Oh and in case someone wants to take issue with โPayPal buyer protection doesnโt include items damaged in transitโ
PayPal provides no buyer protection in addition to what the buyer already has under Australian Consumer Protection Law. Instead PayPal buyer protection is nothing more than an advocacy service so that the buyer can access those rights without the need to take the seller to the small claims court.
Under the laws dealing with sales contracts, when it comes to specific goods, and 99.9 percent of goods sold on eBay are specific goods, those goods become the property of the buyer once paid for.
When it comes to specific goods which are to be delivered, though they are the property of the buyer once paid for, they remain at the sellers risk until the time they are handed over to carrier. That is if they are lost or damaged before they are handed over to the carrier the buyer has a right of recovery against the seller.
However when the item is handed over to the carrier they are deemed delivered and as such risk passes from the seller to the buyer. Why? Because from that point onwards the seller has no control as to what happens to them . This means once handed over to the carrier the buyer has no further right of recovery against the seller of loss or damage, unless the buyer proves that loss or damage was as a result of seller negligence.
Deemed delivery has exactly the same legal effect as if the seller had handed the item to the buyer, and therefore, if the item is damaged AFTER it has been handed over to the carrier, it is the same as if it had been damaged after the buyer had received it.
This is the reason why, whereas is some overseas agreements, items damaged in transit are specifically included in the definition of Item Significantly Not As Described, there is no mention of it in the Australian agreement.
