Do I have any recourse.
I bought an item off a forum's classified section and after a week it stopped working. I've contacted the seller and he's given me the sold as seen / no returns response.
Is there anything I can do?
buy another one? Unless the seller has warranty left and is willing to help you out then nothing at all.
Similar thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago. The guy was a total **** about it. Have you tried the Citizens Advice Bureau?
Was it faulty when you bought it - he has to refund or if it failed after you bought it then its your tough luck
What was it you actually purchased / was it sold as new with a guarantee?
It's second hand, and probably cost significantly less than new as a result. Part of the reason for that is that there is no warranty to pay for out of the asking price. Caveat emptor surely? (Sorry)
Similar thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago. The guy was a total **** about it.
All it has to do is work when it arrives. What do some people expect?
If I sold something in good faith that was working and it broke a week or two after and the purchaser asked for their money back I'd say, sorry sold as seen. If you want a warranty buy new.
As tj says - if it's a [i]genuinely[/i] private sale of s/h goods you've no redress unless you were given a specific guarantee and unless the failure was reasonably foreseeable in the short timescale I don't think you've much to feel aggrieved about. If it's someone trading while trying to appear like a private seller you may have a case but good luck pursuing it!
2nd hand is cheap because the item is used, there is no warranty.
If you wanted a warranty would you not have bought new and paid a lot more ?
From the seller's point of view, he sold a working item and does not know what you have done with it in the last week - have you abused it/broken it yourself/has it worn out ?
The contract was completed when the seller got your working money and you got the working whateveritis.
It is tough on you, of course, you'd hoped to buy something at a fair discount on the new price and get a good life out of it, but this time that didn't work out.
This is pretty much why second hand stuff is cheaper. Some you win, some you lose. Sucks when you lose, but that's the risk you take.
I flogged a heap of my dad's model railway stuff on eBay.
One locomotive worked, tested, so sold as in good working order. Guy buys it for not much, then shouts about it being sluggish, motor rubbish, wants a full refund etc. TBH I couldn't be bothered with the hassle and faff of getting it back, return postage so refunded him about 1/2 purchase price. Out of dozens of items, that was the only one I had issue with. Would I have been so accommodating if it was a classified advert? not sure.
If it truly stopped working, and was fine when you bought it, I'm not really sure what you expect. depends on costs and so on too.