Online Shopping and Private Sellers: Your Rights

🌏 Buying from an overseas business

Sites like large global marketplaces and direct-from-overseas retailers can be cheap and convenient, but New Zealand consumer law is very hard to enforce against a seller that has no presence here. You are not without options, they are just different ones.

GST is collected at the border, usually at checkout

Since 1 December 2019, overseas businesses that sell low value goods to New Zealand shoppers generally have to register for and charge GST. A low value good is a physical item valued at NZ$1,000 or less (excluding GST). In practice this means:

• Goods NZ$1,000 or less: the overseas seller or marketplace usually adds 15% GST at checkout, so there is nothing extra to pay when it arrives.
• Goods over NZ$1,000: New Zealand Customs collects GST, and any duty, at the border, plus an import entry transaction fee and a biosecurity levy, before the goods are released.
• Watch combined orders: multiple parcels from the same supplier arriving the same day can be treated as one shipment and tip over the $1,000 line.

Returns and warranty are the seller's policy

With an overseas purchase, whatever the seller offers is what you get. Read the return window, who pays return shipping (often you, and it can cost more than the item), and any warranty terms before you buy. There is no CGA backstop if the policy is stingy.

Your real protections: the platform and your card

• The marketplace's buyer protection: big platforms run their own dispute and money-back schemes. Open a case within their time limit and keep all messages on the platform.
• A card chargeback: if you paid by credit or Visa or Mastercard debit and the item never arrives or is badly not as described, your bank can reverse the charge. This is often your strongest tool against an overseas seller. Section 3 explains how.

🤝 Private sellers, safe buying and chargebacks

Buying from a private seller

When you buy from an individual selling their own used gear on an online marketplace, the Consumer Guarantees Act and the Fair Trading Act do not apply. This is closer to buyer beware, but you are not completely unprotected.

• The goods must match the description. Under the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017, a private seller must have the right to sell the item, and it must match the description or any sample given.
• Misrepresentation is actionable. If the seller made a false or misleading statement that persuaded you to buy, you may be able to cancel the sale or claim compensation.
• Sellers can exclude those terms. A private seller is allowed to state that the Contract and Commercial Law Act does not apply, for example "sold as is, no returns", which narrows your rights further, so read the listing carefully.

Safe-buying steps that keep you protected

• Check the seller: look at feedback, ratings, how long they have been a member, and whether the story of the item makes sense.
• Use traceable payment: pay by card or through the platform. Paying with a marketplace's own payment system means the platform holds the money and the seller never sees your card or bank details.
• Never bank transfer to a stranger: once money leaves your account by direct bank transfer it is gone, and there is no chargeback. It is the payment method that appears in most marketplace scams, and the one platforms are steadily moving away from.
• Keep it on the platform: a seller pushing you to finish the deal off-site, by bank transfer or a "cheaper direct price", is a classic warning sign.

Marketplace buyer protection

Where a marketplace runs its own payment system, it usually comes with a buyer protection scheme that can cover you if your item does not arrive, is not as described, or arrives broken. Each platform sets its own cover limit and conditions, so check what yours actually offers before you rely on it. That protection is one of the main reasons to pay through the platform rather than off to the side, and it generally applies whether the seller is a business or a private individual.

Delivery and payment scams to watch for

• Fake courier or customs texts: a message claiming a small fee is needed to release your parcel, linking to a fake payment page. Real couriers do not collect random fees by text link.
• Overpayment tricks: a "buyer" sends too much and asks you to refund the difference, then the original payment reverses.
• Too good to be true: a brand new item far below market price, a seller in a hurry, or a request to pay quickly to "hold" it.
• Off-platform pressure: being moved to email, text or a bank transfer removes every protection the platform gives you.

How a card chargeback works

A chargeback is your bank reversing a card payment under Visa or Mastercard rules. It is separate from your CGA rights and is especially useful for overseas sellers and businesses that vanish.

1. Grounds: goods not delivered, goods significantly not as described, an unauthorised charge, or a merchant that closed down.
2. Act fast: you generally have up to 120 days from the transaction, but many banks apply a shorter window of around 60 days, so raise it as soon as you can.
3. How: contact your bank, say you want to raise a "chargeback" (not just report a problem), and give the date, amount, a description, and proof you tried to sort it with the seller.
4. Limits: you cannot chargeback simply because you changed your mind or found it cheaper elsewhere.

🔢 Worked Examples

These four New Zealand examples show how the same kind of problem plays out very differently depending on who you bought from. The people are made up; the rules and figures are real and hand-checked.

Related guides and tools

• Consumer Guarantees Guide - your full CGA and Fair Trading Act rights with NZ businesses
• Chargebacks Guide - how to reverse a bad card payment step by step
• Avoiding Scams Guide - spotting online buying and selling scams
• Recovering Money After a Scam Guide - what to do once money has gone
• GST Calculator - work out the 15% GST added to an overseas order

Sources: verified July 2026 against Consumer Protection, MBIE (consumerprotection.govt.nz) for private sales, online shopping rights and the Consumer Guarantees and Fair Trading Acts; Consumer NZ (consumer.org.nz) for chargebacks; Inland Revenue and New Zealand Customs (ird.govt.nz, customs.govt.nz) for GST on low value imported goods from 1 December 2019; the Disputes Tribunal (disputestribunal.govt.nz) for the $60,000 limit and filing fees; and the Citizens Advice Bureau (cab.org.nz). This is general information, not personalised legal or financial advice.