nebulous88
Junior Member
Hi all,
I am based in GA. I recently listed an old version of TurboTax on eBay. I listed it with a description of "TurboTax Federal". Mistakenly (because of copying and pasting) in the description, there was a reference ot TurboTax State. The buyer contacted me and asked if this was TurboTax Federal or State. I told him it was Federal only but that I would e-mail him a downloaded version of TurboTax State that I purchased online for that tax year. I did this after the buyer purchase the software for $29 + $3.85 for shipping on 04/03/05.
However, the buyer is from MD and unbeknown to me, the download of TurboTax state that I sent it was only good for GA. The buyer then told be that he wanted $15 from me to purchase TurboTax state for MD or to return his purchase. Because of his private profile on eBay (which allows you to hide your feedback from others), I suspected that he had copied the software and wanted to return it and told him that I did not accept returns. The buyer said that he will address this issue with eBay and Paypal (eBay's payment mechanism).
I did not hear from this person for about 3 weeks. I then noticed that on 04/28/05 he posted negative eBay feedback for me stating:
"Seller doesn't know what he's selling. Learn more about your items B4 you sell."
I replied to this with "Notice his profile is private. Tries to buy sofware, copy it, then return. Sad!"
The buyer then contacted me on 05/07 stating that he wanted me to produce an email from him justifying my reply or the reason why I posted this reply. He said that I had 30 days from 05/07 to do so or I will face a lawsuit. I replied to his email simply with "It is obvious what you are trying to do here." I also contacted eBay and asked them to remove my reply. I forwarded the buyer a copy of this request to eBay. I've kept all of the e-mails related to this incident.
I suppose that I was naive in this matter. Does this person have a strong case against me for libel?
Given that we are in different states, if he filed a suit against me would it have to be in federal court? If he did so in the MD court system, can I request that the choice of law be GA? Should I look into hiring an attorney?
Thanks
I am based in GA. I recently listed an old version of TurboTax on eBay. I listed it with a description of "TurboTax Federal". Mistakenly (because of copying and pasting) in the description, there was a reference ot TurboTax State. The buyer contacted me and asked if this was TurboTax Federal or State. I told him it was Federal only but that I would e-mail him a downloaded version of TurboTax State that I purchased online for that tax year. I did this after the buyer purchase the software for $29 + $3.85 for shipping on 04/03/05.
However, the buyer is from MD and unbeknown to me, the download of TurboTax state that I sent it was only good for GA. The buyer then told be that he wanted $15 from me to purchase TurboTax state for MD or to return his purchase. Because of his private profile on eBay (which allows you to hide your feedback from others), I suspected that he had copied the software and wanted to return it and told him that I did not accept returns. The buyer said that he will address this issue with eBay and Paypal (eBay's payment mechanism).
I did not hear from this person for about 3 weeks. I then noticed that on 04/28/05 he posted negative eBay feedback for me stating:
"Seller doesn't know what he's selling. Learn more about your items B4 you sell."
I replied to this with "Notice his profile is private. Tries to buy sofware, copy it, then return. Sad!"
The buyer then contacted me on 05/07 stating that he wanted me to produce an email from him justifying my reply or the reason why I posted this reply. He said that I had 30 days from 05/07 to do so or I will face a lawsuit. I replied to his email simply with "It is obvious what you are trying to do here." I also contacted eBay and asked them to remove my reply. I forwarded the buyer a copy of this request to eBay. I've kept all of the e-mails related to this incident.
I suppose that I was naive in this matter. Does this person have a strong case against me for libel?
Given that we are in different states, if he filed a suit against me would it have to be in federal court? If he did so in the MD court system, can I request that the choice of law be GA? Should I look into hiring an attorney?
Thanks