What are my rights buying second hand or from a private seller?
The large gap between buying from a trader and from a private individual, and how to protect yourself in each.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 20 min
- Read
- 2 min
- Safety
- caution
Short answer
From a business you have nearly all the usual rights, allowing for age and condition. From a private seller you have almost none — the item must match its description, and that is broadly it.
The difference between a trader and a private seller is enormous and not always obvious on a marketplace. Establishing which you are dealing with before paying is the whole of the protection.
Safety
Step by step
- Work out whether the seller is a business.Someone selling in the course of a business — including on marketplaces — is a trader, whatever the listing says. Frequent listings, multiple identical items and business-like language are indicators, and traders must identify themselves.
- From a trader, expect full rights adjusted for age.Goods must be as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality — judged against being second hand, its age and its price. Faults you were told about are excluded.
- From a private seller, expect very little.The item must match its description and the seller must have the right to sell it. There is no requirement of satisfactory quality — "sold as seen" broadly holds for private sales.
- Inspect properly before paying privately.This is where your protection sits. Test it, turn it on, check what matters. Once you have paid a private seller, options are extremely limited.
- Keep the listing and any messages.The description is what a private sale hinges on. Screenshot the advert — listings get edited or deleted.
- Pay in a way that gives protection.Credit card over £100 gives joint liability even second hand. A marketplace's own protected payment scheme has conditions but is far better than a transfer. Bank transfer offers nothing.
- Check the item is not stolen or on finance.For vehicles particularly — a history check is inexpensive. Buying stolen goods means losing both the item and the money, whatever you paid.
- Be more careful the higher the value.For anything substantial, insist on seeing it at the seller's address, take someone with you, and do not carry large amounts of cash.
Tips
- A seller who resists you testing the item before paying is telling you something. Walk away.
- "Sold as seen" has real weight in a private sale and almost none against a trader. Traders sometimes use the phrase hoping otherwise.
- Marketplace protection schemes usually require paying through the platform. Being persuaded to pay outside it is the most common way buyers lose protection.
Questions people ask
Can I return something bought from a private seller?
Generally not unless it was misdescribed or the seller had no right to sell it. There is no satisfactory-quality requirement in a private sale.
Do I have rights buying second hand from a shop?
Yes — nearly the full set, judged against the item's age, price and condition, and excluding faults you were told about.