A German court ordered a British pensioner to pay almost £12,000 to an eBay bidder angry that he had pulled an item from sale.
Mike Godden, 72, advertised a vintage 1970s tape recorder on the auction site and invited bids starting at 99p.
Offers rose to more than £1,000 but the retired music studio manager said he noticed the device was damaged and decided to cancel the sale.
A German man, who was the winning bidder when the listing was pulled, then insisted he had become the unit’s owner – and demanded it be shipped to him.
Mike said he initially ignored the disgruntled man’s messages because he believed ending the auction was allowed under eBay’s rules.
But the bidder took the case to court in Germany, which ruled that EU law overrode eBay procedures – landing Mike with a bill of £11,600.
Bailiffs even visited the home he shares with wife Rebecca in Southampton, Hampshire, to try to get hold of the cash.
Mike said: “It’s just crazy. This should have never gone to court.”
The Studer A80 tape recorder is the same type that prog-rock legends Pink Floyd used on their iconic 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon.
Bids hit £1,380 before Mike said he realised the device was faulty and ended the auction with eight days left to run.
Under eBay’s rules, sellers can cancel auctions more than 12 hours before the sale closes if the item is damaged.
But the German bidder messaged Mike to say he had won the item and demand he pay out to cover the cost of him buying an equivalent tape recorder.
He told Mike they would “meet at the courthouse in Frankfurt” – and the case went before the German Regional Court.
Mike joined the hearing online but lost when the court ruled the Rome I Regulation, a contract law adopted by the EU in 1980 and retained by the UK after Brexit, made an eBay bid binding.
The court said this law superseded eBay’s policy, adding: “Both parties had made binding declarations of intention at the time the auction was aborted.”
Mike was ordered to pay £7,551 which rose to £11,600 to cover the buyer’s legal fees and bailiff costs.
Having paid up, Mike now wants eBay to reimburse him for his losses.
He said: “Losing the money is painful enough. It’s left me in quite a bit of debt. It’s the fact I haven’t done anything wrong in the beginning, and yet he was able to take me to court.”
A spokesman for eBay said: “We discourage sellers from ending auctions early, as listing an item and accepting bids from potential buyers creates a contractual obligation to sell the item.
“However, we understand sellers may occasionally need to cancel an auction and there are legitimate reasons for them to do so, including if the item is lost or broken. If they do end an auction early, sellers need to make sure they have proof of a legitimate reason.”
