Is an ebay purchase a real legal contract?

[TroubleFromEbay]

What is the name of your state? New York.

Sorry- this is going to be a long one.

I puchased Notre Dame football tickets way above face value in May of 2006. The auction stated that the tickets would be shipped overnight mail when they were released by the university. Since i know the university doesn't release tickets until august I was fine with not getting my tickets shipped until August and paying for them in May.

When August comes around I email the seller and he says will be shipped in 2 weeks. I was a little peeved b/c I wanted them ASAP to make travel arrangements. I didn't say anything though. Over 2 weeks pass, Sept. 4th through sept 11th , and I email him approx 2-3 times "have you shipped?" /"am I going to get a response" "can I have a tracking #" and I get No response at all. Over that time period I also called him min 2-3 times and I was either hung up on or the phone just rang and rang.
I then send him an email sept. 11th saying if you dont' respond to this I will have no choice but to write a negative feedback.

Sept.12 I wrote a negative feedback. "NEVER GOT ND TIX! He ignored all my emails. Prev feedbck a scam. All same buyers"

Which brings me to my first question- Was I in the right to assume I was being tricked...did I act too quickly? I honestly felt I was right to warn others. I wrote all same buyers b/c one buyer would have left 2-3 feedbacks and I thought that was suspicious.
(also- ebay only allows a certain amount of time after an auction to leave feedback so I was stressed b/c I thought my time was going to run out to warn other people b/c the auction ended over 3 months prior.

I still got no response from the seller until sept. 17th. He called me up screaming and yelling and cursing. That went on for 2-3 days and i finally just wrote him an email saying "final chance- send me my tickets tomrorrow or refund my money or I will contact the authorities." Keeping in mind this was now september 19th and the tickets were for september 30th.

He complains to ebay that I am harrassing him and has now told me that I will be served papers for defamation of character/libel/slander. He said that ebay feedback can be used in those kinds of suits and I have hurt his business.

My questions: Do I need to get a lawyer if I am served?
Do I have to pay for the lawyer? or is it like a they get paid if you get paid type thing?
Where do I get the lawyer? Indiana or New York?
How much can he sue me for? Should I really be worried?

I am going to counter sue him anyway b/c I have not recieved a refund/ tickets but can I sue him for more than he took from me? Its going to cost me a lot of time and money just to fight this.
The tickets were under 500 dollars so I would have to go to small claims court right? if I won that case Can I sue for travel expenses to Indiana? Lawyer expenses?
What else would I have the right to sue him for?

If he sued me in "real" court could I counter sue for the under 500 in the same court/same day?

Can I counter sue still if he sends me my tickets the day of the game. Obviously he knows I live in NY and the game is in Indiana but can he come back and say well you can't sue me you received your tickets.

Also, would I have any case against ebay for allowing this type of auction where you have to pay now and recieve product months later when ebay will no longer back or accept complaints? You only have 45 days after an auction to complain and have ebay and paypal help you get your money back.

I am sorry with all the questions but I really have no idea what I am in for. or what can happen to me.

Thanks so much in advance. Its a blessing that I found this site!

 

[K'Ta]

Sept.12 I wrote a negative feedback. "NEVER GOT ND TIX! He ignored all my emails. Prev feedbck a scam. All same buyers"

Which brings me to my first question- Was I in the right to assume I was being tricked...did I act too quickly? I honestly felt I was right to warn others. I wrote all same buyers b/c one buyer would have left 2-3 feedbacks and I thought that was suspicious.

You jumped the gun, big time. It is not at all uncommon for one buyer to purchase multiple items from one seller. The seller, in eBay's eyes, has had multiple transactions, ergo, feedback is left for each item purchased. That was an outstandingly stupid and damaging move on your part. You had no basis to declare his previous feedback a scam. If he decides to pursue this and can prove loss of business you're probably going to pay.

He complains to ebay that I am harrassing him and has now told me that I will be served papers for defamation of character/libel/slander. He said that ebay feedback can be used in those kinds of suits and I have hurt his business.

This is so incredibly unlikely. It would be very costly to him to do this, however, if he has a big business on eBay it might be worth it to him. But I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

My questions: Do I need to get a lawyer if I am served?
Do I have to pay for the lawyer? or is it like a they get paid if you get paid type thing?
Where do I get the lawyer? Indiana or New York?
How much can he sue me for? Should I really be worried?

That's up to you, you don't need one for small claims.
Yes, you have to pay the lawyer. Lawyers only take contingency cases they're fairly certain they can win and will net a big settlement. Yours doesn't fall into that category.
You'd be sued in New York. You'll have to sue in Indiana.
As much as he wants to and no, I don't think so.

I am going to counter sue him anyway b/c I have not recieved a refund/ tickets but can I sue him for more than he took from me? Its going to cost me a lot of time and money just to fight this.
The tickets were under 500 dollars so I would have to go to small claims court right? if I won that case Can I sue for travel expenses to Indiana? Lawyer expenses?
What else would I have the right to sue him for?

Probably not and yes, it's going to cost a bundle to take this to court.
Yes, small claims in Indiana.
Nope, travel and attorney's fees aren't compensable in small claims.
Nothing. You have the right to sue him what you're out financially. That's it.

