Buyer sued for posting factual negative review on eBay

eBay could file a Motion to Dismiss like you suggest, but they actually have a dog in this fight - because if sellers suing buyers over feedback becomes common practice that could have a chilling effect on eBay transactions. Without seeing the pleading I am assuming this is only a libel claim, eBay may be better off filing a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings and get the case dismissed as to both parties and not just themselves.

Yes, they are an appropriate defendant, i think you are confused as to whether they want to stay in this. They have a very clear safe harbor here, and they've never cared about their sellers anyway. They'll likely either try to get dismissed as a defendant (on some jurisdictional issue, which they'd likely lose), or, at worst, get it dismissed on the pleadings or on summary judgement. They aren't going to drag it out and make it painful "as a warning to others", because it doesn't matter to them. They'll get sued even if they did.

I think they will probably go down in court. Having done Amazon business in the past, and knowing what bad mojo it is to try to change the terms adding extra charges after the deal is signed, personally I would have just eaten the $1.44 fee.

Then again, I never made a dime at Amazon, only just lost money and collected positive ratings...

EDIT: I am being downvoted up the thread for taking a position that is not popular. I agree with Med Express that Ebay is culpable for this, as much as this must put me in the wrong legally. Where are the metamoderators?

A 1-star review is the lowest rating that you can give. The seller took the item to the post office and mailed it, postage paid. For some reason it arrived with postage due. Now Med Express will probably be required to keep a reserve on their Ebay account for the next 6 months.

Maybe it gained weight in the mail?

Maybe buyers should post reviews that are fair and balanced. Was the item as described? Received on time? Damaged in transit? Did you communicate your issues to the seller, did they make an attempt to remunerate your concerns?

If the pope hat article is remotely accurate, I would not have given this company a 1-star review. They did everything they could.

"Med Express immediately offered to reimburse Nicholls for the postage due amount. Despite this offer, and before giving Med Express a chance to reimburse her, Nicholls on February 26, 2013..."

It looks like Med Express didn't have the opportunity to fix their mistake before Nicholls started posting negative reviews. I don't understand why everyone is hating on Med Express. Imagine a similar hypothetical: If I made a mistake and offered immediately to correct it but instead was blasted via social media before I had the chance to correct things how would I feel? I'd be pretty upset.

This is what the system is for, actors that are personally unknown to each other, not a part of the same small scale geographic community, seeking a resolution to a perceived wrong.

Who on HN thinks Med Express should have been compassionate and understanding of Nicholls response without regard for the fact that repuation is critical to the survial of Med Express on eBay?

The thing is, eBay's feedback system has changed over the years.

I first registered on eBay (only as a buyer) about a decade ago, and I've been an active seller on eBay's properties (DeRemate.com and MercadoLibre.com) for a long time.

Negative feedback used to be very common and appropriate in cases such as this one, sellers on MercadoLibre get negative feedback a lot.

eBay's official guidelines (just checked) for leaving feedback are just:

"Share honest Feedback to help members buy and sell with confidence. Give sellers detailed ratings to let them know where they're doing a great job, and where there's still room for improvement"

and on the link to the help page:

"Before leaving neutral or negative Feedback, contact your trading partner to try to resolve any issues."

http://pages.ebay.com/help/feedback/contextual/feedback-tips...

it doesn't say "leaving negative feedback will destroy the seller" or "Negative feedback should be reserved for very rare situations. Additionally, negative feedback should be left only after you have tried desperately to resolve the situation with the buyer or seller in question. "

which is what one user-created (by a seller) help page says

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Some-Guidelines-To-Follow-For-Leavin...

Maybe eBay should guide users better, or get better grading tools. I haven't left negative feedback in a long time (just checked, the last four years I've only left positives), because my transactions all went smoothly (props to eBay and their sellers).

Edit: the buyer definitely didn't even attempt the first step (contacting the seller). I would have. They acted too fast (maybe in anger or something, they had a bad day, who knows).