Depreciation pursuant to Section 357 of the German Civil Code (right of withdrawal) and Section 439 of the German Civil Code (liability for material defects) | Seller Lounge

gruetzi87 · 2026-02-24T04:44:13.509000Z

The following case took place:Sale of a Seagate Expansion Desktop Drive External 3 TB hard drive SRD00F2 New & OVP (item number 205211825521) from business to private. The buyer accidentally ordered a desktop hard drive instead of a notebook hard drive.I accepted the return in accordance with my 30-day return policy.The returned hard drive has been opened and is no longer new, which significantly reduces the resale value.According to § 357 BGB (right of withdrawal) and § 439 BGB (liability for defects), I can claim compensation for loss in value for opened, used goods.As the seller, I opened a case with eBay within the 48-hour deadline after receiving it back. Feedback from eBay customer service according to the message: "We have refunded your buyer the purchase price as a goodwill payment from eBay . This means that the full purchase amount is available to you again. This case has no effect whatsoever on the calculation of your service status. Goodwill decisions made by eBay are generally not counted against the seller."Contrary to this statement, eBay customer service apparently treated this case as a buyer protection case; in the end, I as the seller was charged the full purchase price including eBay fees. To my knowledge, this action contradicts the legal framework. Even an objection to the decision brought no change.

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