Need Advice Fast!!!!!!!

I need advice fast, almost of a legal nature. Standard disclaimer, you're not held to anything. I was watching an eBay auction on a 16 in Cincinnati shaper, it was being offered by Xtrucker_99, a man with which I have done business with in the past ,it has always been good equipment, now for my problem. The auction was ending in about approximately seven minutes. I e-mailed him that I would offer $275, and he would have to hold the machine for me. His starting bid was $400 with a buy it now of $500; just a few little facts, anyway long story short, he e-mailed me 45 minutes later, and said he accepted my offer and when would I be there to pick it up? Now I'm wondering if I have bitten off more than I can chew. The money is not a problem, but I could not afford shipping. I would have to get a U-Haul and go get it. I have to be back at work Monday morning at eight o'clock, and all my leave is used up. I work for a Military contractor, no humor at all!

Now for the big bonus question. Since this was an e-mail and not a bid, although I truly do not like going back on my word, am I legally held to this as a contract? Or can I send him e-mail and beg his forgiveness. Truth is I would really like to have the machine. I just don't know if I could pull it off within the parameters . I realize he will hold it for 30 days probably more if I sent in the full payment may be charging a storage fee . I just don't know when I can go get it.

Your thoughts and advice please, and by all means be brutally honest. I will be up and online for the next few hours, its 2200 CDT Local.

Shoot me some words please, what are your thoughts?

In a dilemma, Ken

P. S. The harder part is my wife is not home from work yet and I haven't covered this with her either! ouch!

I would simply email him and tell him the truth.

Anyway...nobody's gonna make a fuss over 275 dollars, he may get pissed...but i dont consider 275 dollars to be anything that anyone would take legal action over....hardly worth it.

-Jacob

Be as honest with him as you were with us. I believe he will understand and may be able to present you with options you haven't thought of yet. -Mike

Sounds to me like you bought a shaper - congratulations! Pay the seller and ask how long he can hold it. Some people get sick on Friday and continue to be ill on Monday, so four days may be available for travel and pickup.

Not paying for an item is guaranteed to earn rotten feedback. If I were the seller and a buyer backed out of an offer, I'd do everything possible to make life miserable for that person. But that's just me.

I wouldnt worry about it. If you dont want it just them you cant do the deal. It sucks but its only a couple hundred bucks. I have also done business with xtrucker. I dont think he will be very upset.

precisionworks,

Please refer to paragraph two. Your a hard man!
Ken

But then I did ask for brutal honesty!

The correct thing to do would be to pay the man and pick up your shiny new toy somehow.

If you want to be to a PITA, feel free to dissapear into the woodwork. Behind-the-scenes offers aren't technically allowed on eBay (you could get booted for offering, he could get booted for accepting), and without a bid there's no official connection. Your transaction only exists in an email or two.

Legally - probably not. But, as others have said, it's "only" $275. Send the money, whether you can get the machine or not.

"it's only a couple hundred bucks"... I've gone to Small Claims Court for an unpaid $300 job, and would do it again.

EBay is nothing more than an email handshake with a promise to pay. It is up to you to decide what is fair.

You didn't say how far it is away but it sounds like you wanted it or you wouldn't have got this far. Consider this if he can load the shaper. Send him the money and then get busy looking for somebody to bring it to you. I think a couple hundred would do it. It would probably cost you that much in gas anyway. There are some places you can advertise for free that you have a item in "whatever town" and need it hauled to "whatever town" and will pay 200 bucks. When I go home to visit "1600 miles" I look for and find something to haul to pay my fuel costs. Sounds like he won't mind sitting on it for a while.
Michael

well...lets do it this way

Anybody in Indiana looking for a shaper? I know where you can get one for $275, complete

I still dont see the big deal with emailing him, telling him the truth...and hoping for the best.

-Jacob

So how many miles is it to pick up the machine?

Lot of good advice so far. It was not an official bid, so technically he did not sell it on Ebay. This assumes there were no bids during the auction period.

I definitely support the candid approach. If he got no bids for the Ebay auction, he can just relist it for a lower starting price. I am sure you can work it out to everyones satisfaction.

As I recall, a contract isn't legally binding if all its conditions aren't clear to both parties. In your case "have to hold it for you" is pretty vague. But lots of contracts one could get out of in court are binding if you're a person of your word. Sounds to me like you have a deal.

The next legal question is what's the remedy if one party doesn't perform. Again, legally, the court will usually start by looking at the injury suffered by the other party; in this case, did he pass up a sale relying on your promise? It appears not; if you hadn't offered anything, he'd be in about the same place now.

If you decide you're obligated to buy this, you have several reasonable options:
(1) Ask him to quote you reasonable storage until you can pick it up.
(2) Tell him to list it again with no minimum and make up the difference if any, between his selling price and $275, plus the listing fees for the second round (not the selling fees).
(3) Apologize for acting in haste, abandon the deal, and pay him $50 for his time and trouble.
If I were the seller, I'd think any of these quite fair.

All;

Thank You for your inputs and fast responses. As I have said before and posted a number of times on this forum; A man is only as good as his word. I opted for the humiliating truth. The ball is now in xtruckers court. It may be a $275 hard lesson learned but I gave my word. Thanks Again to all for the optimism, suggestions, and brutal honesty. Ken

I suggest you off him $50 for causing him trouble and lost income.

You do deserve a butt-kick for going back on your word but sometimes bad thing happen. At the least I'd make every effort to honor the bargain. You say you can't pick the machine up in the time allotted? Did you ask for an extention; anything to show good faith by a man who bit off more than he could chew.

We've all been in this embarrassing pickle unless we were unusually lucky or never ventured into serious bargaining with strangers. I strongly suggest you offer some boot money. If that's declined, a nice gift is always in good taste when you have to back out of a bargain.

My first advice: HONOR your word. Second: ask for forgiveness. Third: don't EVER pay a penny of your hard earned money just to make him happy.(the auction ended with no bids so you didn't cause any damage to his tim or money). If he don't accept your apology he doesn't deserve the treat either. I had many customers that backed out on me but I never got mad at them, I would never be smart @$$ to any of my customers, good or bad, their fault or my mine.

Chris

Going back on your word isnt good so at least make an offer to the seller to pay his relisting fee since you may end up doing business with him again at a later date.

Ive got a co-worker who gets on ebay only to get in over his head then backs out quite often. He still cant figure out why sellers cancel his bids most of the time now .

ken and i have communicated and everything is fine
thanks for the input.
dt