posted on May 17, 2004 01:51:42 PM new
Background info:
A friend of mine used to sell on ebay.
She had nice items and good descriptions. Pretty flexible, except when it came to a buyer trying to change terms after the auction ended. Most of her negatives are from non-paying bidders.
My friend began to get emails from buyers asking if they were going to receive their items. Some of them said that a buyer had contacted them and said my friend had stolen her money. That same buyer left this feedback: "Paid her immediately & then never received my item. Stay away from this seller!!"
The buyer did not pay her. My friend ended all of her auctions and made her feedback private, as this person continued to contact her bidders.
This happened several months ago. Yesterday my friend says that she is going to sue the buyer for defamation and libel. She thinks her business was affected.
I think she is overreacting. I think most buyers can read through feedback and get a feel for what is happening. Won't ebay remove that type of feedback?
How would you handle it? I say move on and hope karma bites the liar on her bottom.
posted on May 17, 2004 02:20:25 PM new
I personally would make my feedback public again and making it private is what is hurting her sales. One stupid feedback in my experience will not hurt her.
posted on May 18, 2004 04:04:49 AM new
IANAL, but I'd say the "crossing the line" is when the estranged buyer started emailing current bidders with a nasty message. I'd say that the buyer is entitled to have her say in feedback, and that's it. Emailing people really ought to constitute inappropriate interference. Enough to sue over? How much has the business been affected? Have sales of items sold by the business been constant for all sellers of such items (in aggregate)? Another way to put it: Could it be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that this seller has lost business due to the nasty emails, and not just due to a general decline of eBay or of certain categories?
That's what comes to my mind when I think about a lawsuit over this.
Yahoo ID: grantje
posted on May 18, 2004 04:21:10 AM newPaid her immediately & then never received my item. Stay away from this seller!!"
I think the buyer has to prove she sent the payment. How did the buyer pay the seller?
I would call the emailing to her other buyers auction interference and if someone email my buyers I would report them. Send all emails with headers to safeharbor if she can prove it.
Tell her to get another seller ID and start over again block the bidder and hope her buyer doesn't find her. As in Maude her TOS says PayPal only and maybe your friend can do that. That way there is always a record. I have a friend that is PayPal only and she has no problems. Is there anyone here that does PayPal only, if so how does it work for you? Or you can do checks but do not accept cash as there is no record of that. Make copies of all checks B/4 cashing
Many buyers get mixed up in who they pay as sometimes they bid on so many auctions they can't keep them straight.
posted on May 18, 2004 04:30:42 PM newI think the buyer has to prove she sent the payment. How did the buyer pay the seller?
The seller only accepted Paypal and ecount. The buyer did not pay, because she claimed she could no longer use paypal. Seller filed NPB got her FV fees refunded.
Could it be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that this seller has lost business due to the nasty emails, and not just due to a general decline of eBay or of certain categories?
I think the cat she sells in does well, consistently. She could probably prove it.
For defamation and libel, don't you just need to prove a statement is untrue?
I nearly talked my friend out of pursuing the matter. However the bidder emailed her and said she would "pray for her". That set her off again. It would have set me off too.
It seems the biggest sinners always hide behind prayer and religion.
