Item purchased from US Ebay seller not fit for purpose

ciber

Hi,

I recently purchased a phone accessory on Ebay UK for about £4 (paid in GBP) from a US based business seller, and it specifically said that it would work with my phone. It doesn't, making it not fit for purpose.

They will allow me to return the goods to the US, but are saying they won't refund the costs of return postage, which from what I can see would be at least £3.50.

I know that if they were UK based, I'd be covered by the Sale of Goods Act, but I'm not sure where I stand with an international seller. Ebay seem to say that the seller should pay, except if they say in the listing that the buyer pays return postage, which seems like a ridiculous loophole if true (sellercentre.ebay.co.uk/legal-considerations-when-selling-internationally#rights).

Is it covered by the SOGA, or is there no actual protection on that kind of sale beyond Ebay's policies?


To add an extra twist, the goods were actually shipped from Middlesex, and the envelope has a clearly visible UK-based return address on. Does that change whether they're covered by SOGA and the rest of the UK consumer protection rules?


Given the amounts involved, I'm largely just interested in where my rights stand with all of this, rather than having a genuine intention to pursue it beyond asking the seller to refund the postage too.

Thanks

bris

US law would apply but as it's Ebay they will not get involved with return postage anyway, even if they are UK based.

Put it down to experiance and buy British, well british suppliers anyway.

shaun_from_Africa

It might be worth opening a dispute for a couple of reasons.
The first is that ebay might give a no fault refund (they pay out themselves and don't take money from the seller), in which case you don't have to return the goods.

The second reason is that a dispute and poor feedback might encourage the seller to be a bit more customer friendly.
If they now know that the item doesn't work as advertised, a good seller would cover the return postage costs, or more likely just refund you the £4 and tell you to keep the item.

ciber

Thanks for the replies. I'll probably go as far down the route disputing it with the seller/ebay as I can, but no further.