Advice sought on out-of-state small claim

[skydiver81]

Thanks in advance for your input!

I won an eBay auction for a $100 item which I paid for with a personal check. The seller cashed the check and never shipped the item. I reside in Massachusetts and he resides in Pennsylvania.

I realize this is not a lot of money. I just don't want to roll over and play dead, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I would like to file a small claim against him, and I would like some advice on how I should proceed.

If I file a claim in PA, do I need to be present for the hearing? If so, can I recoup the costs of traveling to PA in the claim? I am looking at a 6 hour drive over 360 miles. I know this seems insane to pursue based on the distance, but I have lots of vacation time available and I've never visited Amish country

If I must attend the hearing, will it most likely be resolved / judgement entered that day? I certainly don't want to make repeated trips there.

What type of evidence should I be prepared to present? I have a copy of the canceled check, the eBay dispute threads, etc. Is there something else that I need to produce for the court to expedite the case?

Alternatively, are there attorneys who represent cases for plaintiffs that would be interested in recovering $100? Perhaps they can include their fees in the suit to make it more feasible?

Best Regards,

Andy

 

[racermark]

Hi Andy. Others might know if you need to be present at the hearing in PA or not I'm not sure. You can contact the local PA clerk of courts office and ask them.

Since it's only $100 I would work with Ebay on the matter and not small claims court. That's your decision and that's cool. If you sue him in court, you might be spending lots of money and time pursuing the matter. Even when you win your judgment in small claims, the difficult part is collecting the money. The court system will not help you with that - your on your own to do research and spending more money on garnishment,execution paperwork. Every time you service papers to the defendant you have to pay a process server fee - here in Wisconsin it's $65. You can docket the judgment so that creditors see that on his file in which case he has to pay it first is he decides to sell his house/assets. What if you can't find any assets (bank accounts, wages, property) to latch your judgment onto? Does the defendant have other debtors that are owed money too. Your might not be the only one.

I'm a plantiff in Wisconsin that won a judgment for $800 - the defendant didn't show up. Wouldn't surprise me if I don't get my money back but hey I damaged the defendant's credit record. Collecting on the judgment can be very difficult. For $100, my opinion is it isn't worth the time and effort. If you want to, you can simply go for the small claims judgment so that it's listed on his court record and stop there. But I wouldn't spend time trying to collect on the $100 it's not worth it trust me. I only deal with Ebay sellers that have 98-100% positive feedback.

For $100, looking for an attorney in this case doesn't seem feasible. Again collecting on the judgment be a headache trust me.

Contact Ebay and open a dispute with them to see if you can get your $100 back. Not sure about the specifics on getting your money back through them etc.

Mark