@vintage_1971 wrote:

What has happened to buyer protection on here. I purchased a trail camera that I switched on once since purchasing and now its not operating after only two months of ownership. It seems like there is no support or consumer protection for faulty goods. I have messaged the seller a few times and they asked for video and photos to be sent to their email. As the camera isn't working I don't see how that will achieve anything. They claim there is no warranty, but the papers with the camera say 12 months. Is this platform easy for scammers to rip off buyers? I noticed the seller also had negative feedback for a similar issue! How do I report this to ebay as there is no resolution centre anymore.

You're partly right (about the comment in red).

Ebay covers the buyer for items that arrive faulty. In actual fact, they give you 30 days from the estimated delivery date in which to open a claim, so if you bought a camera or any other item that broke down within that month, you would be best to claim the item was received faulty. Not as described. Keeps it simple and clear cut that way and you'd be likely to win your claim.

I don't see that as cheating. In any reasonable scenario, a camera should work beyond one use, so your camera was faulty.

Your problem came about as you didn't give it a reasonable work out within that month.

What you're now looking at is a warranty and ebay does not cover warranties or guarantee that any warranties mentioned in ads are valid.

It's best to treat any warranty claims in ebay ads as rubbish, unless they are mentioned in the ad of a company licensed to sell the product or they are a big Aussie company with real stores. But really, in that case, their prices are not going to be better on ebay. You might even do better if you just pop into a store in person. That's where the green comment comes in as many buyers believe the warranty stuff they read in ads, so to that extent, it is easy for sellers to fool them.

There are plenty of things you should avoid buying on ebay. Electronics, cameras, expensive watches, any good brand item that is suspiciously cheap yet touted as brand new etc

I have a friend who bought a camera on ebay (years ago). It was from a big company but her camera, like yours, broke down after the second or third use. She contacted the seller and to give them their due, they honoured the warranty but here's the catch. They made her post it overseas at her own expense.

This was in the days before paypal etc.

No one needs the hassle of warranties where you have to post (freely or not) overseas.

Use ebay but just not for purchases where an Australian warranty is important.

If you paid via paypal, you may be able to open a claim on the basis the camera didn't work the second time you used it. It may get rejected but worth a try.

eBay is fine for purchasing, mind you, as long as the buyer chooses carefully and avoids the more obvious bad sellers… and also entertains a careful wariness when the price is a lot lower than RRP and there are other red flags.

Also… I scrupulously examine and test items where appropriate, well within that one month period. 

The seller, ebay, and no one here has any idea what has happened to the camera in the 2 months you have owned it.  It may or may not be a warranty issue , if covered by the manufacturer.

Ebay has always been a case of "buyer" beware". Ebay will only assist you within their given time limits. You have 30 days after receipt to open a dispute. After that, the seller has no further obligation. Messaging the seller now is pointless and a waste of everybody's time.

If you want a proper warranty, buy from Australian sellers who can genuinely offer one, not a random third party seller on Ebay. This applies whether you buy from a guy just offloading some unwanted items, or a business who happens to have a stock of cameras. Since neither of these sellers are authorised distributors, they cannot offer an actual warranty as manufacturers will not assist with items purchased outside of their supply chains. The paperwork inside is therefore meaningless.

I don't know where your seller was REGISTERED, but can you imagine trying to get a "warranty" from a Chinese seller? It's never going to happen.

They claim there is no warranty - simply because they are probably not an authorised seller of this item.

Think you've done your dough.

You are mistaking the MBG for a warranty. eBay’s Money Back Guarantee is not a product warranty, so a failure two months later is not covered. If you want a warranty, buy from an Australian seller authorised to sell the particular item.

If you read the Help page on the MBG, you’d be aware of the timeframe. To be able to request a refund for INAD / SNAD, you must open a case no later than 30 days from the actual delivery date. (It’s 30 days from EDD - latest estimated delivery date - for INR … Item Not Received.) These timeframes are enforced to the millisecond.

Many listings on eBay will include mention of warranty, especially those put up by Chinese sellers. (You can see that they are registered in China by clicking onto their feedback profile page.) That reassuring text is nothing but persiflage and twaddle. These sellers feel quite safe in saying the item has a warranty; they know it is neither covered by Australian Consumer Law nor enforceable by Australian consumer or law bodies.

They also know that by the time most buyers will even know there’s a problem, it’s too late for a claim under eBay’s MBG.

This sort of item is exactly what you should not buy on eBay - unless the seller is, for instance, a well-known trail camera specialist, or Super Cheap Auto or David Jones or JB HiFi or … you get the idea. These sellers would be among the many who are authorised to sell genuine trail cameras. You know in that case that the specific item is not a grey import (hence potentially no enforceable warranty), and not an unbranded item (hence not only no enforceable warranty but also almost certainly not meeting product specification standards and being manufactured of the lowest quality dirt cheap raw components that are not fit for purpose and are almost guaranteed to fail within a few months).

The unbranded items may sometimes be sold under brand names, as they’re available for companies to select from a Chinese warehouse catalogue where the would-be seller chooses what items they want to sell under their own brand name (without having any input into specs, components, quality control, Australian standards, etc), and the factory just slaps on labels of the would-be seller’s name.

At any rate… your only hope for remedy lies either under PayPal’s Buyer Protection (if you bought that way) or in your credit/debit card protection (if your bank covers you for chargebacks for more than two months - which is possible; some cover up to 6 months). Check your card issuer’s T&Cs.

You would in the above instances be covered if the item ARRIVED not as described. If it doesn’t have the capacity or quality that was claimed, you should be able to be refunded.

Don’t try chargeback before trying PayPal. If you do, and the chargeback fails, you cannot subsequently open a PayPal request. You can, however, try a chargeback if a PayPal claim fails.

You should note that PayPal is rumoured not to be available for eBay purchases at some point. If that goes ahead, there’s no protection longer than one month from date of delivery - except for chargeback.

Best of luck, and please come post here again with updates about how it goes. The posters here value follow-up information to verify that the advice offered is still valid.

Buyers have all the rights. See if you can open a dispute for item not as described. It may or may not work because the item was working when you received it. It can't hurt to try, providing it's been less than 30 days since the last ETA of the item.

As for warranties, they are nothing on ebay. It is near impossible to claim a warranty on ebay, because despite seller's saying they offer one, it's bull dust. Lip service at best. Something they can string out long enough where you can't make a claim.

Let me guess, Chinese seller? They might say they are in Sydney, but are they? Check their feedback page to see where they are registered. If it says China, just go for a credit card chargeback if that's how you paid, and it's too long for an ebay dispute.

Edited for typos.

No, eBay is all about the buyer

BUT

Unless you bought the camera from an authourised seller or re-seller, there is no warranty

You did not buy the camera new from whatever store it came from, that is who the 'papers the camera came with' are for. The person who actually originally bought it. Not however many owners down the line you may be 

IF it was an authorised seller, and they won't help, contact the company directly

eBay has never honoured warranties nor offered 'buyer protection' for something you used for 2 months 

Obviously not the answer you want, but if after being here for nine years you still don't know the basics, there is not much other members can say that is going to please you