Can I counter sue still if he sends me my tickets the day of the game. Obviously he knows I live in NY and the game is in Indiana but can he come back and say well you can't sue me you received your tickets.

Also, would I have any case against ebay for allowing this type of auction where you have to pay now and recieve product months later when ebay will no longer back or accept complaints? You only have 45 days after an auction to complain and have ebay and paypal help you get your money back.

Sending you the tix the day of the game is as bad as sending them the day after the game considering you purchased them in May I think you'd get your money in court.

Read your eBay agreement. This is your fault, not eBay's. eBay didn't hold a gun to your head did they? Peronsal responsibility is a good thing, look into it. Adults are expected to exericise due dilligence in matters such as these.

 

[janedoe23]

I don't believe you jumped the gun at all. You purchased tickets in May knowing they were to be delivered in August. Once August ended you had every right to leave negative feedback especially when the seller refused to respond to your emails. At that point you should have also filed a chargeback for the tickets if you used a credit card.

Far as suing Ebay it isn't going to happen. You agreed to recieving the tickets in August and paying in May, Ebay didn't.

 

[TroubleFromEbay]

You jumped the gun, big time. It is not at all uncommon for one buyer to purchase multiple items from one seller. The seller, in eBay's eyes, has had multiple transactions, ergo, feedback is left for each item purchased. That was an outstandingly stupid and damaging move on your part. You had no basis to declare his previous feedback a scam. If he decides to pursue this and can prove loss of business you're probably going to pay.
.

I believed this to be true at the time I left it. Ebay warns customers to watch out for fake feedbacks to get their score up so they can scam legitimate people for more money.

How can he sue me for saying something I believed to be true.

What would have been a legitimate time to wait to leave feedback? It had already been 115 days since the auction ended, and over 22 days late on shipping, and the game was 18 days away (15 days away from the date I told him I was leaving for indiana).
Plus in that time frame I notice that on my credit card the paypal payment went to the name in california and the man's address and phone (that he wasn't picking up) was in indiana.

The whole thing sounded suspicious to me and I thought it was set up like a perfect scam.

From wikipedia (i know not the best source) The allowable defences against libel are:
Fair Comment: the defendant shows that the statement was a view that a reasonable person could have held, even if they were motivated by dislike or hatred of the plaintiff.

Are you saying that what I said was not a fair comment?

Also, I thought I remembered reading somewhere a legitimate defesnse against libel is that if a person actually believed the statement to be true at the time even though later found out they were wrong it does not constitue libel? (I can't find where I read it so I may be butchering what I thought I read)

Thank you so much for your help!
I am not so frazzled about everything now that I get to talk to people about it.

how likeley do you think it would be for him to actually sue me or is he just threatening to scare me ?

And if he did actually sue me for libel how likely do you think it would be for him to win?
and how much? (if he sold about 30K on ebay in a year?)

Thanks again, I can't convey how much I appreciate this and how much it helps me.

 

[TroubleFromEbay]

Thanks so much for all your help! I really appreciate it.

I posted a reply with other comments and questions to K'ta also and I would have replied it to you also but I don't know if that would be against the double posting rule.

 

[janedoe23]

The fact is ALOT of sellers have pride in their feedback and when a person puts a dent in their feedback they're going to be mad of course and say things. No matter how many negative feedbacks a seller can have it just seems like buyers keep on buying and disreguard the feedback anyway. You had every right to leave a negative and say what you wanted to say and as long as there is no threatning or fowl language then it abides by Ebay's rules for feedback.

I'd like to know what form of payment you used? It's very clear you aren't going to get the tickets and even if you did before the upcoming game the seller showed no responsibility by delivering late and not even responding with a reason.

If this seller is dumb enough to take you to court over this then I think it would be a huge laugh and everyone will be dismissed.

You should also think about writing a certified letter telling him of your intentions if you don't recieve a refund in a certain amount of days.

 

[TroubleFromEbay]

I'd like to know what form of payment you used? It's very clear you aren't going to get the tickets and even if you did before the upcoming game the seller showed no responsibility by delivering late and not even responding with a reason.

If this seller is dumb enough to take you to court over this then I think it would be a huge laugh and everyone will be dismissed.

You should also think about writing a certified letter telling him of your intentions if you don't recieve a refund in a certain amount of days.

I paid for the tickets through paypal with my credit card. I already notified my credit card but they said after 60 days they can't do a charge back and they will investigate and tell me in 60 days what they can do. I also am not sure how that chargeback would work cause didn't I pay myself on paypal to pay him through paypal?

if he does sue me I think he would just do it to cause trouble and make my life harder and cost me more money.

I think he knows he probaly has to refund my money but he has said he is going to make my life miserable and will hold off just so I have to sue and keep on flying out to indiana.

I think all small claims courts should allow punative damages.. and expenses. People like him who want to make it not worth their while to sue and then they get away with it.

 

[K'Ta]

The negative feedback isn't the issue. *I* would've left a negative. Declaring this seller's feedback to be a scam is the issue. You had no proof, no right, to say such a thing regardless what you believed at the time. On what basis was your belief built?