I’m not really sure where I stand on this, pretty annoyed to be honest.

I have a bike for sale (elsewhere) which I sold last week, or so I thought. It was a fair advert & an accurate description of the overall condition. Ultimately it was a used bike so had some scuffs & scrapes, but that’s all.

The price was fair, and I had someone interested who pushed me hard to place a deposit on the bike to take it off sale, to which I agreed. Now nearly a week later, he has decided the bike isn’t in good enough condition, and expects something ‘as new’. Thus he would like to back out of the sale.

Now he wants his deposit back. To which in my mind he isn’t due. I took the bike off sale, and the other people I had (3 very interested people) have rightly so, gone cold and moved on.

Am I being harsh not to refund? To my mind the whole point of a deposit is an intention to buy. Otherwise what’s the point. We’re not talking a huge amount of money here, £75 on a £2k sale.

Opinions?

Deposit – gone.

Simple as that. Of course if it were your fault he’s not getting it then that’s your responsibilty. However he’s pulled the plug so it’s his fault.

Basically he’s found another bike.

Spend the £75 with impunity.

deposit is yours.

Yep, deposit is now yours IMO. I had it happen on a motorbike sale, I had to readvertise at cost after turning people away.

Did you give him some paperwork stating that it was a non refundable deposit? It amazes me that he even asked for his deposit back when he backed out of the deal. I assume he had seen the bike when he placed the deposit.

If you give him his deposit back there was no point taking it in the first place unless you mis-described the bike.

Depends on the condition, how you described it. I’ve bought stuff off of here described as mint/hardly used and its obvious the forks have needed an immediate full service but probably helitaped to death.

The item was as described in my first post, with freshly serviced forks and shock (with receipts). What I would consider to be normal used condition. It’s not had a hard life at all, as I look after my bikes, but equally it’s not been ridden once a month along a canal towpath.

I don’t think i’m being unreasonable, otherwise what is the point of a deposit…

if you feel like you need to refund him, tell him you’ll do it when the bike sells for the original price.

Wheres the ad?

You’re not being unreasonable but if it was me I would refund as Jambo suggested and move on, lifes to short and all that.

No it wasn’t me that paid the deposit 😆

I suspect that he’s been looking at a few bikes, and put a deposit on yours in case the other one fell through. A safety net.

Realistically he put you at a disadvantage, so that he didn’t miss out on a deal.

Now, ideally you should have ensured that it was a “non refundable deposit”, and possibly issued a receipt to confirm that.

However out of bloody mindedness, I’d still hold firm. It’s not like you’re going to lose out on future sales with him! What’s the worst that could happen?

I’d explain the situation to him; that you effectively ended the sale of the bike as a result of his interest & deposit. In doing this you have lost other potential buyers.
Seems like he wants to have his cake and eat it. What was the point of the deposit, if it was refundable should he change his mind.

Depending on his attitude I’d tell him that he could have it back once/if the bike sells for the price he was going to pay before he pulled out of the deal, or if he wasn’t being very reasonable just tell him to get bent.

Just to be clear, does he have the bike and you have all the money, or do you have the bike and just his deposit?

Either way you have the upper hand.