Buying goods from Ebay

Al_Ross

Hi Folks,

This has probably been asked before but some one might save me loads of time having to search through forums.

I was thinking of buying some new heavy goods from a big company that has a Ebay outlet, these are buy now price not auctioned. My concern is if the goods arrive faulty or damaged ,am I liable for the costs of returning them.Does SOGA apply on Ebay ?

I am also thinking that the goods sold on Ebay from the big company outlet shops are goods that have already been returned to them through their main branches that may have hidden faults or problems.Why else would the Item I am looking for be have the price in their Ebay outlet compared to their main website ?

visidigi

Al_Ross wrote: »

Hi Folks,

This has probably been asked before but some one might save me loads of time having to search through forums.

I was thinking of buying some new heavy goods from a big company that has a Ebay outlet, these are buy now price not auctioned. My concern is if the goods arrive faulty or damaged ,am I liable for the costs of returning them.Does SOGA apply on Ebay ?

I am also thinking that the goods sold on Ebay from the big company outlet shops are goods that have already been returned to them through their main branches that may have hidden faults or problems.Why else would the Item I am looking for be have the price in their Ebay outlet compared to their main website ?

You're covered, as for the assumption its a return etc, they should declare on the listing if the item is not new.

As for different prices, supply, demand, time of day, 1,000's of possible reasons...

Al_Ross

So they are liable for the cost of return if faulty ?

wealdroam

Al_Ross wrote: »

So they are liable for the cost of return if faulty ?

If you are buying as a consumer... yes.

InquisitiveMind

Any faults that the product have, has to be described (e.g. a loose thread, tear under right armpit etc). They may be goodwill returns where there is no problem but the consumer was just testing them out and returned them because they didn't want it.

Not only does SOGA apply to Ebay Buy-It-Now's, but so too does the Consumer Contract Regulations which stipulate that you have a minimum of 14 days to test out the item and then return it if you don't want it.

shaun_from_Africa

InquisitiveMind wrote: »

Not only does SOGA apply to Ebay Buy-It-Now's, but so too does the Consumer Contract Regulations which stipulate that you have a minimum of 14 days to test out the item and then return it if you don't want it.

You can return for a full refund under the CCR's provided that you only test the goods to make sure that they are as described and function correctly. Even then, depending on the type of goods, you may only be entitled to do a visual check and not a functional one.
For example, you wouldn't be entitled to test a washing machine and then decide that it didn't spin fast enough or was a bit too noisy then return it for a full refund under the CCR's as this sort of test is going beyond what you would be able to do in a shop and if you diminish the value of the goods due to excessive testing or use, the retailer is legally entitled to reduce the refund amount to cover their loss.


Another point is that unlike the Distance selling regulations, the Consumer Contract Regulations apply equally to ebay auction sales as well as BIN sales.