Marketplace seller vanished with your money: who is responsible?

You paid through an online marketplace — eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Catch, a local classifieds platform — and the seller has gone dark. No replies, no tracking, no goods. Or the goods arrived and were nothing like the listing, and the seller has since vanished.

Two things decide what you can do: whether anything was actually delivered, and whether you can identify who the seller is. Work through them in that order.

Quick answer

Your primary claim is against the seller, not the platform — unless the platform supplied the goods itself, made its own representations, or holds your money under its own buyer-protection promise.

If nothing arrived, this is not a faulty-goods case. You cannot reject goods you never received. Your claim is simply that you paid and were not supplied.

If the seller was a genuine private individual, most consumer guarantees do not apply — but the guarantees of title, undisturbed possession and freedom from undisclosed securities are not limited to business sellers, and a private sale is still a contract. A claim to recover the payment may be available outside the ACL.

Whatever the legal position, act on the payment first. How you paid decides what can be recovered. Payment and marketplace remedies can carry strict and sometimes short deadlines, so contact the relevant provider immediately and get the applicable deadline in writing.

What the law actually says

You receive the consumer guarantees when you acquire goods as a consumer under section 3 of the ACL: broadly, where the price was $100,000 or less, or the goods were of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use, or the goods were a vehicle or trailer acquired mainly to carry goods on public roads. Those limbs are alternatives — any one is enough. Section 3 also excludes goods acquired to re-supply, or to use up or transform in production, manufacturing or repair.

The seller never supplied the goods

This is the common case, and it is not a major-failure case. Every goods guarantee assumes goods were supplied, and the rejection machinery in sections 262 and 263 assumes they are in your hands. Your claim is for the price back.

Where the seller acted in trade or commerce, section 36 requires it to supply everything you paid for within the period it (or someone on its behalf) specified when it took your money, or if none was specified, within a reasonable time. It is also a contravention to accept payment intending not to supply. Section 36 does not apply if the failure was caused by something beyond the seller's control and it took reasonable precautions, or if it offered replacement goods you agreed to.

Section 36 is a prohibition and does not create an automatic refund. Where its requirements are established, section 236 may support a damages claim for loss caused by the contravention, and section 237 may permit compensatory orders in proceedings within its scope; both carry a six-year limit. A section 236 claim means proving the contravention, your loss, and that the loss was because of the contravention — so a contractual or restitutionary claim for the payment may be the more direct route. Naming section 36 in a demand is still worth doing, but do not expect a regulator to recover the money.

The goods arrived but were faulty or not as described

Here the guarantees do apply: acceptable quality under section 54, fitness for a disclosed purpose under section 55, and correspondence with description under section 56. Each applies where a business supplies in trade or commerce and the supply is not by way of sale by auction — an auction run by an agent of the seller. An ordinary marketplace listing is not usually that, but an auctioneer acting for a seller can be. Sections 51 to 53 carry no auction exclusion.

Under section 260, a goods failure may be major where a reasonable consumer fully aware of the failure would not have acquired the goods; where they depart in one or more significant respects from their description, or from a sample or demonstration model; where they are substantially unfit for a purpose goods of the same kind are commonly supplied for and cannot easily and within a reasonable time be remedied; where they are unfit for a particular purpose you disclosed and cannot easily and within a reasonable time be remedied; or where they are not of acceptable quality because they are unsafe. See what major failure means.

Where the failure is major, or cannot be remedied at all, and the right to reject survives, section 259(3) lets you reject and elect a refund or a replacement of the same type and similar value if reasonably available — or keep the goods and claim the reduction in value. Section 259(4) allows damages for other reasonably foreseeable loss in addition, major or not.

For a non-major failure that can be remedied, the supplier gets the first opportunity and under section 261 chooses between repair, replacement or refund. If it is non-major but cannot be remedied, you do not have to give that opportunity.

Under section 64, a term is void to the extent it purports to exclude, restrict or modify these guarantees. "No returns" in a listing does not remove them.

Private sellers

Most consumer guarantees apply only to businesses. But title (section 51), undisturbed possession (section 52) and freedom from undisclosed securities (section 53) are drafted without the "in trade or commerce" condition the others carry, so they can reach a private sale — which matters for a second-hand car, bike or phone that turns out to be stolen or still under finance.

