Sold an item on ebay, now buyer says its damaged!

Question

I sold a leather sofa on ebay for £138.00. I told the buyers the sofa had some scratches, but nothing too scary. They came, looked it over - spent an hour loading it onto a trailer and paid cash. The next day i recieved an email saying it has a 1" rip in a place where it will get worse and want a partial refund. They are accusing me of selling the sofa and not advising them about the rip - they say they would not have bought it if they new it had rips. I live on my own with my young son and feel a bit threatend by there accusations. I do not know of any rip, and feel they had time to inspect it. I dont want them just turning up at my house demanding money. What to do?

Answer 1

They inspected it, and have no right to a refund as long as you allowed them full access to see all parts of the sofa, and did not hide anything (you didn't deliberately put a hand over a rip for example).

I'm guessing you are not aware of this rip?  It probably happened in loading/unloading...but they probably didn't notice causing the damage, so think it was always there.

Email them back stating firmly that you were not aware of the rip, but they had time for inspection, and took the sofa as seen with all faults.  The sale is therefore final and you will not refund.

They are probably just a bit disappointed to have damaged a new sofa (or to have a new sofa that's less perfect than they thought)....a firm email will hopefully put an end to the problem.

If they turn up, don't let them into the house.  Talk outside.  If they harass you, call the police.

Answer 2

Honestly, they looked it over and spent all that time loading it.  I would tell them that you honestly didn't know about any rip and that you have no way of knowing if it was damaged in transit - I can't imagine why it would take so long to put a sofa on a trailer!   Just tell them that you can't refund them any money because of not knowing when the damage happened.

And if they show up on your doorstep, call the police.

Good luck to you.

Answer 3

They inspected it and found nothing wrong with it, so it's they're own d**n fault isn't it. They're in the wrong and if they start harrassing you badly then call the police...