If you have something plated, then the base metal will show if you rub the plating off.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Um, there appears to be copper showing. If so, proving it is sterling silver plate becomes obvious.


either it is sterling silver or sterling silver plated something. While sterling silver does have 7.5% of metal other than silver (usually copper), if it is solid sterling silver, you are not going to get a nice spot of copper showing up when polishing it. The metal on the surface is the same all the way through. If you have something plated, then the base metal will show if you rub the plating off.
I agree with this, but whose to say that the person is not lying or imagining that they are seeing copper coming through? Tarnish can take on all kinds of weird hues. (I have lots of sterling silver items).
 

justalayman

Senior Member
I agree with this, but whose to say that the person is not lying or imagining that they are seeing copper coming through? Tarnish can take on all kinds of weird hues. (I have lots of sterling silver items).
that is true. I know what copper looks like so maybe I'm putting too much into the claim thinking they do as well.


bottom line: if it is silver plate, OP needs to be concerned, especially if they sold it as a solid piece and it was priced as if it were solid. If it isn't, even if sued, they should have no trouble prevailing, although they will have to go through the motions to defend themselves.
 

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