I'm about to get screwed...

[Shawn Stanford]

I found and won a Deck keyboard on eBay - one of the small footprint jobs - for my wife, the gamer. Now I get a note through eBay from the seller saying it's 'not in stock' and asking me to either accept that or dispute it.

My son claims that he has to provide me a keyboard if I choose not to let him off the hook. I suspect he sold it locally. A new Deck will cost about twice the auction price. I don't want to be an a$$hole, but I want that keyboard. The auction closed less than 24 hours ago and I've had no contact with the seller at this point.

Thoughts..?

[ch_123]

Will he give a full refund? If so, I'd take it, that's what eBay will probably end up telling you if you dispute it.

[wellington1869]

hmmm, if he didnt close out the listing, then I think technically he probably is obligated to provide you the goods at the auction price. However, he'll likely fight it since it means prolly he will have to buy a new one and then sell it for half price.

The question is, do you want to fight him all the way down the line for this? Cuz i'm pretty sure he'll go as many rounds as he can. You'll have to get ebay and paypal involved, open a dispute (after first trying to call him - paypal requires that), then wait up to four weeks for the resolution to work its way through paypal. And at the end of which you'll also have one pissed off seller who may well literally piss on the keyboard before mailing it to you.

Still, it might be worth just checking with paypal and making the initial phone call to him letting him know you're disputing it, as required, even if you decide to drop it later.

[Mercen_505]

Ask when he will get more in stock, and if it happens in a reasonable amount of time, you can wait for one. If he refuses to stock more, all you can really do (practically) is get your money back and file a complaint.

[lal]

I'm not sure about the legal situation in the US, here in Germany if you've won an auction you have practically signed a contract of sale and both parties are bound to it.  So you can sue the seller to deliver the goods you bought and you'll win.

[Rajagra]

If he's a private seller, all he has to do is claim he found a fault with the item and he has his get-out.

Since he said "out of stock", does that mean he's a dealer? Depending on his ebay status (Power Seller, etc.) there may be a chance to pressure him to stump up the goods to protect his reputation.

But if he is messing you about, getting your money back may be the safest option. Get your money then leave honest feedback.

[Shawn Stanford]

I should have been more clear up front: I'm not out any money at this point. Instead of sending me an invoice, I recieved a request from him to back out of the deal. No money has changed hands.

I guess I'll just walk away, then.

Anyone looking to sell a Deck keyboard?

[neptunebadger]

You may not be able to get the keyboard, but this sort of activity still warrants giving the seller negative feedback.

[Shawn Stanford]

He says he's in the middle of moving and lost the keyboard.

Meh...

[ch_123]

Anyone looking to sell a Deck keyboard?

For several seconds, I kept thinking - "Why did he spell DEC with a k?" until I remembered that you were talking about the "other" Deck.

[clickclack]

Get his Email address and I'll show you how to feed it to 419 scammers.  Guaranteed to get at least 300 scam emails a month that make it past the GMail filters.
Wait.... that would be immature and petty.  Bwahahahahahaha!

I hope to never piss you off =P

As for the ebay thing (and I am not that savy with this stuff) I would get as far away from that listing and or seller as possible!
Reason- Ebay can be a pain in the ass when things go right, let alone when there is a hitch (even minor ones). It doesn't take much to make it a hassle, and that looks to be a hassle in the making.