Online Auction Hypothetical For Your Opinion...

I would contact ebay and let them figure out how to deal with it. I am not positive but I think they have a person that just works out errors as yours. and it is an error so you are not bound by it. the buyer knew it was an error when he/she bid. I would not take a loss like that. but the decision is yours but I think I would take the red dot before I gave away $400.00 that is just my opinion though. you will get reamed here sooner or later buy the die hard contract guys but wipe it off and move on.
Gary

I would say, don't give into to that mistake. You could mention the mistake in the negative you will get that it was in error. Take the hit on the chin and not in the stomach. Make make a peace offering of a gift coin, but not the one listed. That helped smooth over a seller who couldn't find the proof set after moving. They gave me a replacement of something and sent my money back. When they found it later on they sent it to me at no charge. Kept me from giving a negative to them.

Contact a lawyer. Of course...your legal fees will run more than what you'll lose on the coin.

Is this a coin that's worth about $495? The hypothetical only states you planned to list it for that, but it doesn't indicate what it is actually worth.

It seems clear that a contract exists. There was an offer, an acceptance, and there is consideration (money).

I take it you're asking if there is grounds for the seller to get out of this contract?

Probably not. Mutual mistake is grounds to rescind a contract (no meeting of the minds), but we don't have that here because only one party made a mistake. The identity of the object offered for sale is not in question.

Here's where disclaimers come in handy. Ever see in a newspaper ad the statement "not responsible for typographical errors?" You might want to consider adding that statement as boilerplate in all future listings.

However, if the coin really is worth $495, it would be worth presenting the dispute to E-bay for resolution, They might well allow you out of the deal to avoid a manifest injustice.

This reminds me of something that happened to me one summer when I was still a plumbing contractor. A General Contractor showed up on the job & asked for a bid. I threw the prints on the hood of the truck, looked 'em over & gave a price. The GC agreed & it was a done deal. I found out a month later when I showed up on the job that I had completely missed a half bath. I underbid by $700. I didn't like it but I did the job for the price I quoted.

I don't see any difference here. What a person does in a situation like this defines who they are. We already know the buyer is willing to take advantage of an honest mistake, but that shouldn't have any bearing on the sellers actions.

I talked to the GC about it when I gave him the bill. He told me that he was surprised I gave him that bid, because it was a couple hundred lower than another plumber who wasn't considered as good. He did offer to bump it up to the other guys bid (I declined the offer), & I did other jobs for him later, so I guess I didn't feel like he cheated me. Unlike the buyer in your hypothetical he at least offered to share the pain. I didn't do any more truck hood bids after that.

I would explain that it was a typo, and that's it's too large of an amount to let go. But as a peace offering perhaps offer it to the individual at cost.