Lost Deposit - where do I stand

at1301

So I went to look at a second hand sofa on fb & left a £50 deposit. Having slept on it I changed my mind. The seller sold it to someone else the same day but is refusing to give me my deposit back. Any help appreciated x

KatrinaWaves

Well you can’t just sleep on a sofa for free...

But seriously, what was the deposit for? To hold it for you? And did they indeed hold it for you until you said youd changed your mind? 

at1301

🤣 rest assured I slept in my bed & not on someone else’s sofa. The deposit was my suggestion as I was in my car & going to collect the next day when I had use of a van. If he hadn’t sold it I can fully understand him keeping the deposit but that isn’t the case. From your reply, I’m thinking this might be more of a MORAL dilemma than a consumer issue 🤷🏼‍♀️

KatrinaWaves

at1301 said:

🤣 rest assured I slept in my bed & not on someone else’s sofa. The deposit was my suggestion as I was in my car & going to collect the next day when I had use of a van. If he hadn’t sold it I can fully understand him keeping the deposit but that isn’t the case. From your reply, I’m thinking this might be more of a MORAL dilemma than a consumer issue 🤷🏼‍♀️

But why did you give the deposit, so he didn’t sell it whilst you were off getting your van? 

If you went back with your van the next day and he had sold it then yes, you would be entitled to the money back, as he didn’t do what was requested in exchange for the money, but it appears he did. Otherwise I don’t see why the deposit was necessary. 

DCFC79

So nothing like "Ill hold it for you until x time and Ill sell to someone else" was agreed on.

rachelheels

The whole point of a deposit is so that the seller has some protection against a buyer changing their mind.

If I was the seller I wouldn’t give you a penny back, sorry but you’ve messed them about so I’m with the seller on this one 

tacpot12

It doesn't seem to be a moral dilemma for them! So it is a consumer issue for you, but unless you were very clear that the deposit was to be refundable, e.g. by getting him to sign a receipt for the £50, it will be impossible to do anything formally. The best advice would to write it off to experience. 

pinkshoes

Did the deposit have a specific time limit on it?

Just let them know that as they are not going to refund the deposit then yes please you would like the sofa so when would be convenient to collect.

They can deduct any costs from the deposit e.g. re-advertising, storage etc...

But if there was no deadline by when you had to collect the sofa and they still have your deposit then just ask to continue the purchase. They cannot do this so will need to refund.

bris

It reads to me the buyer changed their mind, told the seller they had changed their mind so it was resold.

Mitigating the loss still comes into play but the op can google what that means to see if it applies here or not.

at1301

rachelheels said:

The whole point of a deposit is so that the seller has some protection against a buyer changing their mind.

If I was the seller I wouldn’t give you a penny back, sorry but you’ve messed them about so I’m with the seller on this one 

So you’re telling me that you’d happily take £50 off someone just for the sake of it? Because you could? He’s lost nothing as a result of me changing my mind. We obviously had very different upbringings, seems you lack basic common decency! 

Aylesbury_Duck

at1301 said:

rachelheels said:

The whole point of a deposit is so that the seller has some protection against a buyer changing their mind.

If I was the seller I wouldn’t give you a penny back, sorry but you’ve messed them about so I’m with the seller on this one 

So you’re telling me that you’d happily take £50 off someone just for the sake of it? Because you could? He’s lost nothing as a result of me changing my mind. We obviously had very different upbringings, seems you lack basic common decency! 

Oh dear, the toys are out of the pram.

Perhaps it's simpler to tell people what answer you want to hear.  Saves a lot of upset.