Legal Issue with EBAY
Discussion
Hello
Long time reader of the forums here but not posted for a long time.
I was hoping for some advice on how to deal with a problem with Ebay. To summarise, Ebay are billing me £200 for sale of an £180 item. If I had followed their system, the cost to me would have been £1. I have paid this £1. Read on for a more detailed version.
I recently advertised a set of wheels on ebay at a buy-it-now of £200 but open to offers, collection only. I did this during one of Ebay’s offer periods of maximum selling fees of £1 which I signed up to before placing the advert. I received an offer for £180 for the wheels which I was happy with. Rather than accept through the ebay system, I agreed with a prospective buyer that he come and view the wheels and pay in cash if he liked them. This was agreed through the ebay messaging system. I later received a message from ebay to say that it was against their rules to share contact information before an offer was accepted. Later, I sold the wheels in person and went to ebay to end the advert. I couldn’t immediately see how to do this, so to prevent a sale, I increased the buy it now to an unrealistic £2000 (ie I added a zero). Subsequently I found how to end a listing and did so.
At the end of the month, I received an invoice from ebay for £200 selling fees ie 10% of the £2000. I explained (in writing) to ebay what had happened and offered to pay them £1 which is the amount they would have received had I accepted an offer through their system. They insisted (in writing) that I owe them £200. I later paid them £1 and followed up with an email saying £1 paid in full and final settlement without prejudice.
Ebay have continued chasing for the other £199 with frequent emails even though I have emailed back saying that I don’t agree with the charge. They have now passed it onto a debt collector who have added another £20.
If it makes a difference, I am in SCOTLAND.
What happens next?
Am I correct in thinking that ebay / debt collectors have no power to do anything without a court order?
If ebay / their debt collectors choose to apply for a court order, will I get a chance to defend myself and can I have that hearing moved to a location local to me?
Ebay are relying on the fine print in their user agreement. To me, the fine print must be unfair and therefore unenforceable. Is this correct?
Preferably I’d like this closed down straight away, but if not, how can I cost ebay the maximum hassle and can I reclaim the costs of my time dealing with this?
Thank you for any advice.
Long time reader of the forums here but not posted for a long time.
I was hoping for some advice on how to deal with a problem with Ebay. To summarise, Ebay are billing me £200 for sale of an £180 item. If I had followed their system, the cost to me would have been £1. I have paid this £1. Read on for a more detailed version.
I recently advertised a set of wheels on ebay at a buy-it-now of £200 but open to offers, collection only. I did this during one of Ebay’s offer periods of maximum selling fees of £1 which I signed up to before placing the advert. I received an offer for £180 for the wheels which I was happy with. Rather than accept through the ebay system, I agreed with a prospective buyer that he come and view the wheels and pay in cash if he liked them. This was agreed through the ebay messaging system. I later received a message from ebay to say that it was against their rules to share contact information before an offer was accepted. Later, I sold the wheels in person and went to ebay to end the advert. I couldn’t immediately see how to do this, so to prevent a sale, I increased the buy it now to an unrealistic £2000 (ie I added a zero). Subsequently I found how to end a listing and did so.
At the end of the month, I received an invoice from ebay for £200 selling fees ie 10% of the £2000. I explained (in writing) to ebay what had happened and offered to pay them £1 which is the amount they would have received had I accepted an offer through their system. They insisted (in writing) that I owe them £200. I later paid them £1 and followed up with an email saying £1 paid in full and final settlement without prejudice.
Ebay have continued chasing for the other £199 with frequent emails even though I have emailed back saying that I don’t agree with the charge. They have now passed it onto a debt collector who have added another £20.
If it makes a difference, I am in SCOTLAND.
What happens next?
Am I correct in thinking that ebay / debt collectors have no power to do anything without a court order?
If ebay / their debt collectors choose to apply for a court order, will I get a chance to defend myself and can I have that hearing moved to a location local to me?
Ebay are relying on the fine print in their user agreement. To me, the fine print must be unfair and therefore unenforceable. Is this correct?
Preferably I’d like this closed down straight away, but if not, how can I cost ebay the maximum hassle and can I reclaim the costs of my time dealing with this?
Thank you for any advice.
Edited by Shedding on Wednesday 20th June 11:33
To explain a couple of things.
I didn't go the formal route as there were a number of offers at £180 which I didn't want to decline in case one fell through. Also I didn't want to open up the possibility of being paid via paypal as that seems a can of worms.
I am not a frequent seller on ebay. I'd rather keep my ebay account but I'm not that fussed. I intend to use Amazon to buy things now.
