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10 Great Ways To Source Low Cost Products For Ebay.
So you're having trouble finding stock cheaply enough to sell it for a good profit? Well, you've come to the right place.
Garage sales. The chances are you've gone most of your life seeing ads for these and ignoring them. Start going to as many as...
Be realistic when selling on eBay....
Copyright 2005 Richard Grady As some of you know, I spent many years buying and selling both on and offline and several of my products are based upon my own experience in this area. I know that the vast majority of my customers and subscribers have...
Earning Bidders' Trust with Your eBay Auctions
8 ways to massively increase bidders trust in you as an eBay seller. Every auction seller could benefit from these tips!
Monday morning I caught part of an interview on the "Today Show" with an online auction fraud expert. I didn't catch...
Is The eBay Fee Increase Actually Good For Business?
Fee Increase Leaves Some Sellers Angry, Others Thrilled
Much of my email from readers this month concerned the recent announcement from eBay that it will increase many seller fees on February 18, 2005. Since many business people use eBay’s...
What makes Ebay Stand Out For Buyers
What makes E-Bay stand out for Buyers?
E-Bay is certainly a hit to the market especially for the
buyers. The concept of online shopping or bidding for that
matter do not appeal too much for buyers but the emergence of
E-Bay made a difference...
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How To Sue eBay and Paypal for Unfair Business Practices
Consumers who have experienced unfair business practices from
eBay and Paypal, e.g., where the companies refuse to live up to
their buyer protection programs, may have recourse in a court of
law. Typically unsatisfied consumers have bought a product on
eBay or pay for it using Paypal only to find that the article is
not as represented, is a different color or size than pictured,
or arrives in a broken and unusable condition. When the consumer
complains to eBay and Paypal and asks for a refund, both of
these eBay-owned companies disavow any responsibility owed to
the consumer.
This article will present a guide for consumers to prosecute
eBay and Paypal for deceptive business practices that harmed
them and what they can expect from eBay and Paypal in terms of
defenses. At the outset, note that eBay and Paypal have managed
to insulate themselves from damages claims through creative
wording of their user agreements, which all consumers must agree
to accept as a condition for using either eBay or Paypal.
Paypal, Inc., is a subsidiary of eBay, Inc., and the two
companies are intertwined for purchasers of goods sold on
eBay.com to complete payments to sellers using Paypal.com. The
Defendants Paypal, Inc. and eBay, Inc., may be served with
process (summons and a complaint) using the long arm statute of
the consumer's state. The long arm statute most likely provides
for service of out-of-state corporations through the state's
Secretary of State. eBay's may be served with process at the
following address: eBay Inc.; Attn: Corporate Counsel; 2145
Hamilton Avenue; San Jose, CA 95125.
Upon receiving the consumer's lawsuit, the defendants eBay and
Paypal will advise the consumer that his or her user agreements
with these two firms require the consumer to file disputes
against the firms either with a court in Santa Clara County, CA,
or with the National Arbitration Forum. If the consumer does not
voluntarily withdraw his suit, then eBay will threaten to seek
its lawyer fees to have the case dismissed. At this point, most
consumers then drop their suits.
However, the arbitration clauses in the user agreements exclude
claims for equitable or declaratory relief. Accordingly, if the
consumer files his suit from the outset seeking equitable or
declaratory relief, then the eBay user agreement defense will
NOT prevent the lawsuit from going forward. With the lawsuit
proceeding forward, the consumer can send eBay or Paypal
interrogatories to seek discovery. Interrogatories are written
questions sent to a party to a lawsuit that must be answered in
writing, usually within 30 days. With interrogatories, the
consumer can get access to information about the seller, as well
as the frequency with which consumers have complained about
items being delivered that were materially different from the
item pictures on eBay.
The consumer's local state court will have personal jurisdiction
over the eBay and Paypal to hear claims for equitable and
declaratory relief, because these firms have established
substantial contacts the consumer's state. The
following
non-exhaustive list of activities and contacts by the eBay and
Paypal in and with the consumer's state make it fair, equitable,
and convenient for eBay and Paypal to defend these causes of
action in the consumer's state:
(1) The controversy arose out of the consumer's purchase of some
item on eBay.com, which was shipped to him or her at the
consumer's address, and which arrived damaged and unusable. The
funds used to pay for this transaction were drawn from a bank in
the consumer's hometown, and payment for this transaction
occurred in the consumer's hometown. The contract to purchase
the item and pay for shipping was most likely formed in the
consumer's hometown.
(2) For more than 10 years, eBay and Paypal have systematically
and continuously advertised their services to the consumer and
other Internet users in the consumer's state via advertising and
electronic mail. Over the years, eBay and Paypal have collected
fees on scores of millions of dollars in payments and seller
fees from businesses and residents in the consumer's state.
For circumstances in which a seller refuses to take back damaged
merchandise and issue a refund, the consumer can seek equitable
relief to bar that seller from any and all further transactions
on the eBay and Paypal platforms. The consumer can seek
declaratory relief that eBay and Paypal's Buyer Protection Plan
submission forms are riddled with computer errors and will not
allow users to properly submit claims.
The consumer should also seek declaratory relief that eBay and
Paypal's fraud violated the state Consumer Protection Act, which
thus gives the consumer a statutory right to prosecute eBay and
Paypal independent of any breach of contract claim he or she may
have related to the user agreement.
The consumer can also challenge in his local state court the
validity of the arbitration clause as unconscionable. A claim
that the arbitration provision is unconscionable is a matter to
be decided by the courts and not the arbitrator, because it
specifically challenges the validity of the agreement to
arbitrate irrespective of the validity of the whole contract. If
the state trial court determines that the arbitration clause is
unconscionable, then the consumer will be entitled to pursue
monetary damages against eBay and Paypal. However, it is
unlikely that a state court will find the arbitration clauses
unconscionable, due to the pro-business tilt of the U.S. court
system.
For more information and free legal advice for cases against
eBay and Paypal, please contact the author through web page
http://michaelguth.com/prose.htm
About the author:
Dr. Michael A. S. Guth, Ph.D., J.D., is an attorney at law based
in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. His practice focuses on enabling people
to represent themselves pro se without a lawyer (and thereby
save on legal fees), as well as full representation for
appellate practice. One area his work has particularly
emphasized is child support defense and elimination of the
unconstitutional debtor prisons that now saturate our court
jurisdictions across
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