What are your consumer rights when buying a second hand washing machine – or any other appliance – from a private seller or a local trader?
Buying a second hand washing machine privately (from a non trader) carries a risk. There is relatively little consumer protection. The washing machine must match their description of it though. So for example if they said it had a 1400 spin, or a 6Kg drum, but it turned out to have only a 1200 spin or a 5Kg drum they have misled you. You then have the right to reject it or claim compensation (e.g. a reduction in price).
It must also be in “good working order”. It does not have to be in perfect condition because it’s second hand. It has to work as anyone would expect it to. Maybe if it’s a bit noisy you might have to accept that it’s a used appliance. If on the other hand they described it as nearly new, or you paid a lot for it, you should expect it to be in better condition.
Second hand washing machine breaks down soon after buying
Unless you can prove the seller must have known about a fault then it’s one of those things if it breaks down soon after buying. There’s no guarantee with a second hand appliance from a private sale.
So watch out for traders posing as private sellers to avoid having to give a guarantee. This is illegal. Tell tale tips on how to find them and a full description of buyers rights can be found in the “related links” below.
Stay calm if it doesn’t work or seems to have a fault
Don’t immediately assume you’ve been done if a washing machine fails to work properly. Start from the point of assuming it’s unlikely anyone would advertise a washing machine that just did not work.
It’s possible for a fault to be introduced through transit, or through problems caused by the installation at your home. Before demanding your money back you need to carefully check all the points in this article Getting faulty washing machine exchanged: Is the washing machine actually faulty? Also check out this article – 5 things to check for after repairing or installing a washing machine.
Related link: How to transport a washing machine properly
If you buy an appliance from a genuine private seller and it breaks down they might only be responsible if you could show that the fault was obviously present when sold. Everything depends on what has gone wrong, how soon after you bought it, and what it cost. A private seller is not expected to be an expert. Nor are they expected to carry out repairs to make it in great condition before selling. They are really only obliged to point out any issues they are aware of and to describe it accurately.
If it worked perfectly okay for two weeks and then broke down it might be argued that they could not have known this was going to happen. So it’s bad luck unless it could be shown that the fault must have been displaying symptoms before they sold it.
Should you have noticed the fault?
If a fault could, and probably should have been seen by reasonable inspection before purchasing, or straight after taking possession of it, you may not have any rights.
For example, if you found it was extremely noisy on spin but still accepted the machine. Then two weeks later the bearings collapsed. In such a case you should have rejected the machine straight away. Another example may be if when you opened the door you could see that the door seal was all sticky and worn. It then subsequently started to leak. Again one might argue you should have realised it was worn and rejected it or negotiated a lower price.
Bought a second hand washing machine from a trader? What are your rights?
We have a lot of the same rights when buying a second-hand washing machine as we do when we buy a new appliance from a trader. This is why some traders used to pretend to be private sellers. This practice is now illegal. Although you have the same rights, you still have to take into account the fact it is not new.
Expectations should be reduced accordingly. If the washing machine is faulty right away, or very soon after buying, the trader needs to put it right. If the price paid was very low, it wouldn’t be reasonable to expect it to last for years. For example, if you only paid £50 how long would you really expect it to last?
An appliance might be guaranteed for a short amount of time. But even it it fails outside that time (as with guarantees on brand new appliances) you may still have rights. These rights depend on how much you paid for it, how it’s been used, and how long it has lasted. For example if you paid £150 for a washing machine with a 3 month guarantee and a few weeks over 3 months it suffered a very expensive breakdown or was even not worth repairing you should seek consumer advice.
Related link: Citizens Advice faulty goods – your rights
If the appliance was sold as refurbished or reconditioned
If the appliance was refurbished or reconditioned this implies that it should be in better condition than one sold simply as “used” or “second hand”. Such an appliance should have been thoroughly checked. All worn or faulty parts should have been replaced and properly tested. It would be fair then to expect it to last longer than one that has just been sold as in working order. However, it is still not brand new.
So expectations need to be reasonable. Again, how much it cost and how many times it’s been used need to be taken into account. It should last a “reasonable” time. Sadly, the term reasonable is open to argument. You may need to seek consumer advice if you have a dispute.
What if seller is a trader posing as a private seller?
If the seller is a trader but advertising as a private seller they are breaking the law. Anyone posing as a private seller can be prosecuted by trading standards under the Business Advertisements (Disclosure) Order 1977. If this is the case you should contact trading standards, who may very well already know about them. People blatantly flouting consumer law will often get reported many times. Trading Standards could be slowly building a case against them.
If the seller still refuses to repair or look at the machine after you’ve pointed out they may be breaking the law you may need to get an independent engineer to repair it. Then take the seller to the small claims court to recover costs. However, this is a little risky with people blatantly flouting the law. They may well be equally contemptuous of the small claims court. With relatively small amounts it may be difficult to get them to comply. It may make more sense to reject the machine and try to get your money back. You would be wise to seek professional advice from Trading Standards.
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Should I expect a second hand dryer to last more than 2 months? I paid £60. From a trader posing as a private seller on gumtree. He’s basically told me, no garuntee offered so get on with it… Thanks
Hello Christina. As my article states, a trader posing as a private seller is breaking the law and can be reported to trading standards. If it is definitely a trader then he has to give you certain rights under the sale of goods act.
However, how long a large domestic appliance should last when sold for £60 is not so easy to define. I would think it fair to say that should last longer than 2 months. If bought from a trader you should expect that it has been checked over, and any obvious faults repaired. Trouble is there are always faults that can strike from nowhere and even if a competent engineer has given it a full inspection it is possible for a fault to suddenly appear from nowhere.
