Should seller pay return postage

nails1

I sell a number of items on DoneDeal/Adverts. I offer 6 months warranty. If the item fails within that period buyer can return it back to me and I’ll replace if I can’t fix it. However obviously some buyers in parts of country need products posted. If they’re returning a product that is faulty am I obliged to pay for the cost of them returning it to me and/or should they pay for me posting new product back to them if it can’t be fixed. Buyer pays postage when initially buying product. I’m of the belief that they should pay for sending product back and price for me to post back to them. If I only offered a postal service where buyer didn’t have choice to collect and product was faulty, then I’d be obliged to pay for costs of return and resending?

Spocker

If you're a private individual just selling stuff, then you're not obliged to pay for anything, once you've sent whatever the buyer has paid for; you're going above and beyond by even offering a warranty IMO. Have you offered the cost of return postage as part of your warranty?

If you're a business, then the situation changes, and if they buyer is returning something for repair, then yes you should be paying for the return postage, Distance Selling Regulations notwithstanding.

nails1

Spocker wrote: »

If you're a private individual just selling stuff, then you're not obliged to pay for anything, once you've sent whatever the buyer has paid for; you're going above and beyond by even offering a warranty IMO. Have you offered the cost of return postage as part of your warranty?

If you're a business, then the situation changes, and if they buyer is returning something for repair, then yes you should be paying for the return postage, Distance Selling Regulations notwithstanding.

I’m self employed working from home. I advertise online but most sales are cash based. Not like eBay where transactions are electronic and all deliveries done by post. I offer choice of collection or post. So if buyer is unable to collect item due to inconvenience of living other side of country. I should then pay to post. I haven’t anything about cost of return in warranty.

dudara

Are you trading as a registered business of some form?

Under Consumer Law, when an item is faulty, the seller is supposed to cover the cost of returning items for repair. However, I'm not sure yet if this applies to you because I'm not clear if you are selling as an individual or trading as a business.

nails1

dudara wrote: »

Are you trading as a registered business of some form?

Under Consumer Law, when an item is faulty, the seller is supposed to cover the cost of returning items for repair. However, I'm not sure yet if this applies to you because I'm not clear if you are selling as an individual or trading as a business.

I’m a sole trader

dudara

Also - warranty is a bit of a red herring. If you are selling items as a business, then consumer law applies which supersedes any restrictions that a warranty may seek to impose. Consumers have a right to redress which is loosely dependent on the expected lifetime of the product.

As you are trading as a business, I'm going to move this thread to Entrepreneurial & Business Management.

whiterebel

If a product is faulty and sold on a business basis, as yours seems to be, then I would expect the return costs to be paid by the supplier.