The Consumer Rights Act 2015 for eBay Sellers: Your Real Obligations

A buyer messages to say the item you sold is faulty. You have a returns policy that says 30 days, a supplier who says 14, and a vague memory that the law says something about six months. Which one wins? For a business seller on eBay in the UK the answer is none of them: a statute decides what the buyer is entitled to, and your listing text cannot make that entitlement smaller. That statute is the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

This guide walks through the parts of the Act that matter to someone selling goods on eBay UK: what the goods must be like, the 30-day right to reject, repair and replacement, the six-month presumption, delivery and risk, and the line between a business seller and a private one. It also covers the separate 14-day cancellation rules for distance sales, because buyers and sellers constantly confuse the two. Everything here was checked in October 2026 against the legislation itself, GOV.UK and eBay UK's own pages, which are listed at the end.

1. Who the Act applies to, and who counts as a business seller

The Act protects a consumer against a trader. Section 2 defines a trader as a person acting for purposes relating to their trade, business, craft or profession, including when they act through someone else in their name or on their behalf. A consumer is an individual acting for purposes wholly or mainly outside their own trade, business, craft or profession.

Two details in that section are easy to miss. First, the definition turns on the purpose of the activity, not on a stated number of sales or on whether you have a company. Second, if a trader claims the buyer was really acting for business purposes, section 2 puts the burden on the trader to prove it. A seller who says "you bought this for your business, so the Act does not apply" has to be able to show it.

What changes for a private seller

eBay UK's Safety Center explains the difference from the buyer's side. Items bought from a business seller must be of satisfactory quality, match their description and be fit for their purpose. Items from a private seller only need to match their description. eBay's page also says used goods are judged less strictly than new ones, but must still be described accurately. If you are a trader, none of the private-seller relaxations are available to you, whatever the listing says.

2. The three terms every goods sale includes

Sections 9 to 11 write three terms into every contract for goods between a trader and a consumer. You do not have to put them in your listing and you cannot take them out.

Satisfactory quality (section 9)

The goods must be of a quality a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory, taking into account any description, the price and all other relevant circumstances. The section lists aspects of quality that can matter: fitness for the purposes goods of that kind are usually supplied for, appearance and finish, freedom from minor defects, safety and durability. The standard moves with the price and the description. A discounted item sold with a disclosed blemish is judged against that disclosure.

The term does not cover a defect you specifically drew to the buyer's attention before the contract was made. It also does not cover a defect that an examination by the buyer before purchase should have revealed, where the buyer did examine the goods. Publicity matters too: what you or the manufacturer say about the goods in advertising or labelling can be taken into account, unless you show you were not aware of it and could not reasonably have been, that it had been publicly withdrawn or corrected before the sale, or that it could not have influenced the decision to buy.

Fit for a particular purpose (section 10)

If the buyer makes known, expressly or by implication, a particular purpose they want the goods for, the goods must be reasonably fit for that purpose, even if it is not a purpose such goods are usually used for. The exception is where the circumstances show the buyer did not rely, or it was unreasonable for them to rely, on your skill or judgment. In practice this arises in pre-sale messages: "will this shelf hold a 20 kilo television?" If you answer yes, you have set the standard the goods must meet. Answer only what you can verify.

As described (section 11)

Goods sold by description must match it. Section 11 goes further than most sellers expect: information the trader gives about the main characteristics of the goods is treated as a term of the contract, and a change to that information, whether made before the contract or later, is not effective unless you and the buyer expressly agreed it. Color, dimensions, material, quantity and what is included in the box are all characteristics a buyer will treat as central. This is the legal side of what eBay calls item not as described, and the buyer's view of that is covered in what "item not as described" really means to a buyer.

Worth remembering: the three terms are about the goods the buyer actually receives, measured against what you said and what a reasonable person would expect for the price. A tidy listing with accurate dimensions protects you more than any returns wording does.

3. The first 30 days: the short-term right to reject

When goods do not meet the terms in sections 9, 10 and 11 (or the sample, model and digital content provisions), the buyer's first remedy under section 22 is the short-term right to reject. Under section 20, the buyer exercises it by clearly telling you they are rejecting the goods and ending the contract. They do not have to use particular words or a form.

