Ebay Item deliverd and buyer is ignoring my calls and not paying for the item

[minzian]

What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania

I sold a Laptop to a buyer (Austin, TX) on EBAY.This buyer did make an instant payment through paypal after winning the auction. I refunded the payment and requested the buyer to use echeck option through paypal if he could. The buyer said that the refund is
pending at this point in his paypal and he will make the echeck payment
after the refund completes. He sent me an email and asked me to make the shipment in the meantime as its urgent and he will make the payment as soon as the
refund clears. We talked over the phone regarding this as well and he
was in agreement. Based on his feedback and our conversation I trusted that guy I made the shipment through Fedex (tracking number - 045713310056737).

Now he is neither responding to my calls nor he is responding
to my emails that's why I figured that the buyer is not willing to make
the payment so I opened unpaid item dispute on ebay and left him
negative feedback. The buyer left the following response next to my
feedback:

"
Payment has been refunded by the seller. Now scamming me!..
"

In response to dispute he says" I made the payment right after the auction.
The seller has refunded the payment explaining that he
wants to save some money and I need to send him a PayPal check. I can’t check what he have sent to
me or not…Now he left me a negative feedback for nothing but his own bad communication and harassing
me and send me e-mails with menace of “cutting my throat”.
No negative feedbacks since more that 4
years…
I am kindly ask the eBay and PayPal team to remove that negative feedback of this seller."

I am willing to do anything and everything feasible including legal action to
get my money. Where should I file the small claims court case. Please advise what should be the next course of action at my end. Thanks for the help!!!

 

[racer72]

You can do 2 things.
1. Sue the guy in his home state. Transportation, lodging and lost wages are not recoverable, you have to do it on your dime.

2. Never ship anything till you are paid.

 

[Zigner]

You can do 2 things.
1. Sue the guy in his home state. Transportation, lodging and lost wages are not recoverable, you have to do it on your dime.

2. Never ship anything till you are paid.

The twist on this is that the OP WAS paid - but decided to refund it for some reason

 

[seniorjudge]

I wonder if there is a way for this site to have an automatic response when the word eBay is mentioned?

It should say: "Ya pays your money, ya takes your chances."

 

[racer72]

The twist on this is that the OP WAS paid - but decided to refund it for some reason

I read that and wondered why. It usually takes a week or so for an echeck to clear. I am thinking the seller thought the buyer used a credit card and would do a charge back when he realized the laptop did not match the eBay listing. By requesting the echeck, the OP would not have to worry about a charge back and could withdraw the money immediately from his Paypal account.

 

[BL]

How was the laptop listed on Ebay ?

Paypal ? method like most laptop sales require ?

If so , the buyer meant their obligations , and the seller had an obligation to ship what was advertised .

You don't change the rules , after the sale .

 

[SnowCajun]

What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania

I sold a Laptop to a buyer (Austin, TX) on EBAY.This buyer did make an instant payment through paypal after winning the auction. I refunded the payment and requested the buyer to use echeck option through paypal if he could. The buyer said that the refund is
pending at this point in his paypal and he will make the echeck payment
after the refund completes. He sent me an email and asked me to make the shipment in the meantime as its urgent and he will make the payment as soon as the
refund clears.

Why didn't you just have PayPal deposit the funds directly into your bank account, or have them send you a check directly? I can't believe that once you had the payment in hand you returned it, that's almost unheard of? It seems you've created your own mess here, especially after already having the payment. You broke the golden rule of selling on eBay, never, and I truly mean NEVER, send anything to anyone until you have the cash in hand, yet you had the cash in hand and refunded it and then sent the item to the guy anyway! Incredible!!! I've survived 11 years on eBay, since January of 1997, without getting getting taken advantage of. I have to ask, why would you have done this?

No the guy isn't right doing you this way, but you left yourself open to it, you created it even by sending him something unpaid for after you refunded his money. That's like leaving your wallet full of money on your front steps and hoping it'll still be there in the morning when you go to work. You opened the door for this guy and he walked right through it. I'm fairly sure you'd win in small claims court, but is a trip from Pennsylvania to Texas really worth you doing so? You'll still have to worry about this guy playing sick and getting continuances while you're in route to Texas and making you go through the trouble of several trips. Good luck, we all learn from our mistakes, I hope this one isn't too costly for you.