Q: Scammed by a person on Etsy.com. Do I need a lawyer to subpoena Etsy so I can take him to court?
On the website Etsy.com, he was a single vendor/seller. He agreed on building a custom sign and sending it to me for $455, which I purchased on Aug 31, 2016. He delayed long enough that it was outside of the websites time period to do anything about it and issue me a refund. He finally sent the item on October 26, except nothing ever came. He deleted his profile and refused to respond. The sign is large enough that it would have taken a tracking number and he never provided one. In December, Etsy contacted him for me and he mailed me a package of simply 25 loose bulbs and no sign (should be about 3 feet high by 7 feet wide). That package was sent on Dec 11 and received on Dec 14. He claims that the first sign was lost in the mail and then he shipped three packages under the same tracking number even though there was only one. He has lied and refuses to do anything. What can I do to take him to court?
A: It'll cost you at a minimum a few hundred dollars in filing fees (if in TN). Plus you'll need to track down who the seller actually is, where he really resides, and personally serve the seller. Which can add several hundred dollars more in service and skip trace fees. If he's in a different state you may also have jurisdictional issues assuming you can find the seller. The cost of finding, suing, and pursing a judgment against the seller may very well cost you more than $455.
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