Help! WWYD - £1200 sale going sour

[saffrone]

Hi I advertised a piece of machinery BNIB that I had had sitting around for some time but never used due to the unexpected closure of my business some 3+ years ago. BNIB because that's what it is - never opened or used or anything; photo of unopened box on ebay, collected and now the buyer has got it and says that it doesn't work and it'll cost him £500 to get a new part - AAARGH!
So he paid £1200; current list price is £6k but priced for ebay ie superceded model and no warranty.
WWYD? Any legal eagles know the situation, given that I am a private seller, not a business?
TIA

Why on earth didn't you make sure it worked first?

I'd say you don't have a leg to stand on unless you stated in the listing it might not work!

It transpires that the part involved has a limited life of 2 years - like printer ink - it is the consumable part of the machinery.

Buyer knew that it is older than 3 years old because superceded model and is in the business that I was.

I didn't make sure that it was working because BNIB - I didn't want to open it and make it look secondhand - OK Naive newbie.

If the part involved has a known shelf life of 2 years and the buyer was aware of this and that the item as older than that, I would probaby agree to split the amount and refund him half the cost of that part.

Were you explicit in your description that it was more than three years old?
TBH I would me more than a little upset if an item was described as brand new if you purchased it so long ago - I would be evein more upset if the eitem then did not work.

Not sure where you stand legally/Ebay rules though.

even and item - not my typing's finest hour

I think that technically you should ask for the item to be returned and refund them, and then if you wanted you could try and sell it again with a more full description so that the person buying doesnt get any surprises.
If it really was a very good deal you may find that the complaint goes away if you say you will have the item back.

Or it might be simpler to try and reach agreement with the buyer over giving them some money to go towards the new part.

I would offer to either meet them halfway with the cost of fixing or offer a full refund and relist.

I'd give a full refund and resell it described properly. You will probably get more money

How did he pay?

If he paid by PayPal he can open a dispute for item not as described.

If he paid cash on collection then to be fair he should have tested it before he took it.

Ask him for an independant report detailing the faults, if there are faults offer to pay 50%

Fabbychic, I collect a lot of things in person andd TBH, you can;t expect someone to test machinery on the seller's doorstep! Also, why should the buyer pay for an independent report detailing the faults!

There's no point quibbling - the buyer had every leg to stand on and paypal will refund in fall anyway. If the seller makes a fuss or creates obstacles, or she will get is the money refunded anyway and a negative feedback.

I would get the item back, refund in full and then relist. Or refund £500 which is the cost of the new part.

I don't get all thsi "if it's new it must have only been bought last week" business - it WAS brand new - ie unused, sealed - NEW!! We bought a heater from the 70's - it was brand new in the box unused - I did not for one minute think hang on a minute, this isn't new, it was bought years ago - lol, it was still NIB!

Anyway, I would apologise, and offer to take it back off him and refund him in full.

PayPal will refund in full, however who takes PayPal for an item of that value, a fool takes PayPal for a collection only item as they have no protection against INR.

What if the buyer is trying it on? What if the buyer got it took a part and then decided fuck it I don't want it any more.

but if he DID pay by paypal, he will need to provide a tracking number to return it to her, even if he did collect it. The tracking number has to be inputted for the refund to happen

maxybrown he could just claim non delivery if he paid by paypal and collected.

ah yes true! I always forget the dishonest reasons

If that item you have sold is along the lines of what I'm thinking I would pay a courier to collect it, refund and resell, listed accurately.

If he is in the industry and knows anything about the machine he knows he's got a good deal. If he doesn't and is starting up himself the £500 quote may have scared him about running costs and he is trying it on a little bit.

Thanks for all of your messages.

The defective part was a consumable part; He knew how old it was; He is in the same business, so was very keen on the bargain. He queried if the consumable was included and I clearly stated that it was, but of the same age as the item.

BNIB was because that was the most accurate description within the parameters of ebay descriptions of condition available.

Honeydragon - I have no idea what you are thinking of, but pm me if you want to check!

Thanks again; this has been a baptism of fire - ebay, not mumsnet.