If the dryer had been bought from a private seller I would say that it is just bad luck. If the dryer had worked okay for 2 months, with seemingly no fault looming and then it suddenly broke down no one could have been expected to predict that. That is part of the gamble we take when buying anything second-hand. Although the same can be said when buying from a trader the sale of goods act enforces certain rights so that the trader, who is making a profit from the sale has to take some of the risk. They might argue that £60 is just not enough to pay for carrying out repairs to the dryer and delivering it and guaranteeing it. I would agree 100%. However I would say that £60 is a totally unviable price. Any trader selling appliances at such low prices needs to accept the risk of having to replace or repair them if they fail after a short time or re-evaluate the whole idea of selling them at such cheap prices.
Hi I bought a reconditioned washing machine on 3rd Feb for £130 from a white goods shop however it has broke and sounds like the pump or motherboard is broke. I have had it six weeks. They are coming out Friday but say I am being charged a call out fee. Should I be paying anything as I have only had it 6 weeks. Expected it to last longer than this.
Hello Gillian. If the fault turns out to be something blocked in the pump that shouldn’t be there, for example coins, then they would be within their rights to charge. But if it has developed a fault, bearing in mind it cost £130, then it should last much longer than six weeks so I would expect it to be covered under their guarantee. I presume you had a guarantee with the machine at that price?
If by any chance there is no guarantee with the washing machine, or it has already run out then that’s quite remarkable with them charging so much. However, there is no obligation in law to provide a guarantee. Most people do because most customers would be highly unlikely to buy a product that doesn’t have a guarantee (unless they are buying second-hand from a non-trader) only to comply with consumer law. My article explains the extent to which consumer law extends to second-hand appliances sold by traders.
Hey just wondering if u knew where I stood on this. I sold a washing machine for my dad nearly a month ago and today the girl messaged me saying its not working. She said she was moving in the weekend they brought it but apparently its been stored all this time and she only moved in tuesday and plumed it in on sunday and the water won’t drain and few other issues and messaged me on Monday demanding her money back as she has to dispose of it and get a new one. It was working before it left. I would never sell a faulty product. She refuses to state where it was stored or what the issues are. I sold it for £30 she didn’t even look at the washing machine just picked it up and left. I stated it was a few years old and in used working order and been cleaned. Can you help please.
Hello Maci. Sorry for delayed reply. From what you say she is not entitled to money back. If it won’t drain after plumbing in it could well be a fault on the plumbing as described here Washing machine won’t drain after being moved. To be honest it sounds like she may be trying it on. You can’t just buy something and then a month later say you’ve thrown it away because it didn’t work and want your money back. That’s ridiculous.
I sold a 2nd hand washer drier….which person happily took a few hours later she messaged me saying the rubber seal was damaged.. .offered to refund £15 which she accepted….now messaging saying the filter is broken…where do i stand….i delivered the machine and her friend happily took it from me
Hello Carol. This is starting to sound like a common problem. It’s hard to know whether these are genuine issues or people trying to scam or take the Micky. Obviously I don’t know the circumstances of how she accepted the appliance but theoretically she should have had a chance to give it a good look over before accepting it. I would have thought the first thing someone would do when checking out a washing machine would be to open the door, spin the drum, and have a look at the door seal. However you wouldn’t expect her to notice something like a tear in the door seal if it wasn’t obvious.
If the door seal was in poor condition then fair enough although she ought to have noticed that if it was obvious. I would also expected that if the filter was broken before you would know about it. If you are convinced that it wasn’t broken I would refuse to pay any more out. There’s clearly a chance they broken it themselves. As my article explains second-hand appliance is not expected to be in perfect condition. It should be in a reasonable condition for its age and it should be exactly as described by the seller. At the end of the day it sounds like a tricky situation and you have to make a judgement call.
I just bought a high end LG front load washer and dryer on Wednesday from a private owner from Market Place on FB. Upon further inspection today which is Saturday, the washing machine once we installed it and were cleaning it we noticed that there is a lot of mold on the rubber seal. I mean ALOT! Which I have now read is a very common problem. I paid a very fair price for these appliances. I am highly allergic to mold. Do I have any recourse such as returning the appliances and getting my money back? Is there any type of law for selling appliances with mold? I am worried now that the entire machine is full of mold.
Hello Deb. It’s difficult because I can’t actually see the mould. But I would say if you can clearly see the mould just by opening the door and having a cursory look at the door seal then it is something that should have been spotted before buying. Unfortunately, when buying something second hand the onus is on us to inspect it reasonably carefully. The only real rights we have when buying second hand is that it should be as described by the seller. It should also be in reasonable working order and condition for the price being asked. If you suspect that the seller is selling a lot of things and is actually a business posing as a seller than that is a very different matter. That is against the law.
If something is wrong that can be seen by a short inspection it is difficult to complain about. As I say in my article above, things that are clearly visibly wrong should make us either reject the product or negotiate a lower price. Conversely, if a fault can only be seen by quite a rigorous inspection and is not so obvious it might be argued that the seller would not be expected to have been aware of it either.
Having said that, if you paid quite a lot for it you might be able to negotiate a price drop or refund. If the door seal is badly impregnated with mould then it will need replacing. It is virtually impossible to remove mould if it is quite bad.
I have a few articles related to mould in washing machines that you should also read although they are about the actual issue and not consumer related –
washing machine smells, grease and black mould
What causes black mould on washing machines?