SquareTrade warranties and eBay - beware

Doc_N

Just bought a DAB radio on eBay for about £50 - worth around £200 new.

SquareTrade warranty available at the time of purchase, and eBay emailed after purchase trying to sell one.

Might seem a reasonable bet for £16.49 (two years' cover) on a secondhand radio, but not when you find that:

"The maximum liability under this Contract shall be the original purchase price of the insured item, excluding delivery charges."

£16.49 for £50 cover is very poor value - I wonder how many purchasers of this product notice that the maximum possible claim will be restricted to the price paid, which could be just a few pounds.

porto_bello

I'm very sceptical about warranties – I never bother, particularly with electrical products.

Electrical items tend to go for years or if they break down, it usually tends to be within the first year, when they are covered by a manufacturer’s warranty.

Doc_N

porto_bello wrote: »

I'm very sceptical about warranties – I never bother, particularly with electrical products.

Electrical items tend to go for years or if they break down, it usually tends to be within the first year, when they are covered by a manufacturer’s warranty.

I'd absolutely agree with you over warranties on new products.

Buying secondhand on eBay's rather different, of course, and at first glance these SquareTrade warranties look tempting - insurance against problems with secondhand goods is unusual.

The limitation of their liability to the price you paid is a very major downside, though!

JohalaReewi

Many years ago I looked into SquareTrade in connection with an Ebay dispute and discovered that they were an offshoot of Ebay and didn't really offer anything for your money, just more profit for Ebay. Looks like things haven't changed much.

phebe3

Am so glad I took the trouble to google square trade warranties as was a little sceptical when bought kindle off e-bay (well, £40 for new and sealed seemed a fairly good buy, and seller seemed genuine) and square trade warranty popped up along with purchase. Don't think I will bother however!

theonlyrick

Can you describe what you mean by this? Are you saying that because they are connected with eBay, they're not to be trusted?

R.

JohalaReewi wrote: »

Many years ago I looked into SquareTrade in connection with an Ebay dispute and discovered that they were an offshoot of Ebay and didn't really offer anything for your money, just more profit for Ebay. Looks like things haven't changed much.

bxboards

Doc_N wrote: »

Might seem a reasonable bet for £16.49 (two years' cover) on a secondhand radio, but not when you find that:

Paying nearly 1/3 of the price again on a gamble that something might go wrong, does not seem reasonable. It seems foolhardy to consider paying another 16.49 on a 50 pound item! Ebay push them purely to hook in suckers - just put all the money you've saved by wasting them on warranties into a jar for a rainy day.

Doc_N

bxboards wrote: »

Paying nearly 1/3 of the price again on a gamble that something might go wrong, does not seem reasonable. It seems foolhardy to consider paying another 16.49 on a 50 pound item! Ebay push them purely to hook in suckers - just put all the money you've saved by wasting them on warranties into a jar for a rainy day.

As I said originally, using the full quote:

"Might seem a reasonable bet for £16.49 (two years' cover) on a secondhand radio, but not when you find that:

"The maximum liability under this Contract shall be the original purchase price of the insured item, excluding delivery charges."

£16.49 for £50 cover is very poor value - I wonder how many purchasers of this product notice that the maximum possible claim will be restricted to the price paid, which could be just a few pounds."


The restrictions around these policies make them very poor value - but then, that's eBay for you. Extract the maximum amount of cash you can, and provide as little as possible for it. Then pay as little tax as you possibly can by artificially shunting the profits to a low-tax zone.

soolin

I doubt whether any of the original posters need this thread updated after a year.

Doc_N

soolin wrote: »

I doubt whether any of the original posters need this thread updated after a year.

Possibly, but as the OP for this thread I think it still serves a purpose in warning about the downside of this warranty.