The time limit is 30 days. It starts on the day after ownership or possession has passed to the buyer, the goods have been delivered and, where installation was part of the contract, you have notified the buyer that the goods are ready to be installed. If the buyer asks for a repair or replacement during the period, the clock is paused while you deal with it. If a replacement also turns out to be faulty, the buyer gets a further window of 7 days after the waiting period ends, or the original period extended by the waiting time, whichever is later.

What you owe once the buyer rejects

Section 20 requires a refund without undue delay and in any event within 14 days of the day you agree the buyer is entitled to one. The refund goes back by the same payment method, and you cannot charge a fee for it. The reasonable costs of returning the goods fall on you, except where the buyer chooses to return the goods in person to the point of purchase. eBay UK's business seller policy page, checked in October 2026, is consistent: it says sellers must accept the return of faulty items within 30 days with a full refund, and lists charging buyers return shipping fees and keeping original shipping fees for returns among the things business sellers can't do.

4. After 30 days: repair, replacement, then price reduction or refund

Once the short-term right is gone, section 23 gives the buyer the right to require a repair or a replacement. You must do it within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the buyer, and you bear the cost. The GOV.UK policy paper on the Act makes the same point from the consumer's side: a buyer who finds a product faulty more than 30 days after purchase or delivery can still get a repair or replacement, provided the product was expected to last longer.

When the buyer can move on to a refund

Section 24 gives two further remedies. A price reduction is an appropriate amount off the price, up to the full price, with the excess refunded. The final right to reject means ending the contract and getting a refund. The buyer can use either once one repair or one replacement has failed to fix things, where repair and replacement are both impossible or disproportionate, or where you have not delivered the remedy within a reasonable time or without significant inconvenience. The buyer generally has to give you a reasonable chance to repair or replace first.

A refund under the final right to reject can have a deduction for the use the buyer has had. Section 24 says no deduction applies where the final right to reject is exercised within six months of delivery (or of the installation notification), unless the goods are a motor vehicle or another category the section specifies. After the first six months, a deduction for use can be made from a refund under the final right to reject.

5. The six-month presumption and who has to prove what

Section 19(14) and (15) decide who has to prove what. If goods do not conform at any time within six months beginning with the day they were delivered, they are to be taken as not having conformed on that day. In plain terms, a fault that shows up in the first six months is presumed to have been there on delivery. That presumption gives way in two situations: where it is established that the goods did conform on that day, or where applying it is incompatible with the nature of the goods or with how they fail to conform.

Note which remedies the presumption supports. Section 19 applies it to repair or replacement and to price reduction and the final right to reject, not to the 30-day short-term right to reject. Within that first 30 days, the buyer only has to show the goods do not conform to the contract.

The long stop: six years, or five in Scotland

GOV.UK states that customers have up to 6 years to make a claim for an item they have bought, and 5 years in Scotland. That does not mean every item must last six years. It is the time limit for bringing a claim, and a claim still needs a fault that breached the contract.

6. Why "no returns" and "sold as seen" do not work

Section 31 states that a term of a goods contract that excludes or restricts the trader's liability under sections 9 to 17, 28 and 29 is not binding on the consumer to that extent. It also catches terms that make the liability or remedy subject to onerous conditions, that put the buyer at a disadvantage for pursuing a remedy, or that change the evidence or procedure rules. A term that prevents a liability arising counts as excluding it.

GOV.UK is blunt on the practical point: signs saying you do not accept returns or refunds are illegal. eBay UK's Safety Center says statements suggesting buyers have fewer rights, such as "no refunds", are not acceptable.

7. Delivery, risk and the parcel that never arrives

Two sections of the Act are about getting the goods to the buyer, and they matter more to dropshippers than the quality terms do.

Section 28 requires you to deliver. Unless you and the buyer agree a time, delivery must be without undue delay and no later than 30 days after the day the contract is made. If you fail to deliver on time and the time was essential, or the buyer told you before the contract that delivery by the stated date was essential, the buyer can end the contract straight away. A refund is due without undue delay when the contract ends. GOV.UK's distance selling page repeats the 30-day default for deliveries.

