hi everyone after seeing [in pics] a coupe on here i liked i decided to offer the owner unnamed for now a deposit £50 to then view/collect if ok the following monday..after a couple of days[3] i had a cambelt snap on my work car[self employed] so had to pull out of the deal and asked for my deposit to be returned.HE has declined saying normal to keep deposit..however i feel as it was only advertised here and only 2-3 days have passed and neither of us had stated "non refundable" a bit angry as to what you guys think of a fellow members sense of decency.. i would return the money no questions..what would you do knowing these facts?
have p'ms as proof and contemplating taking advice monday,for now i will protect the sellers integrity by not naming and shaming,hoping he will see sense and not take advantage of a negative situation.
thanks in advance mitchell

I take a deposit as a bond to hold the item for sale, thus effectively removing it from the market. It covers the seller for any loss of sale or advertising for the time off the market.

I wouldnt return it either if I'm honest. What's the point in a deposit otherwise?

Bang on the nail. Like it or not a deposit is non returnable in my book.

Sorry, as gj88 has said, its to hold the car for you until your in a position to buy it.

How would you feel if you placed the deposit and he then sold the car to some one else and just said you can have the money back?
Im afraid it doesn't work like that. A deposit is to secure the car and remove it from sale. If you fail to finish the transaction its not the sellers fault.

Im sorry to here about your predicament however

seems you have missed the point guys...it was only on here for sale so therefore no advertising fees as yet and we never agreed non refundable i have had bad luck so cant now proceed and the whole ordeal has been 72hrs or so since i dropped £50 into his paypal late weds night.. no doubt the car will sell and i was seemingly the first to bite..
tell me how is he out of pocket this far?
if it was advertised on auto trader and withdrawn from sale i could understand......am i wrong?

Yes. a Deposit is non-refundable. You've lost it. It's down to the seller's goodwill.

He may not have lost money on advert fees but he may well have lost out on selling the car to someone who could have completed as he was holding it for you.

I agree. It quite fustrating when you sell something.. some one pay a deposit and then for what ever reasons has a change of circumstance. He might not of lost on advertsing fees but might of had another buyer.

All though it is fustrating that you cant get your money back.. but under no circumstances i would give a refund.

hi sorry to hear its gone wrong and you have had a run of bad luck but being in the motor trade i can give a realistic take on this as it happens a lot..if you have agreed terms ,paid a deposit and the seller removes from sale. its up to the good will of the person who has taken the deposit as to whether he wants to return or part return..the law is not clear cut on this but generally the seller can keep it if he feels you have put him out if only in time and messing after all you entered into an agreement which you have broken..whether the reason is good, bad,happy or sad..you have still broken that verbal agreement..i personally give them back as it is bad for business not to..as for looking into things like that its just not cost effective..itll cost you more for an initial consultation and about the same amount to mess about with small claims which is a mighty pain and time consuming..just chalk it up to experience mate things like this happen to us all at one time or another..but also be safe in the knowledge that if he has been a ... the universe or karma or whatever you like has its way of repaying your tricks one way or another so he will get his and it will all balance out in the end...sorry theres not much satisfaction in that butyou'll live eh?

Sorry - have to agree with all other comments - he could potentially have sold it to someone else. If not to hold the car for you, what else is a deposit for?

agreed. deposit = intention to buy, to be deducted from final price on completion after removal of item from open sale. end of, for me

While I agree that if you pay a deposit you must expect that it won't be returned if you don't go through with the transaction, I do agree with the original poster that the person who has taken the deposit should consider returning it, even if by rights they don't have to.

For example, if someone paid me a deposit via Paypal for a car I was selling, then rang up two hours later to say things had changed and they couldn't got ahead with it then providing I hadn't turned down other buyers in the mean time I'd pay it back. No harm done so why keep the deposit?

Now obviously in this case we don't know what situation the buyer is in so it's impossible to comment (indeed they might have turned away potential buyers in which case they should keep it), but I certainly think the seller should consider returning the deposit if no harm has been done to them.

Gareth

I think the seller should donate the £50 deposit to the AGM beer fund!!

My understanding is that a deposit is non-refundable. As already mentioned, whats the point of a deposit if you return it if a buyer backs out?

A few months back I put a £300 deposit down on a 20VT and had to back out of the sale due to a change in job security. I had written off the money in my mind as it was a deposit. Fortunately the seller was very generous and offered it back. Nothing said he had to do this or was legally bound to do so. For messing the chap around (I felt so bad), I gave him £50 for his troubles. In the end of the day, it depends who you are dealing with - but ultimately you aren't entitled to your money back.

