Over 2 weeks ago, I purchased an item off eBay and won it for a certain amount, no reserve was in big bold red letters, auction ends, I win.. minutes later I receive an email stating she didn't realize no reserve, she has just purchased these items weeks prior on eBay for much more and she can't sell to me for what I won it for.. meaning, she lost $150.00 from what she paid for them earlier... I have sent payment for them twice via paypal, she has refunded both times. I have all emails from her stating she has no intentions of selling me the item for the winning amout. I left her negative feedback for being dishonest and she left me negative feedback stating I was harassing her! I have only sent emails telling her I was contacting my lawyer about this etc..

2 weeks after I won, she sends me an invoice to pay for them at the winning amount and an email stating she decided to sell me the item because she is a better person than that.. etc.. Blah blah blah.

I stated that I had already purchased another item at a higher price and now we will let the legal system deal with it...

What should I do?:mad:

What you should have done first is report it to EBay, then have a dept to deal with such disputes.

However, if you have e-mails from her stating she was rescinding the auction, then she can't force to complete the deal.

I reported it to eBay, they told me I could open a dispute.. but if she's not willing to sell it, what's the use?. only after I purchased more did she decide to sell (16 days later)
Can I legally do anything to her?

I am with Scott on this one.

You should have reported it to E-bay…

But what done is done.

If you no longer which to purchase these items, then don't. The fact she refused to sell them to you ended the contract from your end, and therefore you are not responsible to pay for these anymore.

Just ignore her. If she takes you to court, you will win (just make sure you keep those emails!)

If I am reading the original poster correctly, he is wanting her to pay him. Which is an area of the law that I am not familiar with... does the fact that he paid more for the item somewhere else legally obligate her to pay the difference?

Technically yes.

From the sounds of these posts, it looks like what, a couple hundred bucks at most.

The aggravation of suing someone is just a) not worth it and b) very hard since most likely the seller and buyer do not live close to each other.

Actually we live about an hour and half from each other...
Someone told me that since I purchased the item from them and they refused to sell it after I won it, legally, I was allowd to re-purchase the same item at whatever price and they'd be responsible for the difference.. any truth here?

It's a possibility but iffy. Theorectically you won the auction and they were obligated to seel it to you at the auction price. If they renege on the implied contract and you had to get the item elsewhere a court MIGHT decide that they were responsible for the difference. A lot would depend on the wording of E-Bay's rules on this.

But I can't believe it would be worth the hassle.

I agree with Scott.

Technically you could win, but it just isn't worth the hassle.

Just write this off as a bad experience with E-bay.

There is no for sure way that you will win. Yes you bid in an auction, but any Yahoo can. Not to say you don't have a shot, but unless we are talking about a lot of money, just let it drop and move on.

Yes, if you have an agreement to buy something at a certain price, and they refuse the deal, and you have greater cost getting that same idea.
** note if you were buying a used item you can't then go out and buy a new item.

But if you have same and like items, you can sue for your loss in the higher price.

As a bidder, I am contracted to compete my end at the end of an auction, why should the seller just be able to change thei mind. The seller makes the decision to list the item, can preview it and even edit it. The listings then are posted for usually several days. After someone has won is not the time to refuse. I have just had this happen concerning a vehicle that was on reserve, I met the sellers listed reserve and now they won't sell. I filed dipute with eBay, paypal, and square trade, In this case the difference is thousands of dollars, not to mention the emotional tourment.

"I have sent payment for them twice via paypal, she has refunded both times. I have all emails from her stating she has no intentions of selling me the item for the winning amout."


She has refunded you your money. You have really lost nothing (except a lot of time). Take this as a learning experience and move on. You already purchased what you were bidding on. The answer is not always to "sue"!