Buying
Summary: onz120 expressed frustration after a seller canceled a PayPal transaction, citing a listing error where the item price was significantly lower than intended. davewil1964 advised moving on, while sandypebbles and e_purchasing emphasized that errors happen and suggested that attempting to force a sale isn't reasonable. They explained that under Australian Consumer Law, a seller isn't obligated to honor a price if it's a genuine mistake. The conversation highlights the importance of acknowledging human error and not exploiting apparent pricing mistakes.
Today I purchased an item and paid immediately using Paypal. Within 2 hours I received a message from Paypal advising that my payment had been refunded. I asked seller why and his reply was there was an error in listing and he claimed it was listed for more than I paid. My buying price was approximately 50 times his opening price and I am sure this must be against ebay policy. Surely it is the duty of a seller to ensure the information is correct prior to listing an item. Anyone any thoughts please? What action can I take?
e_purchasing
·2 weeks agoI think you know the seller is telling you the truth about the error.
Yes it is the seller's duty but they are human and can make mistakes which are not clearly evident until it comes to their attention
It sounds like it was an auction with buy now available. Not hard for you to pay 50x if they start at 99cents and have buy now $50 when they meant $500 and put the decimal place in the wrong spot.
I'm guessing these numbers but I don't think I am too far off the mark.
You are only here because you feel you are entitled to a $500 item for $50 and you know very well it is worth the $500 the seller meant to list it at,
If a $20,000 car is listed for $2000, courts generally rule that a reasonable consumer should have known it was an error, and the seller will not be forced to honour it
From Consumer Affairs
No, a seller in Australia does not legally have to sell a product at the advertised price if it is a genuine error. Under Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and contract law principles, an advertisement or price tag is generally considered an "invitation to treat" (an invitation for you to make an offer to buy), not a legally binding contract.
sandypebbles
·2 weeks ago · EditedExactly
It was very very obviously an error and '50 times' the price is pretty clear what is going on
That is just being an extremely unreasonable buyer , trying to taking advantage of someone and then trying to 'play the victim' and wanting to take action when the seller didn't come through with handing over basically a 'freebie'
onz120
OP1 week agoYour argument is only valid to a point. I used to sell a lot of books on ebay and started all my auctions at $10 regardless of the value of the book. I let the market determine the price and on most occasions I was happy with the result. Sometimes I was disappointed but that is the nature of an auction. In this case the opening price was $3.00 and I bid it up to $149 but my maximum was slightly above this. If the seller had made an error in listing the book he had ample time to end the auction before it finished. I have always been under the impression that on the fall of the hammer, or end of time on ebay, it becomes a contract between buyer and seller. If for whatever reason I failed to pay for the item I would have action taken against me by ebay. Sellers should be subject to the same standards.
sandypebbles
·2 weeks agoThere is no action you can take to force any seller to send to you
Believe it or not, people do make mistakes
However if this seller has a habit of doing the same thing, or you think they are in breech of eBay policy, the question is why would you want to deal with a dodgy seller at all?
davewil1964
·2 weeks agoNone. The seller has cancelled. Look elsewhere.