Do I have to give 12 months warranty on selling elec items?

glenandemm

I've started selling some electrical items I build myself and I've been offering 3 months warranty but somone has told me by law I'm supposed to give 12 months warranty?
Is this true am I supposed to give them 12 months warranty as I thought it was 30 days if it was faulty and warranty was up to the seller after this if they wanted to give more or not?

unholyangel

glenandemm wrote: »

I've started selling some electrical items I build myself and I've been offering 3 months warranty but somone has told me by law I'm supposed to give 12 months warranty?
Is this true am I supposed to give them 12 months warranty as I thought it was 30 days if it was faulty and warranty was up to the seller after this if they wanted to give more or not?

No you don't need to give them any warranty. Although if you offer one, its binding on you.

However, under the consumer rights act (and also the sale of goods act which the CRA replaced) if anything goes wrong in the first 6 months, the fault will be assumed to be inherent and it would be up to you to show that its not inherent.

So you'd be worthwhile (imo) offering a 6 month warranty but excluding accidental damage, misuse etc from warranty repairs.

ETA: the 30 days is the period in which the consumer can insist on a refund and does not have to accept a repair or replacement. Its not a 30 day warranty as such.

If you sell via distance/electronic means (website, email, phone, fax etc) then you may have additional legal obligations to comply with.

forgotmyname

Is the expected life of this item only 3 months?

If a customer thought it should last several years then they could claim the item was faulty long after your warranty period. You can ask them to prove it was faulty and didnt last as long as it should but is it worth the hassle?

Offer a sensible warranty and make sure you have enough profit to cover any that may fail within a reasonable time.

So you may have a 12 month warranty period but offer an exchange or repair for an extra few months for good customer service.

JJ_Egan

OP needs to be aware that i could buy his product and come back to him in say two years time as it no longer works . No longer works and i have a verified report saying it failed due to a manufacturing defect under the latest consumer acts .You only need a couple of those to wipe out profit .

glenandemm

hi guys thanks for replys, from what im reading its very confusing.
im only offering 3 months warranty as the price im selling the items for i feel is very cheap, this doesnt reflect on on how long i expect them to last though as im just selling them cheap and still make a slight profit for a reasonable price.
ive read that i dont have to give a warranty and i just thought 3 months was fair for the price im selling them for, im just selling them online on forums and ebay,i know ebay make me give 30 days return no matter if i give warranty or not so i thats what ive been going off!
imquite confident in the reliabilty but as with anything electrical nothings 100% all the time.
i may look at increasing the price slightly and just offering 12 months repair or replace.

naedanger

glenandemm wrote: »

hi guys thanks for replys, from what im reading its very confusing.
im only offering 3 months warranty as the price im selling the items for i feel is very cheap, this doesnt reflect on on how long i expect them to last though as im just selling them cheap and still make a slight profit for a reasonable price.
ive read that i dont have to give a warranty and i just thought 3 months was fair for the price im selling them for, im just selling them online on forums and ebay,i know ebay make me give 30 days return no matter if i give warranty or not so i thats what ive been going off!
imquite confident in the reliabilty but as with anything electrical nothings 100% all the time.
i may look at increasing the price slightly and just offering 12 months repair or replace.

A bit off topic, but are you satisfied your manufacture is in line with all regulations? (The manufacture of certain electrical items is, I think, quite heavily regulated.) Apologies for asking if you have this well covered, but I thought I would raise the point just in case you didn't.

lovinituk

As the poster above points out, I would be more concerned about the testing and safety regulations that surround the supply of electrical items.

For starters your products may need to be CE marked - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ce-marking

You could end up in a lot of legal hot water if you don't have the relevant safety documentation. Even worse you could kill someone.