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Advice on return please

Hi all,

recently did a 'buy it now' on an item on ebay for my birthday, however unbeknown to me my girlfriend had already bought the same thing a few weeks ago :o

The seller offers a returns policy but is unsure about accepting because the item is software which contains a unique registration code which I might have registered.

The software was described as a new unopened item but it is not sealed in any way therefore I can't prove I haven't registered it.

The seller is a private seller but they offer a returns policy.

Can I return it even though the seller is private do the distance selling regulations apply or are they bound to them by offering returns?
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Comments

  • pulliptears
    pulliptears Posts: 14,583 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    VSynth wrote: »
    Hi all,

    recently did a 'buy it now' on an item on ebay for my birthday, however unbeknown to me my girlfriend had already bought the same thing a few weeks ago :o

    The seller offers a returns policy but is unsure about accepting because the item is software which contains a unique registration code which I might have registered.

    The software was described as a new unopened item but it is not sealed in any way therefore I can't prove I haven't registered it.

    The seller is a private seller but they offer a returns policy.

    Can I return it even though the seller is private do the distance selling regulations apply or are they bound to them by offering returns?

    if its described as new and unopened but not sealed I'd argue that it's not as described personally.

    Or you could just sell it on yourself.
  • soolin
    soolin Posts: 74,007 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    How comes you don't know if you have registered or not?

    Frankly I wouldn't have the cheek to return something I have obviously used , tell your gf to return her one instead.

    However I suspect if you opened a case with PayPal you would win. Yu will have to return it fully tracked at your own expense though.
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  • eaglesrjh
    eaglesrjh Posts: 376 Forumite
    soolin wrote: »
    How comes you don't know if you have registered or not?

    Frankly I wouldn't have the cheek to return something I have obviously used , tell your gf to return her one instead.

    However I suspect if you opened a case with PayPal you would win. Yu will have to return it fully tracked at your own expense though.

    I think the buyer knows they have not used the code.

    However the seller is unsure and there is no way for the buyer to prove they have not used the code.
    if i had known then what i know now
  • VSynth
    VSynth Posts: 119 Forumite
    edited 30 March 2013 at 8:57PM
    soolin wrote: »
    How comes you don't know if you have registered or not?

    Frankly I wouldn't have the cheek to return something I have obviously used , tell your gf to return her one instead.

    However I suspect if you opened a case with PayPal you would win. Yu will have to return it fully tracked at your own expense though.


    Of course I know I have not registered the software, I said that the seller is unsure because for all they know I may have done since the dvd case was not sealed.

    The dvd case does not even shut properly.

    My gf has bought me a much larger software package that includes several different software packages including this one.
  • porto_bello
    porto_bello Posts: 1,828 Forumite
    Am I right in thinking that as this software came unsealed, it could already have been registered by the original seller - or A N other?
    "The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing.
    ...If you can fake that, you've got it made."
    Groucho Marx
  • RainbowDrops
    RainbowDrops Posts: 4,674 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Why not sell it yourself?
  • VSynth
    VSynth Posts: 119 Forumite
    Why not sell it yourself?

    It might be hard to sell because it is now available in a suite of software at low cost.

    Also I can't sell it as new,unopened because it clearly isn't and should not have been listed as such in the first place.
  • dizzyrascal
    dizzyrascal Posts: 845 Forumite
    How long ago did you buy it?
    Sounds like buyers remorse to me and now you are just searching for reasons to be able to send it back.
    If it is now available in a different package then it sounds like you have had it a while.
    A private seller doesn't have to accept returns (under English Law, maybe not ebay rules) and you paid the BIN price which you didn't have to.
    I personally think that your best option is to try to sell it on yourself and take the hit (if there is one). You bought because you needed it and now want to send it back because your circumstances have changed. Not really the sellers fault is it.
    I also don't think that you can describe something as SNAD just because it wasn't sealed?
    There are three types of people in this world. Those who can count and those who can't.
  • pulliptears
    pulliptears Posts: 14,583 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    How long ago did you buy it?
    Sounds like buyers remorse to me and now you are just searching for reasons to be able to send it back.

    OP has told you in their first post they received another as a gift.


    If it is now available in a different package then it sounds like you have had it a while.
    A private seller doesn't have to accept returns (under English Law, maybe not ebay rules) and you paid the BIN price which you didn't have to.
    a private seller has no choice when faced with a PayPal claim for not as described, Bin price was paid on the basis of the incorrect description so matters not a jot.

    I personally think that your best option is to try to sell it on yourself and take the hit (if there is one). You bought because you needed it and now want to send it back because your circumstances have changed. Not really the sellers fault is it.
    I also don't think that you can describe something as SNAD just because it wasn't sealed?

    unopened =sealed. And yes, I'd completely describe a non cellophane wrapped game as opened.
  • pulliptears
    pulliptears Posts: 14,583 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Spam reported.
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