Be careful about enforcement. Sections 51 to 53 can apply to a private supply, but the ordinary supplier remedies in section 259 apply where the consumer acquired the goods in trade or commerce. A buyer in a genuine private sale may therefore need to rely on other contractual, sale-of-goods, restitutionary or property remedies under the applicable state or territory law. The available remedy and the right forum depend on the circumstances and the jurisdiction.

And a private sale is still a contract. If you paid a private seller and nothing was supplied, you may still have a contractual or restitutionary claim to recover the payment even though the ACL consumer-guarantee remedies are largely unavailable. Whether that claim is properly characterised as debt, damages, restitution or something else depends on the contract and the applicable state or territory law. What you lose without the ACL is the consumer-guarantee machinery, not necessarily the money.

Misleading or deceptive conduct under section 18 also requires trade or commerce. Where it applies, your recovery is again through section 236 or section 237, not section 18 itself.

When is the platform responsible?

A platform does not become the supplier of the goods merely because it hosts the listing or facilitates payment. But separate contractual, payment-service, consumer-protection or financial-services obligations may arise from the role it actually performs. Identify what it actually did:

• Did it supply the goods itself? Some marketplaces sell directly alongside third-party sellers. If so, the guarantees run against it.
• Did it make its own representation? A "verified seller" badge, quality claim or its own listing copy may engage section 18 or section 29. Section 29 covers only the specific categories of false or misleading representation it lists, and both sections require conduct in trade or commerce; either way the analysis turns on the representation, its context, causation and loss.
• Did it promise buyer protection, or hold your money? That is a contractual promise on its exact terms, not an ACL guarantee. Read the terms as they stand.

Overseas sellers

The ACL may still apply to an overseas business supplying directly to an Australian consumer, but jurisdiction and enforcement are fact-specific and often impractical. An ABN, an Australian warehouse or AUD pricing are evidence, not a checklist. See buying from overseas sellers.

When this applies (and when it doesn't)

Likely to help where the seller was a business or sole trader acting in trade or commerce; you acquired the goods as a consumer on any one of the section 3 limbs; and the goods were never supplied, or arrived breaching a guarantee.

Less likely where the seller was a genuine one-off private seller (though the contract claim and sections 51 to 53 may still run); where an overseas seller has no meaningful Australian connection; or where you simply changed your mind.

What to do today

1. Capture the evidence before you do anything else. Preserve the listing and the seller profile before making further contact — listings, accounts and messages may later be edited, removed or become inaccessible. Screenshot or export the listing (photos, price, delivery promise, any badges), the listing URL, the seller's profile ID, username and any username history, your order confirmation or invoice and who issued it, the payment record and the account name the money went to, any phone number, email or delivery address, tracking, the platform's terms as they stand today, and the full message thread.

2. Contact whoever moved the money — today. What is available depends entirely on how you paid. Bank transfer, PayID or Osko: there is generally no card-scheme chargeback on a payment you authorised yourself. Contact your bank immediately and ask what recall, trace, scam-response or recovery steps may be available. Recovery is not guaranteed, and the prospects may diminish as the funds move through or leave the receiving account. Credit or debit card: ask your issuer whether a chargeback is available for goods not received or not as described. Payment platform: ask what its buyer protection covers. In every case ask for the applicable deadline in writing and lodge inside it — the rules vary by provider, scheme, transaction and reason code, so do not rely on any general time range.

A credit applied during a payment dispute may be provisional, and may be reversed if the dispute is unsuccessful. Ask the issuer when the outcome becomes final, and keep your other complaint deadlines under review until you have written confirmation. Some marketplace or payment-provider terms may restrict parallel claims, or treat a chargeback as affecting an existing buyer-protection process — check the applicable terms first, and ask the provider if the interaction is unclear.

3. Lodge a dispute through the platform. Most marketplaces have a buyer-protection or dispute process with time limits shorter than you would expect. Check its help pages immediately.

