Legal Question in Business Law in Michigan

Re: Selling a car at Online Auction

We are in receipt of your e-mail of 07/22/03. Unfortunately, our caseload at this time is such that we would be unable to devote the attention to your case that it deserves and must decline representation. We sincerely appreciate your interest in our firm.

Re: Selling a car at Online Auction

Often in life what you should do is different from what you must do. You admitted that you breached a contract by selling an item twice. Should you pay? yes...you should pay. to me, $250 compensation to the buyer sounds pretty reasonable for an item worth over $4000. it is irrelevant if the buyer actually had an aggreement with the dealer. besides, why do you even care if he had an agreement with the dealer? it does not effect you. paying may also save your eBay rating. Now, to the question of must you pay...the answer is yes....you must place the buyer in a position that party would have enjoyed had the contract been performed. however, the amount of $250 that the buyer came up with would need to be PROVEN by the buyer...

Re: Selling a car at Online Auction

I agree that you must pay the buyer. There was no legal excuse for not taking the car off auction before you accepted another person's contract to buy.

You are caught between a rock and a more expensive hard place (i.e. a lawsuit and judgment in another state). You should FIRST check on EBay to find out what the auction rules are before you agree to pay anything. Auctioneers may have the right to retract an item without breach of contract, so that is your first recourse.

You cannot force the buyer to prove WHY he is willing to take les than the cost of "covering" the sale to which he would ordinarily be entitled.

You definitely have the right, however, to require him to sign a full and final waiver and release of any rights he may have under Michigan AND Illinois law to the specific auction in consideration of your payment of $250. He should have it notarized, and then you should send him a payment by PayPal, certified mail or some other payment system within a day after receipt. That way you're both covered. That's ordinarily the service that EBay provides, but since you're outside of the service (unless they have an ombudsman service), it may have to do.