Distance Selling Seller Rights (Amazon)

[ajw1989]

Hello everyone,

 

Not sure if this is the right forum (if not could someone please redirect me) but I have a question about distance selling and refunds.

 

I recently sold an item on Amazon, and the buyer is returning it to me. Now the item has been opened and used i cannot sell it "as new" anymore. I have read the DSR am still unsure as to what refund i should give. I called amazon and they said i am entitled to only give a partial refund to cover the loss of value of the item. The item in question is a mobile phone totally new in an unopened box, but it has been assembled and not returned with the plastic film/bags/ties etc so i cannot possibly take it apart and attempt to sell it as new again.

 

So basically - do i have to offer a full refund or can i offer a partial refund? Was Amazon's advice correct?

 

Any help would be great,

 

Thanks in advance

 

A

[BankFodder]

You don't have to offer any refund if the phone isn't in the same condition as it was when it was sold - unless it has a fault.

 

I suggest that you photograph it and keep the images in case of trouble.

Be very clear with Amazon as to what action you are taking and why.

If you don't refund, of course, you will have to send the phone back to the purchaser

[ajw1989]

Thanks for the speedy reply!

 

Is it within my rights to accept the returned item, but only give a partial refund? The buyer did not understand fully what they were buying, and demanded car phone accessories etc. (things i didn't list and/or have). and therefore are returning the ( fully working) item.

 

Yet it says on their site "Amazon Marketplace sellers are required to accept returns even if the merchandise was exactly as described." I don't know if this conflicts with my rights as a private seller. (I am not a company just a poor university student!)

 

On explaining that i will only offer a partial refund the buyer threatened legal action against me. Quite intimidating as thsi is the first thing I have ever sold online!!

 

Thanks,

A

[wheeliebin]

I don't think that he can successfully take you to court if you deduct the loss of value. The important thing is to stay on the right side of Amazon's policies. Make sure that you get the information from them in writing.

 

On a slight side issue the term 'as new' doesn't necessarily mean that it is brand new with all the ties etc. As long as you state in your next ad that it has been opened but is unused you probably won't lose much if any value.

[the_shadow]

Thread moved

[perplexity]

Is it within my rights to accept the returned item, but only give a partial refund?

 

 

The OFT's Guidance with regard to this is perfectly clear:

 

Can I withhold a refund if a consumer fails to take reasonable care of the goods?

 

3.47 No. Other than for the exceptions at paragraph 3.38 the DSRs give consumers an unconditional right to cancel a contract and legally oblige you to refund all sums due in relation to the contract as soon as possible after the consumer cancels, and within a maximum of 30 days. The DSRs do, however, give suppliers a right of action against consumers for breach of the statutory duty to take reasonable care.

This opinion, therefore, is also recklessly mistaken:

 

I don't think that he can successfully take you to court if you deduct the loss of value.

 

An unpaid reimbursement is money recoverable by statute, so a court may concern itself with nothing more than the fact that a contract was cancelled but the money was not refunded.

 

If you want to complain about the condition of the goods returned to the supplier, or collected by the supplier (because there is not so much as a duty to dispatch the goods to the seller) that should be achieved as a matter to negotiate, or counter claim may be made to a court of if you fail to agree, because the buyer is obliged to take reasonable care of the goods.

 

What a supplier is certainly not entitled to do is appoint himself as the judge of his own cause.

 

PS,

 

also from the OFT Guidance:.

 

Can I insist that consumers who cancel an order within the

cancellation period return the goods as new or in their

original packaging?

3.58 No. Consumers are under a duty to take reasonable care of the goods

while in their possession as discussed in paragraph 3.44. The DSRs

allow consumers to examine goods they have ordered as they would

in a shop. If that requires opening the packaging and trying out the

goods then they have not breached their duty to take reasonable

care of the goods. In these circumstances you cannot insist that

consumers return the goods as new or in their original packaging.

You may ask consumers to return goods with the original packaging,

but you cannot insist on this. In the case of goods such as earrings

that have hygiene seals, you may require consumers to exercise

reasonable care by not removing the seals when examining them.

 

How can I resell the goods as new if they have been opened

and tested by the customer?

 

3.59 The DSRs do not provide any general exception to the right to cancel

on this point. Unless one of the specific exceptions referred to above

at paragraph 3.38 applies, consumers can exercise their right to

cancel a contract and return the goods to you. The DSRs do not link

cancellation rights with a supplier’s ability to resell items as new.

[rastinan]

Not saying that perplexity is wrong here, as they may very well be right, but as per section 2.18 of those same guidelines 'Sales by private individuals not acting for business purposes are not

covered by the DSRs'.

 

I realise that in the guidelines this is listed under the heading question of 'Auctions and the DSRs', however, as my neighbour recently found out she was left with no recourse when she decided that she no longer really needed an item that she purchased via Buy It Now on eBay from a private seller (the item hadn't as yet arrived to her house). Apparently she spoke to someone from consumer direct and was advised that as it was a private seller and not a business that the regulations didnt apply and was pointed to the above mentioned section.

 

Whether that advice was correct or not I've got no idea, but it may very well be worth speaking to consumer direct about it.

[perplexity]

Section 210 of the Enterprise Act defines the appropriate meaning of a consumer, hence a business which therefore includes

 

© any undertaking in the course of which goods or services are supplied otherwise than free of charge.

-----

 

A sale by a private individual would thus be a sale agreed between a particular buyer and a seller in private whereby the vendor did not seek to supply, or a sale at a public auction where the identity of the owner of the goods is not revealed because a broker conducts the business instead.

 

On Amazon or eBay, a member's failure to provide his identity and a geographical address could rather be prosecuted as a strict liability criminal offence because of Section 6(4) of The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

 

The definition of a consumer provided by Section 210 of the Enterprise Act applies to the CPUTRs as well as the DSRs.

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