Electrical Items

charlie792

This is probably a little silly but I started wondering about it. If I buy an electrical item from a shop then it automatically has a 12 month warranty, where do I stand on buying from a private seller, or such a second hand item. Is it taken that unless stated they are not responsible if the product becomes defective?

Crowqueen

You would be able to claim through Paypal for 45 days, but otherwise if buying from a private seller there is no sure-fire way of enforcing anything else.

With a lot of s/h electronic items (not sure about purely electrical appliances), it's largely a false economy buying secondhand, as particularly if the item is well-used then you may not get a lot more use out of it. For example, my laptop is two years old, it works perfectly well apart from the mouse touchpad, but I wouldn't put any guarantee on it lasting a year if I sold it to someone else. I would always stick with somewhere where you are offered some sort of proper guarantee rather than chancing your arm with a s/h item where goodness knows how long the seller has been using it. The best way to get bargains on electronic equipment is to look for sales on older models (e.g. the iPod nano has just been revamped again, so new older models would probably be priced very competitively) rather than try going for a secondhand item.

annie-c

I bought a new steam generator iron from an ebay seller who promised a 12 month guarantee. I saved £40 over the retail price and was very pleased with it. That was just over a year ago and no problems arose so I am not exactly sure how I would have claimed. I would almost certainly have had to pay the postage on returns even under the paypal 45 day guarantee so it was a bit of a gamble.

charlie792

Crowqueen wrote: »

You would be able to claim through Paypal for 45 days, but otherwise if buying from a private seller there is no sure-fire way of enforcing anything else.

With a lot of s/h electronic items (not sure about purely electrical appliances), it's largely a false economy buying secondhand, as particularly if the item is well-used then you may not get a lot more use out of it. For example, my laptop is two years old, it works perfectly well apart from the mouse touchpad, but I wouldn't put any guarantee on it lasting a year if I sold it to someone else. I would always stick with somewhere where you are offered some sort of proper guarantee rather than chancing your arm with a s/h item where goodness knows how long the seller has been using it. The best way to get bargains on electronic equipment is to look for sales on older models (e.g. the iPod nano has just been revamped again, so new older models would probably be priced very competitively) rather than try going for a secondhand item.

Thanks for your reply
I was mainly asking because I just bought an "almost new" Wii from a private seller on ebay, got to thinking about it because it started making wierd noises yesterday -turns out it was just it vibrating on the tv stand so nothing to worry about, but was just curious to where I stand if it did go wrong.

lindseykim13

Crowqueen wrote: »

You would be able to claim through Paypal for 45 days, but otherwise if buying from a private seller there is no sure-fire way of enforcing anything else.

With a lot of s/h electronic items (not sure about purely electrical appliances), it's largely a false economy buying secondhand, as particularly if the item is well-used then you may not get a lot more use out of it. For example, my laptop is two years old, it works perfectly well apart from the mouse touchpad, but I wouldn't put any guarantee on it lasting a year if I sold it to someone else. I would always stick with somewhere where you are offered some sort of proper guarantee rather than chancing your arm with a s/h item where goodness knows how long the seller has been using it. The best way to get bargains on electronic equipment is to look for sales on older models (e.g. the iPod nano has just been revamped again, so new older models would probably be priced very competitively) rather than try going for a secondhand item.

I don't think its a false economy at all, i bought a s/h oven for £40 which has lasted me more than a year so far after my brand new one only lasted me 3yrs at a cost of £299! I've recently bought a hifi system for a bargain price of £25 because it was pick up only it's only a few months old and retails at £120. The only things i wouldn't buy s/h would be computers although game systems i would be fine about as long as they are working ok when you get them.

macfly

lindseykim13 wrote: »

I don't think its a false economy at all, i bought a s/h oven for £40 which has lasted me more than a year so far after my brand new one only lasted me 3yrs at a cost of £299! I've recently bought a hifi system for a bargain price of £25 because it was pick up only it's only a few months old and retails at £120. The only things i wouldn't buy s/h would be computers although game systems i would be fine about as long as they are working ok when you get them.

Then you have that completely the wrong way round. There have been no huge problems with the wii. it's a well built piece of kit. xbox 360 needs to be steered well clear of, unless it's the latest model. Older ps3s can be a nightmare due to overheating.
Computers are fine if they are working ok when you get them. Laptops are a bit more complicated, but the same applies. Most laptops I pick up for a song have screen problems. The rest of the tech in them is tried and tested.
I bought a fully working laptop on ebay five years ago. It's still going strong. I have a computer which gets little use now, but is in perfect working order after six years of use. My son's xbox has been back for repair three times in a year.

amcluesent

Apart from the 45 days with Paypal, buying 2nd hand off private sellers is very much 'caveat emptor'. The presumption is that the reduced price offsets the risk it'll break.

liam8282

macfly wrote: »

There have been no huge problems with the wii. it's a well built piece of kit.

I would disagree.

There is a well known problem with wii's overheating. Supposedly something to do with the stand covering the fan when you have your wii upright.

This causes pixelation on the screen.

(I know because it happened to mine!)

Have to say though, nintendo are quite good with their repairs, not brilliant though.

I had to send back the wii as mentioned above.

I also had to send back a dsi, which was stolen by parcelforce (the company used by nintendo), took almost 2 months for them to sort it out and eventually send a replacement.

Crowqueen

lindseykim13 wrote: »

I don't think its a false economy at all, i bought a s/h oven for £40 which has lasted me more than a year so far after my brand new one only lasted me 3yrs at a cost of £299! I've recently bought a hifi system for a bargain price of £25 because it was pick up only it's only a few months old and retails at £120. The only things i wouldn't buy s/h would be computers although game systems i would be fine about as long as they are working ok when you get them.

I did say I was talking more about consumer electronics than about electrics in general.

Things like cameras, games consoles, computers and iPods - all get bought and sold on eBay s/h but then go wrong and the seller is still responsible for them, and the buyer is still annoyed. I bought two cheap s/h cameras on eBay, and then got myself a decent one for £90 new and the difference was amazing - I was glad I saved up for a new one as the s/h ones lasted a matter of months and drained batteries very quickly.

Stereos and so on are somewhere in the middle but I'd say even then that I wouldn't ever buy a cheapo one as the sound quality is very poor. I bought a £15 iPod docking station (the nearest thing to a stereo I need) and the sound quality was bad. However, I recently got a £60 one reduced to £35 in a sale at HMV, and the sound quality is miles better. Just buying any old things can quite often end up being a false economy and I'd still say that making an investment in something new/decent is better than throwing away even £20 on something that is poor quality or has been used to within an inch of its serviceable life.

Each to their own, but there's no point buying s/h really if you can help it, you might as well save up for something good.

macfly

Well, that's just ruined ebays business - buy new folks.
However, ebay is not the be all and end all. Sometimes the high street can be competitive

ECOWARRIOR_3

Most firms guarantee sheets say that if ownership changes hands, then the guarantee is no longer valid. Mind you, if you bought the item with the original sales invoice.... could be a different ball game...