Item bought online not working - rights?

[Mamamamasaurus]

Oh, knowledgeable people of MN, I need some help if anyone can offer some guidance.

I purchased something from eBay and agreed collection. I collected the item (no offer of seeing the item working) and went on my merry way. I paid in cash, if that's relevant, it was agreed with the seller on eBay message.

I realised very quickly that the item was not 'in full working order' as it was described.

I contacted the seller immediately, who promptly told me that she offered to show me the item working but I declined - this isn't correct. She later when on to say that she's shielding and that she isn't allowing visitors into her property at the moment. (there are many messages, all of them are full of contradictions).

Long story short - she hasn't used the item for almost 40 years, admitted it's been an ornament since then. She initially told me she has spares of what I need then told me they were from another item which is similar and were not actually spare.

I do not wish to return the item, however I bought it based on the fact that it was in full working order. It absolutely is not, yet she's refused to send the parts needed to make it whole, then demanded that I return the item and told me that I can collect the 'spares' from her property (yep, despite her shielding 🤔)

I need to know my rights, does this fall under consumer rights? I've been told that because I collected the item that certain regulations don't apply, mainly the distance selling regs.
The cost of the item is very small but that's beside the point for me - I bought an item based on an incorrect description. The seller sold the item knowing full well it wasn't in full working order, and had sat redundant for almost 4 decades.
I have considered returning the item, despite knowing that the cost of postage would be approximately double what I paid for the item.

Any thoughts / suggestions welcome!

You have fewer rights against a private seller. The goods do not have to be of satisfactory quality. However, they do have to be fit for purpose (which it clearly isn't if it is not in working order) and match any description given (again, if the description said it was in working order the goods clearly do not match).

Since you bought this item through eBay, your best approach is to raise the issue through eBay. Go to the Resolution Centre (link at the bottom of the page), select "I received an item that does not match the seller's description", click Continue and open a case for this item. If the problem is not resolved within 8 days you can escalate it to Customer Support who will intervene.

Alternatively, you can reject the item. The seller must provide a full refund. If she does not collect it, that will include the cost of postage.

I understand that you don't want to return the item but that may be your only option. You cannot force her to provide the spares needed to fix the item, even if she has them (which is not clear).

@prh47bridge

You have fewer rights against a private seller. The goods do not have to be of satisfactory quality. However, they do have to be fit for purpose (which it clearly isn't if it is not in working order) and match any description given (again, if the description said it was in working order the goods clearly do not match).

Since you bought this item through eBay, your best approach is to raise the issue through eBay. Go to the Resolution Centre (link at the bottom of the page), select "I received an item that does not match the seller's description", click Continue and open a case for this item. If the problem is not resolved within 8 days you can escalate it to Customer Support who will intervene.

Alternatively, you can reject the item. The seller must provide a full refund. If she does not collect it, that will include the cost of postage.

I understand that you don't want to return the item but that may be your only option. You cannot force her to provide the spares needed to fix the item, even if she has them (which is not clear).

Thanks for your reply. It's been a very confusing saga - she initially stated that she DOES have the parts, then told me that they're from someting else (of the same nature, without being too specific). She's continually contradicted herself throughout the messages so I don't even know what to actually believe any more.

I looked into eBay resolution centre and got this message:-

"Unfortunately, we can't process a return because the payment method you used isn't covered in the seller's returns policy. In most cases, you need to use PayPal to be eligible for returns.

To ask about returning an item, please contact the seller."

The part about PayPal has hacked me right off, because you no longer use PP to send or receive payment, it's all through eBay now.

She has actually cancelled the order on eBay and has asked me to confirm the cancellation, which I haven't done, I didn't ask her to cancel it and at no point did I agree to cancelling the order. I suspect that if I did this, it would indicate that I was prepared to return the item.

I may as well talk to the wall when it comes to contacting the seller, I suspect she won't budge on this.