How One Redditor Got an Uncooperative eBay Buyer to Pay for Her Purchase
Redditor BadgerMatt had two tickets to a sporting event that he couldn't attend, so he put the tickets up for sale on eBay.
He made a 1-day listing, clearly stated that the tickets would need to be picked up in person within 24 hours, and hoped for the best. When his auction closed, the woman who ended up winning had bid $600.
What happened next is kind of crazy, and involves and a little vigilante-style e-justice.
The auction ended at 10 am, and BadgerMatt sent a few emails trying to arrange a meetup so he could give the buyer the tickets. He got no response all day, but finally at 9:30 pm he got a one line email from the woman reading: "I overbid and my husband won't let me buy these. Sorry and enjoy the game! "
BadgerMatt tried to get in contact with the losing bidders to see if they'd still like the tickets, but none of them wanted to take them on such short notice, so he emailed the woman again trying to explain that there wasn't enough time to re-sell the tickets. Her response? "... that's not my problem. It's eBay, not a car dealership. I can back out if I want."
Since it was now clear that he might end up with four expensive tickets going to waste, Matt decided to get even with the original winner and hold her to her end of the bargain (which she legally agreed to do – eBay makes it clear that winning bids are binding contracts). What follows is an excerpt from his Reddit post.
I created a new eBay account, "Payback" we'll call it, and sent her a message: "Hi there, I noticed you won an auction for 4 [sporting event] tickets. I meant to bid on these but couldn't get to a computer. I wanted to take my son and dad and would be willing to give you $1,000 for the tickets. I imagine that you've already made plans to attend, but I figured it was worth a shot."
At 11:30pm she responded to Payback: "I'll do it for $1,100, no less. I can meet you at the game if you agree. I need your phone number."
At 11:35pm, Payback wrote: "Deal. Here is my number..." (Thanks Google Voice for the throwaway number). She called a few minutes later and made Payback "promise" to go through with the deal. She emphasized that she'd be out a lot of money if Payback backed out. Payback swore he would never do such a thing.
At 11:45pm, the woman emailed me: "Fine. I'll buy them. But you have to drop them off at my house tonight. I'll have the cash ready." So at f*cking midnight I drove to her house across town and met her on the road in front of her apartment building. She was a nasty and rude individual. Things didn't get any better when I told her I wanted an extra $20 for the trouble of driving there at midnight (yeah, pushing my luck, I know). It became very awkward and she literally threw 31 $20 bills at me. I counted them before handing over the tickets. I said, "thanks for the great transaction" as she flipped me off while walking away.
At 10:00am she called Payback to make sure they were still on for the exchange. Payback said that he could no longer go to the game and wouldn't be able to do the exchange. She blew her fucking top and I swear to god started speaking in tongues. Payback said, "Ma'am, this is eBay, not a car dealership" and hung up.
I got a rabid email 10 minutes later telling me that I was going to hell and that she's reported me to the local police, FBI, and... the fire department. WTF?
I never heard another word from her. I have no idea if she went to the game or not.
Legendary. Truly legendary, BadgerMatt. I salute you.
