Buying goods privately.

26 April 2010

You’re pretty hot at nabbing a bargain from a garage sale. But do you know what your rights are when you buy from a private person instead of from a trader?

Private sales include buying at a garage sale, from a neighbour, from an ad in the paper and also online auctions if the seller is not a professional trader. Private sales are not covered by the Consumer Guarantees Act or the Fair Trading Act.

Without these, there is often little you can do if your new purchase isn’t as good as you expected. So it is important to check out what you are buying.

Inspect goods carefully before you buy them. Find out if mechanical or electrical items work, and get them checked out by an expert if you can. For a car, get an independent pre-purchase check by a mechanic.

Check if there is money owing on big items. If the item has money owing on it by previous owners it may be repossessed from you by a finance company. Search on the Personal Property and Securities Register by number plate (for vehicles) or by the seller’s name at .

If the item has a manufacturer’s warranty on it, it may still apply after the sale so make sure you get that off the seller.

Ask questions, and get a written copy of the answers. Email may be a good way to do this. Get a receipt from the seller saying when you bought it and the name and address of the seller. Write down anything that the seller has told you about the item. This information is useful if anything goes wrong.

Under the Contractual Remedies Act, you may be able to ask for compensation or cancel the contract if you were persuaded to buy the goods based on a misrepresentation by the seller. You can make a claim at the Disputes Tribunal.

Visit the Disputes Tribunal website for more information and to download a claim form.