You were securing the deal with the deposit.
you pulled out so non-returable imagine you were the seller you would do the same. The seller is right to keep the money. At the end of the day mate its only £50.

To be brutally honest here, I think that you have missed the point. It doesn't matter if you think no fees have occurred or not. The fact is, as pointed out before, the seller has been told by you that you intend to buy. £50 buys his hold until you do the deal or not. OK you've had some unforeseen circumstances, but that's not the sellers fault is it?

It's not the fault of the seller that the cambelt on your other car went was it?

What's the score with your 'work car'? You'll get a used engine from a breaker or repair it? It failed when you were nailing it just travelling along gently?

What sort of recompense would you have expected if the vendor taken the deposit and then sold it to another who arrived there and then with the asking price in cash?

Hello everyone,
I took a deposit on Tuesday/Wednesday for my lovely car that is up for sale and locked my advert and now the buyer has pulled out today and is requesting the deposit back. Well I say requesting he has told me if I don't give it him back he will contact the Citizens Advice and will bad mouth me on here! For what I don't know as after all I thought if you paid a deposit for something then it was non-refundable as you were entering into an agreement to purchase the item.

The way I look at it if I had paid a deposit for something and walked away then I would lose the deposit, especially if the seller had removed the item from sale for me.

So what do you all think?? Please give me your opinions asap.

Thanks

A buyer leaves a deposit to secure the car for themselves until they come and collect and pay in full. This deposit acts as security to the buyer, allowing them to remove the car from sale and hold it for them until all funds are paid.

It also acts as assurance for the seller, with them knowing that the buyer has made a decision to buy and therefore, the car can be safely removed from the market, if all falls through, they can keep the deposit.

I can't think of any alternative reasons why someone would bother to leave a deposit apart from the above?

If the buyer pulls out, the deposit is kept by the seller. It's quite simple.

the guy that left it has already started a thread although i think you will find nearly everyone said you were right to keep it..so do not worry at all

As said by KTM this event is already being discussed on this forum...it's pretty clear that the weight of opinion is that you, as the seller, have the right the keep the deposit and that if you chose to give it back then it would be an act of goodwill on your part rather than something you have to do.

Don't worry about it

Gareth

All goodwill went out the window when I was threatened with Legal Action!

Jase, as stated, just forget about it and take it to PM with the supposed purchaser.

PS - I win the bet, it seems that I have sold mine first

Thanks

Totally agree with patch.

It is a sign of commitment from the buyer, otherwise his loss for messing you around, simple.

Deposits are none returnable unless otherwise stated, you're going to have to live with it I'm afraid. Lucky it was £50, thats a pretty low deposit when you expect someone to hold a car for you.

G

There is no issue, stick to your guns, you took it off the market in good faith, the deposit secured that, he pulled out, deposits are only returned at sellers discretion, there is no case to answer. I've given deposits back before, but only under extreme circumstances. All I can say is next time, make sure you state that ANY deposit is NON RETURNABLE, could save this happening again.

G

as everyone else, deposit is non refundable.
Sorry mate.

The seller may not be out of pocket through advertising fees but may be out of pocket in many other ways e.g.
has lost out on a buyer, has put a deposit on a car that the sale of his was funding etc etc

And to be honest if your talking about legal action for £50 thats pretty poor

Your money now mate.
That's what a deposit is.....against purchase.
Dude,you could have sold it to someone else and that is why they pay the deposit.....to stop you doing so.
Have fun with the money....it is all yours now.
Must be fair ,patch is spot on
If it is the way you say it is, can't see you getting any grief from this forum.....speaking as a mod on another forum that is
Paul

before i get anymore slack i believe in this instance i had agreed a price in principle without being able to view until following monday that was wednesday30th june.for the record [paulh] all i have said was that i was going to see c.a.b to see where i stood[legally] as in time passed and having watched the forums doubtful people were queing up to buy it from thursday- early saturday afternoon when i notified the seller.within 1hr the moderater had reinstated the ad and no monies were lost in advertising..
seeing as i really wanted the car but have a genuine reason to pull out of the viewing and am a fellow forum member would have thought a certain compassion would have compelled the seller to return it, there was no contract no clauses just an intention [good] from me to secure a car subject to a viewing / test drive etc.
imo all he has lost is 3 days advertising on a forum and gained £50 at my expense..if roles were reversed personally i would return it as i believe its not right to kick someone when theyre down.i thought we were all about helping one another on forums not pulling the ladders up... maybe my expectations of other forum users is too high.£50 to me isnt a small amount either but its easy for others to dismiss it as its not there money is it? well maybe one day those who cant see this the way i do will if they are ever in the unfortunate position and hoping for a bit more compassion.....