WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH EBAY?
Technically, when you buy anything on eBay (or any online auction) you have entered into a legally binding contract between you and the seller. If the bike is as it should be then there is no getting out of this contract and it can be enforced by the seller in a court of law, so pressing ‘buy it now’ is a serious matter. So how do you buy safely?
The key to eBay buying is to ask specific questions and read between the lines. All eBay sales are covered under the Sale of Goods Act and that requires any item sold by description to be ‘as described’. If the seller describes a bike as ‘having age related wear and tear’ then this is vague enough for them to get out of scuffs on the fairing, so you need to ask them directly if the plastics are marked. If they say they aren’t but there are scratches, they are at fault and you can void the sale. The same goes for mechanical issues, so ask directly ‘are there any mechanical faults?’ The more questions you ask, the more you are covered, and that means you can pull out of the sale without breaking the law.