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I purchased something from an online-only seller located in France (paid in euro). The product was shipped to me in the US.

It had some problems, and the seller admitted it was defective. Do the EU consumer protection laws regarding e.g. the two-year guarantee apply?

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2 Answers 2

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Yes

If the seller is located in the EU, EU law applies.

Note that online marketplaces hosted in the EU may direct you to vendors outside the EU. If so, that will be disclosed and EU law does not apply.

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In principle, EU law applies to sellers in the EU. However, you need to check what the law actually says. First, it applies to sellers, not manufacturers. And it may be a requirement that you return the broken goods to a branch of the seller inside the EU, so they may not be required to do anything about a product somewhere in Los Angeles for example.

On the positive side, your statutory rights apply if the goods don't work for a "reasonable time" (which may or may not be two years), but your rights run out several years later. So if you have evidence from the US that the item was broken after 18 months, and you travel to the EU one year later, they'd have to fix it. Because it was broken within two years.

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    "you need to check what the law actually says" Well, hence my post here lol. The seller is online only, so even if I lived in the EU there's no "branch" to return to. Does that change your answer? There would be little point in returning them, it wouldn't make sense to repair. Commented Jul 21, 2022 at 13:57
  • you'd actually need to declare the problem as it broke, then the fix might be delayed, but still be on the bill of seller.
    – Trish
    Commented Jul 21, 2022 at 13:58
  • @Trish I'm not sure what you mean. Commented Jul 21, 2022 at 14:44
  • @AzorAhai-him- Gnasher missed a point: If you don't tell the seller that your item broke when it broke, warranty lapses still
    – Trish
    Commented Jul 21, 2022 at 14:56

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