[FAQ]

Hello,
Looking for a bit of advice on a Marketplace sale that’s gone sour. I sold a coffee table yesterday, local pickup. The buyer had a good look at it, said it was great, paid me in cash, and took it.

Now, a day later, he’s messaging me saying one of the legs is wobbly and is demanding a full refund, even getting a bit aggressive about it. I’m certain it was fine when it left my house. As far as I’m concerned, a local cash sale is ‘as is, where is’. Am I obligated to do anything here? It feels completely unfair. What do other sellers do in this situation? Cheers.

[Jeff Bullas]

Dealing with buyer’s remorse is an unfortunate but common part of selling second-hand goods.

Your Position: For an in-person, cash sale where the buyer inspected the item, you are under no obligation to provide a refund. Your best option is to politely state your position once and then cease communication.

Your best defence in these situations is the quality of the original text and image content you created for the listing.

You should send one final, polite message stating that the item was sold ‘as is’ and was accepted by them at the time of purchase, making the sale final. Do not get drawn into an argument; if they become abusive, report their messages and then block them. For future sales, be deliberate with your content formats. Your text content in the description should always include a phrase like ‘Sold as is, final sale’. Your image content should be comprehensive, with many clear photos from all angles, and even a short video demonstrating the item’s condition. This collection of text, image, and video content becomes your proof that you accurately represented the item.

Cheers,

Jeff

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