What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York.
I am currently involved in a discussion on another forum regarding a particular seller on ebay. We are debating the legality of his methods, and I was wondering if I could find any definite answers here.
The seller in question specializes in selling musical instruments. As I understand it, what he does is comb craigslist for used instruments for sale from private sellers. When he finds an item he thinks will be in demand, he takes the pictures and information from that ad and uses them to place a "buy it now" listing on ebay for the item at a much higher price, without the knowledge of the current owner or potential buyers. If someone purchases the item from him, he then buys the item from the original seller, and flips it to the new buyer he found, making a profit on the price difference. If he is unable to obtain the item after making the sale, he refunds the buyer's money. He covers this possibility by stating in his ads "I reserve the right to end this listing without prior notice when sold locally!" Through this method, he can post many ads at once (currently 180) without any cash outlay for inventory.
There are some people claiming he is doing nothing illegal, but I can't believe this is true. Does anyone know for sure?
Thanks.
I am currently involved in a discussion on another forum regarding a particular seller on ebay. We are debating the legality of his methods, and I was wondering if I could find any definite answers here.
The seller in question specializes in selling musical instruments. As I understand it, what he does is comb craigslist for used instruments for sale from private sellers. When he finds an item he thinks will be in demand, he takes the pictures and information from that ad and uses them to place a "buy it now" listing on ebay for the item at a much higher price, without the knowledge of the current owner or potential buyers. If someone purchases the item from him, he then buys the item from the original seller, and flips it to the new buyer he found, making a profit on the price difference. If he is unable to obtain the item after making the sale, he refunds the buyer's money. He covers this possibility by stating in his ads "I reserve the right to end this listing without prior notice when sold locally!" Through this method, he can post many ads at once (currently 180) without any cash outlay for inventory.
There are some people claiming he is doing nothing illegal, but I can't believe this is true. Does anyone know for sure?
Thanks.
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