Trademe buy now, cheap items, in trade sellers, and consumer guarantees act

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timmmay

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#155948 14-Nov-2014 07:56

I had a situation recently where a small indoor/outdoor digital thermometer I purchased for $10 plus $5 postage started giving obviously incorrect readings four months after I bought it. I'd bought from an "in trade" seller on trademe, so I figured consumer guarantees applied, as trademe says here, they'd just replace it.

When I emailed the seller they said because it was four months old and cheap they wouldn't do anything about it. When I pointed out consumer guarantees act they said there was no time specified in the act and didn't appear to want to do anything about it. They eventually relented and offered a partial refund, which to me doesn't seem to meet their obligations under the consumer guarantees act. I still have a faulty thermometer.

Interested in what other people think, and if anyone knows what their obligations are. Is it acceptable for cheap goods to fail after 4 months, and what obligations does an in-trade seller on trademe have in that situation?

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#1175562 14-Nov-2014 07:56

Hmmmm. Here we go.

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Geektastic

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#1175586 14-Nov-2014 08:35

I'd say they have the same obligation as any bricks and mortar seller, which is what I understood the point of the recent law changes to be.

I would not expect Trade Me to assist in any way in getting the matter resolved though, based on their usual 'nothing to do with us, guv' attitude. They just want your money - not to actually deliver service.

saeran

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#1175626 14-Nov-2014 08:58

They have the same obligations under the CGA as any other retailer.

Saying that, getting them to actually do something is far more challenging.

lxsw20

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#1175639 14-Nov-2014 09:13

saeran: They have the same obligations under the CGA as any other retailer.

Saying that, getting them to actually do something is far more challenging.

Bingo, and at the end of the day is it really worth your time for $15?

timmmay

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#1175640 14-Nov-2014 09:16

Probably not, but I'm incredibly stubborn. In this case I'll almost certainly let it go, as I have my eye on a better solution anyway, but I tend to stand up for principles.

keewee01

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#1175653 14-Nov-2014 09:35

And this is where TradeMe as a company fail big time. They need to step up, act responsibly and be more proactive against sellers like this. They can't sit idlely by and keep allowing traders to do this whilst saying "Meh, not us", especially when the trader is listed as 'In Trade' - it just cheapens and makes a mockery of having the 'In Trade' tag.

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timmmay

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#1175656 14-Nov-2014 09:40

I have contacted trademe to get their opinion.

Kyanar

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#1175791 14-Nov-2014 13:10

Remember that according to the CGA, price is in fact one of the factors that contributes to whether something in fact lasts a reasonable time. If something is like five times cheaper than you'd normally pay for an item, the CGA would tend to be more on the side of a seller that says "well if you'd normally expect one to last five years, it's not unreasonable that this would only last one".

saeran

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#1175805 14-Nov-2014 13:32

This is one good thing about Ebay.

If you buy stuff, even if it's $1, if it doesn't show up or something's wrong you usually get a refund very quickly (within a couple days).

loceff13

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#1175806 14-Nov-2014 13:33

timmmay: I have contacted trademe to get their opinion.

This was going to be my suggestion, they are happy to go in on the buyers behalf and sort stuff out with a seller, a few months isn't a reasonable lifespan imo

NonprayingMantis

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#1175872 14-Nov-2014 14:51

Kyanar: Remember that according to the CGA, price is in fact one of the factors that contributes to whether something in fact lasts a reasonable time. If something is like five times cheaper than you'd normally pay for an item, the CGA would tend to be more on the side of a seller that says "well if you'd normally expect one to last five years, it's not unreasonable that this would only last one".

I wonder if you would use the price you pay, or the price set by the vendor?

Normally this wouldn't matter because they are the same thing, but if the seller sets a $1 reserve (i.e. he is prepared to sell for $1) ,but the price goes up to $300 through bidding, does that mean the expectation is that it would perform like a $300 item, or a $1 item?

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#1175919 14-Nov-2014 15:43

If you can try good

If not I wouldn't waste my time

cheap, Trademe = at your own risk :(

ckc

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#1175929 14-Nov-2014 16:05

This is why I'd rather buy my cheap Chinese crap direct from China.

Ali are much better if stuff doesn't turn up, it's much cheaper, it's generally there pretty quickly, considering, and the people selling it are usually polite and courteous if you have to talk to them (rarely).

I don't need TradeMe sellers adding their markup. There's one guy on TradeMe I go to regularly for genuine SanDisk SD cards, but he's the only one. Otherwise I'm not paying the extra so someone in NZ can tell me to piss off when it doesn't work. Or better still, just ignore my communication and have TradeMe do absolutely nothing.

surfisup1000

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#1175930 14-Nov-2014 16:06

timmmay: I had a situation recently where a small indoor/outdoor digital thermometer I purchased for $10 plus $5 postage started giving obviously incorrect readings four months after I bought it. I'd bought from an "in trade" seller on trademe, so I figured consumer guarantees applied, as trademe says here, they'd just replace it.

When I emailed the seller they said because it was four months old and cheap they wouldn't do anything about it. When I pointed out consumer guarantees act they said there was no time specified in the act and didn't appear to want to do anything about it. They eventually relented and offered a partial refund, which to me doesn't seem to meet their obligations under the consumer guarantees act. I still have a faulty thermometer.

Interested in what other people think, and if anyone knows what their obligations are. Is it acceptable for cheap goods to fail after 4 months, and what obligations does an in-trade seller on trademe have in that situation?

In theory CGA applies but for pragmatic reasons CGA does not apply for goods worth under $50.

You could try complaining to the Commerce commission but they will politely decline to do anything.

surfisup1000

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#1175931 14-Nov-2014 16:11

keewee01: And this is where TradeMe as a company fail big time. They need to step up, act responsibly and be more proactive against sellers like this. They can't sit idlely by and keep allowing traders to do this whilst saying "Meh, not us", especially when the trader is listed as 'In Trade' - it just cheapens and makes a mockery of having the 'In Trade' tag.

You're welcome to an opinion but that opinion has no legal backup.

This is an issue between a buyer and seller, not the agent .

Perhaps trademe should be a bit more proactive but how far do they go?

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