The practice of buying goods from internet auction sites such as e-bay, and other online market places such as Amazon’s ‘Sell Your Stuff’ is becoming more and more mainstream. In these instances, you are not buying from the sites themselves, but from individuals who have put their possessions or products up for sale on those sites. This has risks in itself where those products cannot be verified, but it also has important implications for your consumer rights.
The Distance Selling Regulations
One of the major benefits of buying goods and services on the internet is the fact that you are covered by the distance selling regulations. Under the regulations, you have the right to a 7 day cooling off period and a full refund without financial penalty of any kind. However, if you have bought an item as the result of a successful bid on e-bay, the distance selling regulations (and hence your cooling off rights) do not apply. Neither will the regs apply if you have bought the item through a private sale with an individual who is not acting as a commercial entity.
If however you have bought the goods as a result of a ‘buy it now’ transaction, or from a commercial trader acting in the course of business, you will be covered, and can take full advantage of your cooling off period.
Your statutory right to quality
One of your statutory rights is that any item you buy from a retailer or manufacturer must be of satisfactory quality. However if you buy from an individual in the context of a private sale, this statutory right does not apply and you will have no legal redress if the item is unsatisfactory. This is a common cause of complaint. E bay offer lots of information on how to shop safely on their site including checking the seller’s feedback ratings, whether the item is covered by PayPal Buyer Protection, and what returns policy is offered. See: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/safetycentre/buying_safely.html In the event that you have received a misdescribed, poor quality or faulty product, or if the item was never sent, report the matter to e-bay who will then take steps to ban that seller from any further trading.
Do remember however that not all transactions from these sites are with private sellers. Many are established businesses (e-tailers), and any dealings with them will be subject to your full statutory rights as well as a 7 day cooling off period under the Distance Selling Regs
Regardless of whether you buy the item from a commercial trader or a private seller, it must still conform to the description given in any sales literature.
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My wife sold my accident damaged written off car on her eBay account, but it was sold outside of eBay i.e. He wasn’t the winner it was removed early, and he never placed any bid to a guy who repairs cars “as a hobby”
He’s sueing her because it’s got more damage than he thought.
It sold for £15,000 (current one car on eBay at £45,000) there was a viewing day that he didn’t attend
I’m sure
A) there is no contract from eBay
I accept it was the introductory service
B) it is my car and my business recieved the proceeds as per the invoice and the log book, the buyer spoke to me directly on the phone and 1 message indicated my wife would ask me the answer to his question
She is the wrong person to sue
He has a London barrister coming to court
Thanks in advance
I have brought a novelty teaset from a local selling site. I paid £20 and was told it would be cleaned which it wasn’t and had a broken lid which would be fixed but wasn’t. I took the items home – 40 mile round trip. I paid my money on the understanding there was a broken lid. I unpacked the items to find that the bottom of the teapot and the spout had bright red blobs all over, the bottom looked like it had been painted on then tried to rub it off after it had been baked ! Am I entitled to insist on a refund. This was a gift as I had explained at the time of buying but feel I was conned. I cannot remove it the paint and cannot gift it, so its £20 wasted.
I brought ticks to see ed sheeran in concert. I thought I was paying £236 for 3 tickets but to my horror it was £236 each, with an additional £202 administration charge totaling 965, I phone the bank after realising this for them to tell me all we can do is dispute this, and the company can still take the money if they disagree. Help!!!
I bought a pair of used KRK speakers, private seller, via eBay – it was an auction win, not buy it now.
The seller posted a great description, and included lots of pictures etc, and made this statement:
“I also want to mention there is a very small scratch on top of one of the speakers (seen on the 5th picture of the single-top down view in the middle) I only noticed it myself upon inspecting closely when coming to sell them, it’s very mild and I never noticed it myself as you really have to look for it.” The speakers were listed as “KRK Rokit 6 G3 PAIR – Well looked after” too.
When I received the speakers there is significantly more damage than was described, to the extent I would not have bought them had I known. There are multiple scratches, pitted plastic and it seems the speaker has been scraped! The damage was not evident in any of the pictures, so I’m wondering if it was postage damage (although the items arrived pretty well packaged). Seller was great with communication whilst waiting for payment whilst it cleared through PayPal, so I’ve sent them a message with pictures.
Where do I stand with this – does it fall under items not as described/damaged during postage? Is this a refund, or a case of buyer beware?
Many thanks!
I’m a seller and buyer on eBay since 2005, I recently sold a used whirlpool washing machine for £50 for my mother, it was in good condition, in good working order, cleaned every 2-3 months since new! It was collected 7/5 put into the back of a car on its side (?), on the 17/6 I was contacted saying it’s leaving a sand like substance in the drum and vibrating on spin. This never happened with my mother. I asked why they didn’t contact me earlier they said It was for a single person, not sure what differance this makes and didn’t answer my question? They’ve said they decided to run it just clean it out first, but also in an earlier email they said it run ok the first 3 times, don’t know what my options are, I feel it’s not been used properly and feel insulted that they are insinuating it was dirty when they got it. Can anyone advise
Bought a used 08 Feb from dealet who purchased from auction,he stated car was silver certified and.In great shape,and said if any issues you can return it,so the next day lights started popping on,I checked the fluids no water in radioator or Battery,bad age had purge control valve,now they don’t want to do any repairs,and a.c. want out they said they were gonna take it back to auction,but never did,what can I do,I told them I needed a vehicle in good cond,cause I have a disable child to transport and i need a dependable car .
Is there a pre-defined time period by which an auction house must deliver a product before a transaction can be voided by the buyer? If so, what compensation is the buyer entitled to?
I purchased an item through an online bid process. Payment was made next day, however, 27 days on it still has not been delivered. The auction house says products are delivered within 3-5 days. In this case, the product was picked up by a third party courier (used by the auction house, paid by the buyer) 17 days after purchase but has not yet been delivered.