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Having read every post in the MSE thread, my own feelings are that neither the seller nor the buyer were/are being entirely honest.

Those who know about caravans would not be surprised that the van was damp - indeed, speaking for myself, I'd be less surprised to arrive home and find the Pope's helicopter parked in my garden, and His Holiness sitting waiting for me in my living room, that I would be to find out that a UK van of that age *wasn't* rotten! - but that's me, and we shouldn't forget that there are thousands of people out there who have no knowledge of caravans, nor of the dismal way in which they have been constructed.

The buyer might, or might not, have been one of those un-knowledgeable persons.

What is clear is that the seller let the van go for about 40% of the price he might reasonably have hoped to obtain for it - why?

Because he knew it was damp?, who can say?. 

Further, the caravan was rejected by the initial auction winner - ostensibly because of 'minor niggles' - but isn't it also entirely possible that the first purchaser turned up,  realised that the van was rotten, and walked away?

If so, it is inconceivable that he didn't inform the seller *why* he wasn't buying it, and the seller would then have passed it on to the second buyer in the full knowledge (if he didn't know already) that the caravan was damp.

Much has been made of the purchaser's 'scrap' valuation of £600 - yet the final selling price of £850 is in line with that figure - and does confirm that the caravan was worth only about that sum, and not the £1250 that he paid for it after receiving assurances from the seller that it was not, to his knowledge, damp.

Yes, the purchaser has raised £250 more than the £600 valuation - but that is hardly a major profit, and certainly doesn't indicate that the caravan was in the condition suggested by the original seller.

It's hard not to come to the conclusion that, in this particular case, the seller got the buyer that he deserved.

But there was nothing to stop the buyer walking away if, when he got to the storage site, the van was not what he expected.  He didn't, he took the van then stropped off later.

The buyer then went on to advertise the van as having "signs of slight damp" or similar wording, this doesn't imply the damp is so bad that the van is worth nothing other than scrap value.

Who knows, all seems a bit of a pickle to me.

Ali

Quote: Originally posted by snowy747 on 26/5/2009

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But there was nothing to stop the buyer walking away if, when he got to the storage site, the van was not what he expected.  He didn't, he took the van then stropped off later.

The buyer then went on to advertise the van as having "signs of slight damp" or similar wording, this doesn't imply the damp is so bad that the van is worth nothing other than scrap value.

Who knows, all seems a bit of a pickle to me.

Ali

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True enough - although the purchaser *might* have been one of the people who have no idea about caravan damp, and might have assumed that all caravans smelled like that

That's why I think that *both* parties have been a bit less than honest in this case - which gives us all a timely reminder to be totally accurate with descriptions when we sell something. 

FWIW, I've blocked the purchaser from any of my own auctions    I've got perfect Ebay feedback, and I'd like it to stay that way!

I have to say I did not read through  all pages of the thread but it seems to me that the  easiest way out of such a dilemma is to offer to take the item back and refund. He would have saved himself a lot of hassle! Unfortunately he spent the money!

Am I dreaming but was there not a thread on here not so long ago about a similar situation but from the byers viewpoint!

David

a very one sided thread witch gives a inaccurate picture of the whole story ,maybe the Buyer would have liked to give his side so a balanaced view could have been obtained.
Almost bought a van of E Bay myself it was advertised very misleadingly fortunatly we went to view it riddled with damp down one complete side ,the vendor went on to sell it for £1000 ,wasted one day and nearly 200 miles to view it .

Moral of the tale never buy with out viewing and if selling be honest.

Dave

Quote: Originally posted by Kabbes on 26/5/2009I would say the seller's goose was cooked simply because he did not take enough trouble to describe the caravan correctly.

Having read it all, to me it seems that the big problem is that the buyer came back to complain having had the oportunity to walk away.  A little like buying a car and complaining that the cam belt snapped after 250 miles, which just aint on after you have bought it!!