Section 29 deals with risk. Goods stay at your risk until they come into the physical possession of the buyer or a person the buyer has identified to take them. The exception is where the buyer arranged a carrier you did not offer them a choice of, in which case risk passes to the buyer on delivery to that carrier. eBay UK's Safety Center sums up the consequence in its own words: business sellers are responsible for loss or damage in transit, so buyers should not have to pay for postal insurance.

If a supplier ships to your customer and the parcel is lost or arrives crushed, the legal relationship that matters is between you and the buyer. Your recourse to the supplier or courier is a separate contract and a separate conversation. The buyer's remedy against you does not wait for it. A first message for the damaged-parcel case is in an item arrives damaged: the right first message to send.

8. The other law: 14-day cancellation for distance sales

The Consumer Rights Act deals with goods that are wrong. The cancellation right for online purchases is a different law, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, referred to by eBay UK's selling policy page, and it applies even when nothing is wrong with the item. Both GOV.UK and eBay UK describe it this way.

GOV.UK's guidance on accepting returns says that for online, mail and phone orders customers can cancel within 14 days of receiving the item without giving a reason. They then have 14 days to send the item back, and you must refund within 14 days of getting it back. You must refund standard delivery costs, and you can deduct for use or damage only if the item has been used or damaged. Some goods only qualify for a refund if faulty, including personalized items, perishable goods, newspapers and magazines, unwrapped CDs, DVDs and software, and sealed items that cannot be returned for health or hygiene reasons.

GOV.UK's distance selling page adds a trap. You must give the customer information, including how and when they can cancel, in a form they can keep. If you do not tell them about the right, they can cancel at any time within 12 months, and if you tell them within those 12 months the 14 days start from the day you tell them. eBay UK's Safety Center describes the same 12-month consequence.

Who pays return postage on a change-of-mind return is not answered by GOV.UK's distance selling page. eBay UK's business seller policy lists charging buyers return shipping fees among the things business sellers can't do, while eBay's Safety Center buyer page still says sellers can set who pays return postage in their returns policy. Treat the stricter seller policy as the one to follow, and check it before you write your policy.

9. What eBay UK adds on top

eBay is not the law, but its rules apply to your account. Its business seller policy page, checked in October 2026, expects sellers to follow government requirements and regulations. It names informing buyers of the 14-day withdrawal right for items under the Consumer Contracts Regulations and accepting faulty items returned within 30 days for a full refund under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. In a separate list of things business sellers can't do, it names charging restocking fees, keeping the original shipping fees for returns, and charging buyers return shipping fees; the page does not say whether those apply to every kind of return. Sellers must also provide a returns policy that states how long buyers have to return items for a full refund.

A returns policy on eBay is a statement of what you offer beyond the legal minimum; it can be more generous than the Act but not less. The practical side is in how to handle returns and refunds when you dropship on eBay, the dropshipping rules are in the policy guide, and what Trading Standards will and will not do about an individual dispute is explained in what Trading Standards actually does.

10. Common mistakes

• Using the 14-day window as the faulty-goods window. The cancellation period and the 30-day right to reject are separate. A buyer past 14 days can still reject faulty goods.
• Asking the buyer to prove the fault in the first six months. The presumption puts the burden on you.
• Sending a replacement and treating the matter as closed. If the replacement fails, the buyer has further remedies, and under section 22 may get a further 7 days to reject.
• Ignoring the 12-month trap. Missing cancellation information can extend the cancellation period to 12 months.
• Treating the supplier's guarantee as the limit. It is not; statutory rights sit alongside it.
• Charging for return postage or a restocking fee. eBay UK's business seller policy lists both as things business sellers can't do.

Sources and how we checked

Facts in this guide were checked against these official pages in October 2026. Rules and figures change, so confirm anything that affects a decision. This is general information, not legal or tax advice.

• Consumer Rights Act 2015, Part 1, Chapter 2: goods contracts (legislation.gov.uk)
• Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 2: key definitions (legislation.gov.uk)
• Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 19: consumer's rights to enforce terms (legislation.gov.uk)
• Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 31: liability that cannot be excluded or restricted (legislation.gov.uk)
• Accepting returns and giving refunds: the law (GOV.UK)
• Online and distance selling for businesses (GOV.UK)
• Consumer Rights Act 2015 policy paper (GOV.UK)
• Your rights as a buyer (eBay UK Safety Center)
• Selling policies for business sellers (eBay UK)

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