4. If faulty goods did arrive, reject them in writing now. Do not wait for the other processes. Communicate the decision clearly in writing and state the ground. A bare request for a refund may not make the rejection sufficiently clear, so use express wording — "I reject the goods under the ACL because...". Send it even though the seller is silent. The rejection period under section 262 runs from when the goods were supplied, for as long as it would be reasonable to expect that kind of failure to become apparent — weeks spent on a chargeback do not pause it.

5. Work out who the seller actually is. A demand letter and a tribunal claim both need a real person or company and an address, not a username. Check the order confirmation or invoice for a business name or ABN, look it up on ABN Lookup or the ASIC register, check whose account your money went to, and ask the platform through its formal process what it will release. A proceeding generally requires the respondent to be correctly identified and served. If ordinary service is not possible, the forum may have alternative-service procedures, but those need an application and supporting evidence — check its rules before paying a filing fee, and consider putting your effort into your bank and AFCA instead.

6. Send a written demand to a business seller. Identify the purchase, describe what happened, name the guarantee or section you rely on, and state the remedy and a deadline. You can generate a demand letter for free at fairgo.

7. Report a scam — and know what reporting does. If the seller never intended to deliver, contact your bank first, report the seller and listing to the platform, secure any compromised accounts, then report to Scamwatch (scamwatch.gov.au) and consider ReportCyber or police where money or identity details were taken. Reporting builds the regulators' picture; it does not recover your money.

What if the business refuses

• Your state or territory consumer body. It may provide information, assess the complaint or offer non-binding assistance, subject to its own criteria. It generally cannot compel participation or make binding orders. Full list at /agencies.

• A court, tribunal, ombudsman or specialist scheme with jurisdiction. Which forum depends on your state or territory, the dispute and the amount — a consumer tribunal may hear it, or a Magistrates Court may be the correct forum. Confirm jurisdiction, thresholds and fees on the official site before filing. See which tribunal handles your dispute.

• AFCA, if the problem is now with your bank or payment provider. If your bank, card issuer or another financial firm within AFCA's jurisdiction rejects your payment dispute or scam complaint, use that firm's internal dispute-resolution process first. If it stays unresolved you may be able to complain to AFCA, which is free to consumers and can make a determination binding on a member firm where you accept the outcome. Check whether the firm and the complaint type fall within AFCA's current jurisdiction. This may be an important route where the seller cannot be identified. See when AFCA is the right path.

• The ACCC investigates systemic conduct and does not resolve individual disputes. See when an ACCC complaint helps.

Common mistakes

Messaging the seller before capturing the listing. That message is often what triggers the deletion. Screenshot first.

Assuming the platform owes you a refund. Unless it supplied the goods, made its own representations, or holds your money under its own promise, your claim is against the seller.

Treating a chargeback credit as the end of it. It can be reversed, and by then the platform's deadline may have lapsed. Keep the other routes open until the reversal window closes.

Sending goods to an unverified address. Do not post defective goods to an address you cannot verify: the parcel may be lost, the seller may deny receipt, and you may lose both the evidence and the cost of postage. Confirm return arrangements in writing, use tracked delivery, and photograph the goods before sending. Rejected goods must ordinarily be returned to the supplier, but under section 263 the supplier must collect them at its own expense where return would cost you significantly because of the nature of the failure or the size, height or method of attachment of the goods.

Reading "not a consumer law claim" as "no claim". A private sale is still a contract, and the price is recoverable as a debt.

Accepting "no returns" as final. A listing term cannot override the guarantees — section 64 voids it to the extent it tries.

Waiting. Payment-recall windows run in days, platform deadlines in weeks, and the section 262 rejection period from the time of supply. Delay also makes it harder to show a failure existed at supply rather than afterwards.

Related reading

• Online order never arrived — your rights under the ACL
• Buying from overseas sellers including Amazon — does the ACL apply?
• When AFCA is the right path for a financial complaint
• Business refused your refund? Here's what to do next
• Online purchase rights under the ACL

This article is general information about Australian Consumer Law, not legal advice. It also describes marketplace dispute processes, payment and chargeback rules and scam-reporting pathways, whose scope, deadlines and processes sit outside the ACL and can change. Confirm the current position with the relevant marketplace, financial institution and government body before acting. For advice on your specific case, see your state's Fair Trading body — full list at /agencies.