Legal Question in Business Law in New York

X is 18 years of age, and I am 17. X walks up to me and asks if I can do him a favor by selling an iPhone 4 through eBay and I would give him the money minus a 20% part that goes to me. I accepted and also told him that he would also have to pay for the eBay final value fee that gets charged when you sell an item. I was to create the eBay auction and collect the money from the selling, while X would send the package off to the buyer. The auction ends at a price of $250 and X sends the package to the buyer. Shortly after, I received a message from the buyer saying that the iPhone 4 was fake and that he demanded a refund. I was never informed of the phone being fake by X. I sent a full refund to the buyer and now we are left with nothing. However, there was still an eBay final value fee for $35. I told X that he would have to pay for that fee regardless of the item not being sold. I drew up a note saying that he agrees to pay $35 by March 1st, dated it, and both him and I signed the it. X is now telling me that he will not be paying that money to me. I want my money, what is the best thing I should do?


Asked on 2/07/12, 9:13 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Nancy Delain Delain Law Office, PLLC

First, contact eBay to report the dead deal; it may be that eBay will refund its fees to you.

If that doesn't work, you'll have to sue X. You are only 17, which is less than 18, which, unless you are emancipated, is the age at which you can bring your own lawsuit in New York. Therefore, you have to get an adult (your parents?) involved to bring the suit for you in small claims court, and get a money judgment against X for the $35 eBay fee plus court costs (somewhere around $20 for small claims, I believe). Bring the written contract and all the messages you exchanged with your buyer to court with you. Also bring the PayPal receipts (or checks ... or money order stubs ... however you transacted this deal) for the payment from Buyer to you and for your refund of Buyer's money. Also bring your eBay transaction fee invoice.

In case you haven't noticed, you got hustled. Discuss with your parents (who may yell at you along with helping you out; deal with their being upset with you and learn the lesson behind the mad) or another trusted adult how you can avoid getting hustled like that in the future.

THIS POST CONTAINS GENERAL INFORMATION AND IS INTENDED FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE, NOR DOES IT CREATE ANY ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. FOR LEGAL ADVICE ON YOUR PARTICULAR MATTER, CONSULT YOUR ATTORNEY.

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Answered on 2/08/12, 8:41 am


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