Are my goods covered by consumer guarantees?

Which goods are covered?

As a consumer, you automatically receive certain guarantees when you buy, hire or lease goods and services.

You are covered by the law if the goods you purchase cost less than $40 000.

If the goods cost more than $40 000 but are normally used for personal, domestic or household purposes (such as landscape design), the guarantees will still apply.

Vehicles and trailers are also covered, irrespective of cost, provided they are used mainly to transport goods.

This means the consumer guarantees can apply to purchases that a business might make, for example an office chair or photocopier.

Hiring and leasing goods

The consumer guarantees apply to goods hired or leased in the same way they apply to goods purchased.

Therefore when you have a problem with a good that has been hired or leased you should go back to the business you hired or leased the goods from and get them to fix the problem. The obligations of the business are the same as the obligations of any business you purchased goods from and they failed.

For example: you lease a vehicle and it breaks down after 3 days. You should go back to the business you leased the vehicle from and ask them to fix the problem.

What goods are not covered?

You will not be covered by consumer guarantees for goods:

• bought before 1 January 2011. Purchases made before this time may be covered by the laws that applied before 1 January 2011.
• bought from one-off sales by private sellers, such as garage sales and fêtes
• bought at auctions, where the auctioneer acts as agent for the owner
  
• costing more than $40,000 that a person would normally buy for business use - for example, machinery and farming equipment
  
• you buy to on-sell or re-supply
  
• you want to use, as part of a business, to:
  
• manufacture or produce something else - for example, as an ingredient
  
• repair or otherwise use on other goods or fixtures on land.

What about gifts, sale items, used goods, auctions, and goods bought online?

Gifts

If you receive the goods as a gift, you have the same rights as the person who purchased them.

Sale items

The consumer guarantees apply whether you paid full price or bought goods on sale.

Used or second-hand goods

The consumer guarantees apply whether the goods are new, 'seconds' or second-hand.

Depending on factors like price and age, it may not be reasonable to expect a second-hand product to last as long or perform to the same standard as a new one. For example, a second-hand vacuum cleaner is not expected to last as long as a new one.

Goods bought at traditional auctions (where the auctioneer acts as an agent for the seller)

Only the consumer guarantees relating to title, undisturbed possession and undisclosed securities and charges apply. For more information about these guarantees, see Which consumer guarantees apply to goods?

Online auctions

If you buy goods from an online auction site, the seller (even a private individual) may need to abide by the consumer guarantees as these websites do not generally act as an agent for the person selling the goods.

If you take up an option to buy at an online auction site at a fixed price, you are covered by the same consumer guarantees that apply to non-auction sales.

Goods bought online or overseas

If you buy from an Australian-based online seller, you are covered by the consumer guarantees. If you buy from an overseas online seller, you may not be covered by the guarantees. There may also be practical difficulties in obtaining a remedy from an overseas-based seller.