Filing a small claim against someone in another state

[Dianareed]

What is the name of your state? Florida

Recently I made a purchase on Ebay for an item totaling $1100.00. The seller never shipped the item and I registered a claim with PayPal. They have closed the case and refunded me only $200.00 of the total. The seller lives in California, I have his address and phone number although he is no longer a registered user on Ebay.
Can I file a small claim against him in my state?
Thank you

 

[racer72]

Sure you can. Your only problem after that is providing proper service to the guy in California. Then after you get your Florida judgment, you will find it useless against a resident of California and will have to domesticate the judgment. This will mean a couple trips at least to the West coast. Of course all the above won't matter if the guy convinces a Florida judge that Florida has no jurisdiction over an online sale that technically took place in another state.

Now the reality of your situation. It will cost you a whole lot more than what you have lost at this time to collect what the bad guy stole from you. The odds of you seeing a penny of this money is slim and none and slim just left town. The person that did this to you likely planned the whole thing to rip someone off from the beginning. I wouldn't be surprised if the name you have is a phony. I would also bet he had a feedback of less than 10 and many of those were from the same person.

 

[Dianareed]

Thank you

Acutally, you're pretty close to right about the planned scam. when I researched this guy, he had a 99% positive feedback score and verification through PayPal, etc. I try to do my homeowrk before buying on Ebay.
However, in the space of about one week, several people who had purchased from him never got their items and the negative onslaught began.
I pretty much guessed at the anwer I would get to this post and I'm not surprised. so, lesson learned....the hard way.