Caveat emptor.

garinda · 06-01-2007, 17:28

Regarding the legality of things that are bought and sold, here, and in the press, and on sites like eBay, what protection does the purchaser have?

Couldn't someone just sell stolen goods unimpeded?

Neil · 06-01-2007, 17:46

I think you may have got the idea for this thread from a current xbox 360 sale, in which case he is selling stolen goods. Selling a games console with copied games is selling stolen goods, the copyright owner has not been paid for them.

garinda · 06-01-2007, 17:51

I'm not saying where my inspiration came from, but it did get me wondering.

Another thing that puzzles me is tax. If someone does a car boot sale, and sells off unwanted goods, I don't suppose tax is liable, but if someone does it week in week out, and is basically a market trader, do they pay tax?

Because the whole concept of retail is changing, with more sales made online than ever before, is the law regarding it changing as fast?

Neil · 06-01-2007, 18:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by garinda

Another thing that puzzles me is tax. If someone does a car boot sale, and sells off unwanted goods, I don't suppose tax is liable, but if someone does it week in week out, and is basically a market trader, do they pay tax?

that is the same as many of these ebay traders. They pretend to be selling there own stuff. I think car boot sellers are only supposed to sell there own second hand stuff because of trading laws.

entwisi · 06-01-2007, 19:33

HM R&C watch eBay now like hawks.

There have been cases of people receiving tax demands based on their eBay sales

accymel · 06-01-2007, 20:51

Heres me thinking it was something Roman

yup gone blonde again hehehe

WillowTheWhisp · 06-01-2007, 21:51

It's Latin Mel so you're not far wrong.

Stolen goods sold on eBay? Never!

I suppose if we see anything dodgy being offered on here we could/should report it to the moderators.

Yes, tax - if you sell on eBay as a business and make a profit then you are liable for tax and have to include your profit on your tax return. I've never done that because I've never managed to make a profit! I've only sold stuff I've already got but even with that I managed to end up paying more for the postage on some things than I anticipated so made an overall loss. I'm no competition for Del Boy.

Neil · 07-01-2007, 09:06

I bought some DVD's off there recently that were copies. It took more than 2 weeks from when I reported the seller to them being kicked off. I looked at the sellers history and that is pretty much all they had sold. I thought they were freebies of a magazine or something. I never thought pirate Teletubbie DVD's would be sold on ebay. They had a feedback of almost 400, at £3 a disc thats £1000 profit for illegal selling on ebay.

KIPAX · 07-01-2007, 09:41

I got a copied game off ebay for the kids.. I went mad as it was so obvious a copy.. I got a very quick instant no quibble full money back and they didnt have the cheek to ask for the goods back either..

However heres the problem (well not exactly a problem)

I did NOT leave them bad feedback and I suspect many other dont.. ebay feedback can work against itself when the buyer (like me) has a good feedback and wants to protect it.. I have 160 feedback and 100% never a bad word.... If I was to leave them bad feedback they would probably do it back to me.. so self protection i didnt.. and I know many others dont..

kinda defeats the feedback thing dunnit.

it was a present and i was told not copied...so I wasnt happy.... otherwise i dont have a problem with chipped. mods, cracked or copied stuff... i started out as a games programmer and I know thats life.. if people are up front about what they are selling then good luck to them.. they take there own chances... thats there life not mine

Neil · 07-01-2007, 10:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by KIPAX

I did NOT leave them bad feedback and I suspect many other dont.....

Nor did I. Most seller wait till the buyer has given feedback first, this sort of forces the buyer to give good. I think a few changes should be made to the feedback system, a couple of ideas are below.

Buyers should not be able to give feedback until the seller has.

Seller should have to give feedback on the buyer within a week of the auction ending or they should have some sort of non giving feedback black mark against them. After all once a seller has the money and sent the goods the buyer has usually kept his end of the deal.

If more than 3 separate buyer's from separate auctions report a seller of selling pirate/stolen/illegal goods within 3 months the seller should be suspended automatically while ebay investigate.

garinda · 07-01-2007, 12:16

I wonder how many of the 'unwanted gifts' on eBay are actually the result of shoplifting?

It used to be quite hard to get rid of stolen goods, now there seems to be lots of places where they can be shifted.

Do people care if they think they are getting a bargain?

***Mr D*** · 07-01-2007, 12:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by garinda

I wonder how many of the 'unwanted gifts' on eBay are actually the result of shoplifting?

It used to be quite hard to get rid of stolen goods, now there seems to be lots of places where they can be shifted.

Do people care if they think they are getting a bargain?

Probably a good few goods on Ebay are stolen, copied, fake items. its a risky place.

Alot of people wounldnt probably knowlingly buy stolen, fake, coopied goods, but also probably wouldnt ask the question.

But then you also have the stores like the one in town cash genaratiors (SP).

WillowTheWhisp · 08-01-2007, 00:00

I inadvertantly bought a copied DVD off eBay once - I complained and the guy sent me two more copies of the same DVD! Like, 'duh!' If I'm complaining about one fake I'm really going to be pacified with two more identical fakes?

So did I leave negative feedback? No, I didn't get chance. He'd been NARU'd! (That there is an eBay acronym meaning he was no longer a regitered user.)

The thing about feedback is that it's purely voluntary and eBay reckon the buyer should leave feedback first once they are happy, or fail to get satisfactory reponse to a complaint. If you get an unfair neg you can always reply with your version of the event but it still knocks points off your score.