Question about ebay legally binding contract?

[chilcoj1]

I am located in Indiana....Recently I sold a Wii on ebay for a sizable profit. The buyer has led me on for several days stating she was have troubles with her "new" paypal and then finally stated she would send me a personal check. Then out of the blue, she sends me an email saying that her paypal acct had show fraudulant activity. Paypal told her no not to continue with any further purchases and change all her accts. Now, when I viewed what items she has recently bid on...image my suprise when I saw she had bid on a total of 7 different Wii auctions, and had won 3 of them. She quickly paid for the cheapest auction and has very creatively led the other seller and myself on for almost a week now.
Now.....for my question, I noticed that ebay states when you bid- you are entering a legally binding contract. Just how binding is it? Could I sue her for the bid that she willingly entered? She never said she made a mistake bidding, she was just having troubles paying through paypal. ( I did offer her several ways to pay...escrow, personal check, etc)
Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[jennings85]

You will find out that suing in small claims court is not that easy. I am also involved in an internet payment dispute. I live in Illinois and sold something to someone in Texas. I received a fraudulent payment, but it was too late, I had already shipped the merchandise.
I have been researching filing small claims cases. Disputes in cyberspace make it debatable in which state to file the case, usually it's in the state in which the defendent lives. That means you must travel to the state where the defendent lives. Filing a case is not free, there are fees. Serving notice to the defendent involves a fee. You might win your case, but then you must try to get the money. We are talking time, expense, and much effort on your part to finally win your judgement. You must have meticulous records and be extremely organized in your presentation to the judge.
Is all this trouble worth the justice you seek?

From what I've read, you are one of hundreds who were duped when selling a Wii or PS3 in the pre-release days on Ebay or other auctions. Some sellers got authentic bidders, some did not. Consider yourself lucky you didn't lose money straight out of your pocket.