Some products offer a Limited Lifetime Warranty, that is if it is still owned by the original owner or purchaser (as it may be gifted originally) the product remains covered for “Lifetime” but if resold or is later passed onto someone else this express warranty clause is rendered void. This is an express/extended Warranty ie offered to either enhance or add extra protection to your normal ACL rights and they cannot remove your ACL rights.
Private purchase & buying at auction ACL protection is limited to giving you clear title protection under ACL. That means if you go to a person’s house and buy their juicer, the ACL says you should have clear title, that is no one else has a right to recover/own that product. If the seller fails to ensure that, they have breached the ACL and you can seek compensation/refund if the goods are subsequently recovered by the person/business that has the title (right to own) that good or those goods. No other guarantees of the ACL cover your contract of sale between you and the seller. So things like fit for purpose, etc do not exist in that sale.
Of course if the “private” seller operates as a business then ACL does cover you. Auctions are a bit different as they only act as an agent to enable a transaction to occur between you and another party.
If it is a safety issue that becomes apparent then I would think anyone who now owns it would be entitled to recompense or replacement.
But to Ebay specifically, they have contractual obligations built into the terms we agree to on using them that protect for a number of ways both buyers and sellers.
For sellers
"eBay protects you from many events outside your control and is here for you when things don’t go as planned.
This policy outlines the protections eBay gives you if:
An item arrives late that you sent on time
There are carrier disruptions, bugs or severe weather
A returned item has been opened, used or damaged
A buyer retracts their bid or doesn't pay
A buyer changes their order or requests something extra
A buyer has an unusual rate of complaints or returns
Your seller performance standards are impacted
You send the item within your handling time to an international buyer
You have eBay Money Back Guarantee requests"
For buyers:
"Most eBay sales go smoothly, but if there’s a problem with a purchase, the eBay Money Back Guarantee assists buyers to receive the item they ordered or get their money back.
Buyers can use eBay Money Back Guarantee when:
They don't receive an item
They receive an item that does not significantly match the listing
Most sellers work with buyers to quickly resolve issues, but if a solution isn’t reached, buyers can seek assistance via eBay Money Back Guarantee."
and if you pay or sell using Paypal they also provide protections:
Buyer
"S9.1 The PayPal Buyer Protection Policy applies to payments made using our Services.
S9.2 If you are an eligible buyer, the PayPal Buyer Protection Policy can help you recover payments made in respect of certain items purchased where items are:
Not received; or
Significantly not as described. (my highlighting not Paypals)
S9.3 If your purchase meets the requirements for the PayPal Buyer Protection Policy, we will attempt to recover your payment from the seller.
S9.4 If you have received any cash back, rebate, credit or other promotional incentive from us or any third party for a purchase eligible for the PayPal Buyer Protection Policy, you may only recover the amount of your payments less the value of the cash back, rebate, credit or other promotional incentive.
S9.5 Where we are unable to recover the whole or part of your payment from the seller we may, in our absolute and sole discretion, decide to make a payment as a gesture of goodwill.
S9.6 You have no automatic entitlement to receive any payments under the PayPal Buyer Protection Policy.
S9.7 The PayPal Buyer Protection Policy does not indemnify you for loss which may be incurred and it is not a contract of insurance.
S9.8 If we determine a claim in your favour we will reimburse you the full purchase price of the item and original postage costs only. We will not reimburse you for the postage costs you incur to return an item to the seller or another party we reasonably specify.
S9.9 If the seller presents Proof of Shipment to your address, we may find in their favour even if you did not receive the item."
Sellers rights are also in the same section of Paypal’s rules but are harder to copy to here so I have instead left a link to the entire section and you need to look for Shecule 1 in that document https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full#int_Schedule_1
Gumtree offer no protection to either buyers or sellers
“Gumtree is a local classifieds website and ads aren’t reviewed before they go live on the site. Gumtree doesn’t offer any sort of buyer protection / payment programs. Any emails you receive that talk about such systems are scams, even if they may have the Gumtree logo. If you receive any emails promoting these services, please report it to us. If ever in doubt simply contact us and we’ll be happy to help.”
So my answers (and may be argued or corrected by others) to @bbuxton’s questions in order of their post are:
No the original ones don’t (except perhaps in the case of a safety recall)
Yes it applies only for a Business not a one off private sale (though again a Safety recall may be covered with the manufacturer/importer)
If buying off a retailer you are covered by ACL as they are a business.
If a private seller then on Ebay you may be covered by Ebay warranties/rules and if on Gumtree no you wouldn’t except for Clear Title (and again perhaps Safety recalls by the Manufacturer/importer).
