Ken in Oklahoma wrote:I have to wonder what the Pay Pal policy is for an obvious (?) bidding fornication. And if somebody sues, who has to do it, the seller or Pay Pal (or other money transferring agent)? Would Pay Pal or anybody else even have "standing" in the case. Unlikely. And secondly what is the damage? The seller still has his motorcycle and the buyer still has his money. Major?
Now Pay Pal/Ebay might ban you for life. But a slightly different name (with or without middle initial) and a different bank account, and your sister's address would likely get you going again.
Ken
Right: for a suit, you're talking damages, not just standing, and it would be difficult to determine real damages here, at least in an amount worth anyone's time and trouble. Punitive damages could be much higher, but they've gutted the opportunity for punitive damages in so many cases, I'm not sure where they're available anymore. Plus, punitive damages would require proving that it was done intentionally with malice.
And, yes, lots of people could have standing: seller, PayPal, other bidders - pretty much everyone except the person making a bogus bid. Interestingly, this could even be true in the case of an innocent error: after all, if you simply make a mistake that causes damage to another vehicle, the fact that it was just an innocent accident doesn't let you off the hook for liability for the damage.
There is also the possibility here of fraud, and that would, of course, involve criminal punishment. 'Course we here are working completely on speculation as we don't really know what was going on. Obviously one very real possibility would be money laundering, but, if so, you'd certainly think they could come up with a sneakier way.
And, yes, as far as PayPal policy, I can't imagine they have any punishment available other than banning you.