YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS

Your legal rights when buying secondhand goods are perhaps not as strong as you might think – especially if you’ve bought from a private seller and not a retailer

If you’ve bought a laptop from an online retailer and it turns out to be faulty, you have got 14 days from the moment the goods arrive to cancel the order and seek a full refund under the Consumer Contracts Regulations. The Consumer Rights Act also puts a responsibility on traders to accurately describe the condition of any products, including faults.

That’s not the case if you buy from a private seller, though. Here, they are under no obligation to highlight faults – the old phrase “sold as seen” comes into play, even if you can’t see the goods before you buy. So, if you’re sold an “Apple laptop” and it turns out to be an Apple laptop that doesn’t work, that’s the buyer’s lookout. Only if it was described as, say, “in full working order” do you have any means of redress, but of course pursuing a private seller is not going to be easy. The small claims court is normally your best hope.

So how does this affect eBay sales? In that situation, are you dealing with the site or a private seller? “eBay has its own customer protections, but this isn’t backed up by consumer law,” a spokesperson for Which? told us.

Faulty goods, equipment that’s been damaged in transit and kit that’s not in the described condition are all covered under eBay’s Money Back Guarantee. You first have to take up the case with the eBay seller, selecting the option that says “I received an item that wasn’t as described” from the feedback options. eBay says that will “automatically open a request so we can track the seller’s response and help if we’re needed”.