Buyer Sued When Seller Agreed To Sell To Third Party

When ANN last visited the odd case of Peter Smythe last October, the warbird enthusiast had just sued Vin Thomas -- alleging the man broke the rules of popular online auction site eBay, when he refused to release a 1946 CA-16 Wirraway purchased by Smythe.

As ANN reported, Smythe was the sole online bidder for the 1946 World War II-vintage Wirraway aircraft. He matched the $128,640 reserve price with seconds to spare before the online auction ended last year.

Trouble was, Thomas had since agreed to sell the plane to a third party -- away from eBay -- for $85,000 more than Smythe's offer... so he backed out of the sale.

This week, an Australian court ruled Smythe had good reason to be angry... and ordered Thomas to make with the plane, for the price Smythe paid for it online.

The Associated Press reports Judge Nigel Rein said the online auction constituted "a binding contract between the plaintiff and the defendant and ... should be specifically enforced."

That decision could set a new precedent governing eBay sales, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Last year, eBay spokesman David Feiler said sellers listing items in certain categories, such as houses, do not enter a binding contract to go through with the transaction once the auction ended. That appears to have changed in Smythe's case.

Ahead of the court decision, Feiler appeared to step away from his previous statement. "It has always been our understanding that you are entering into a binding contract," he said. "If someone has a repeated behavior of not purchasing or refusing to sell the item ... normally we'll ... educate them in the first instance, but if they then show a repeated habit of not fulfilling their commitments then they get suspended."

No word yet how this transaction will affect Thomas' Feedback Rating. This was his first time using eBay.

The Wirraway was a variant of the North American NA-16 -- forerunner to the T-6 Texan trainer --- adapted to the light bombing role and manufactured by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation. The plane at the center of this dispute is said to be one of only five still in flying condition today.

FMI: www.ebay.com