I have no proof of the sale of the wheels but they were advertised at £200 for a while and were not sold so unlikely to sell at £2000.
My first communications were via live chat. (It is the only way they provide on their site to communicate in writing).
I've just done a bit more research and I think Section 62 of The Consumer Rights Act 2015 covers the fairness aspect.
I didn't go the formal route as there were a number of offers at £180 which I didn't want to decline in case one fell through. Also I didn't want to open up the possibility of being paid via paypal as that seems a can of worms.
I am not a frequent seller on ebay. I'd rather keep my ebay account but I'm not that fussed. I intend to use Amazon to buy things now.
I have no proof of the sale of the wheels but they were advertised at £200 for a while and were not sold so unlikely to sell at £2000.
My first communications were via live chat. (It is the only way they provide on their site to communicate in writing).
I've just done a bit more research and I think Section 62 of The Consumer Rights Act 2015 covers the fairness aspect.
Edited by Shedding on Wednesday 20th June 13:04
davek_964 said:
I'm sure you both do. But if somebody decided they REALLY wanted them, even though you'd already agreed to sell them - and offered you £2000 to gazump - I'm sure you would have said yes. So that in itself isn't all that conclusive.
This is true but I'm sure I could find comparable adverts to show that £200 is the going rate for these relatively common wheels.pavarotti1980 said:
Saleen836 said:
When you are contatacted by Transcom (ebay debt collectors) inform them the issue with ebay is in dispute, Transcom have to legally hand it back to ebay until such time the dispute is sorted, nothing will be added to your credit file unless as said it goes to court.
And even if it goes to court it would have to be a judegement which is not satisfied before going onto credit fileBertBert said:
OP, how did you end the listing? Did you mark the item as sold?
Despite where sentiment looks like it's going here, I think ebay are wrong in trying to charge you £200 as that isn't 10% of the sale price.
If I were you, I'd sit down and have a good read of what the terms and conditions say. If they say the charge is 10% of what the item sold for or similar wording, I'd be point that out again (as you have done) and stick firm.
I also think there may be merit in arguing that attempting to charge you 10% of an amount much larger than the wheels sold for (if that's the way their terms are written) is in fact an unfair contract term.
And yes I agree with all the wibbling on here about following ebay's rules, that's definitely a good idea, but I don't think that negates the fact that the £200 charge is wrong.
Bert
I ended the listing as item no longer available or words to that effect. I didn't mark the item as sold.Despite where sentiment looks like it's going here, I think ebay are wrong in trying to charge you £200 as that isn't 10% of the sale price.
If I were you, I'd sit down and have a good read of what the terms and conditions say. If they say the charge is 10% of what the item sold for or similar wording, I'd be point that out again (as you have done) and stick firm.
I also think there may be merit in arguing that attempting to charge you 10% of an amount much larger than the wheels sold for (if that's the way their terms are written) is in fact an unfair contract term.
And yes I agree with all the wibbling on here about following ebay's rules, that's definitely a good idea, but I don't think that negates the fact that the £200 charge is wrong.
Bert
As you suggest, I shall dig through their T&C's in a bit more detail.
Thanks
Thanks for all the replies, it's good to get some different points of view.
To clarify, I was definitely signed up for the £1 maximum selling fee (which I subsequently paid as I agree, ebay did introduce me to prospective buyers). I didn't mark the item as sold, just no longer available or similar. The item was collection only so letting the seller inspect before they hand me cash seems pretty reasonable to me, no need for Paypal to be involved.
With hindsight, I agree I have made a mess of this. You might now conclude that if ending an item for sale, it would be best to drop the buy-it-now to 1p before doing so.
In relation to the next steps, I'm going to email both ebay and Ardent Credit Services Ltd (the ebay debt collector) a final communication stating my case and that they will need to take me to court to go further. If they don't drop it then I want to start causing them hassle and counter claim for the cost of my time. Any advice on how to do this?
Thanks again.
To clarify, I was definitely signed up for the £1 maximum selling fee (which I subsequently paid as I agree, ebay did introduce me to prospective buyers). I didn't mark the item as sold, just no longer available or similar. The item was collection only so letting the seller inspect before they hand me cash seems pretty reasonable to me, no need for Paypal to be involved.
With hindsight, I agree I have made a mess of this. You might now conclude that if ending an item for sale, it would be best to drop the buy-it-now to 1p before doing so.
In relation to the next steps, I'm going to email both ebay and Ardent Credit Services Ltd (the ebay debt collector) a final communication stating my case and that they will need to take me to court to go further. If they don't drop it then I want to start causing them hassle and counter claim for the cost of my time. Any advice on how to do this?
Thanks again.
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff