Brokers etc

[Max Turbo]

Hello

I am curious as to the legality of something.

Say person A was selling something
Person B was in the market for this something
Company C acted as a broker of sorts (sorry if it isnt the correct term)

If A sells "something" to B, through the company C ie money goes through the company, who is liable if the product goes wrong?

I assume brokers have some sort of cover for this?

Also, does this vary with services offered? Insurance brokers do not offer the insurance themselves, but the money goes through them does it not? Or do they just charge the ins. co. a percentage?

Sorry for the question not being quite as well explained as I have it in my head

Welcome your thoughts!
M

[jamesw2000]

Do a google search for the law of agency.

It all depends on what type of agency agreement is agreed upon or ratified by the client and the broker. Can get pretty complicated...

What is the product? If company C manufactured it then they would liable for anything that went wrong with the product (product liability). If the broker misold it then they could be liable as well... However there are all kinds of different outcomes and scenarios based on the product, company person etc. involved. You'd need more detail for specific answer...

Not read this so unsure of the accuracy but it may be of some use http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agency_(law)

HTH

Edited by jamesw2000 on Friday 12th October 12:06

Edited by jamesw2000 on Friday 12th October 12:08

[Max Turbo]

jamesw2000 said:

Do a google search for the law of agency.

It all depends on what type of agency agreement is agreed upon or ratified by the client and the broker. Can get pretty complicated...

What is the product? If company C manufactured it then they would liable for anything that went wrong with the product (product liability). If the broker misold it then they could be liable as well... However there are all kinds of different outcomes and scenarios based on the product, company person etc. involved. You'd need more detail for specific answer...

Not read this so unsure of the accuracy but it may be of some use http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agency_(law)

HTH

Edited by jamesw2000 on Friday 12th October 12:06

Edited by jamesw2000 on Friday 12th October 12:08

Hi

Thank you for the info! Basically, the situation would be company C offering a matching service between A and B. A can provide what B is looking for. As it's a service, there is no need to worry about product liability.

Assuming the service is not missold, how can the company C protect itself from liability.

Sorry I am being coy with the information. If it wasn't obvious, I have a business idea that I believe is viable if I can secure this problem but do not wish to voice the plan in its entirety at this point.

Many thanks
Max

[Horse_Apple]

Max Turbo said:

jamesw2000 said:

Do a google search for the law of agency.

It all depends on what type of agency agreement is agreed upon or ratified by the client and the broker. Can get pretty complicated...

What is the product? If company C manufactured it then they would liable for anything that went wrong with the product (product liability). If the broker misold it then they could be liable as well... However there are all kinds of different outcomes and scenarios based on the product, company person etc. involved. You'd need more detail for specific answer...

Not read this so unsure of the accuracy but it may be of some use http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agency_(law)

HTH

Edited by jamesw2000 on Friday 12th October 12:06

Edited by jamesw2000 on Friday 12th October 12:08

Hi

Thank you for the info! Basically, the situation would be company C offering a matching service between A and B. A can provide what B is looking for. As it's a service, there is no need to worry about product liability.

Assuming the service is not missold, how can the company C protect itself from liability.

Sorry I am being coy with the information. If it wasn't obvious, I have a business idea that I believe is viable if I can secure this problem but do not wish to voice the plan in its entirety at this point.

Many thanks
Max

I suspect the answer lies very clearly in EBay's T&Cs.

[jamesw2000]

Max Turbo, feel free to PM me if you want some further advice and don't want to post the details on here.

[Deva Link]

Max Turbo said:

Hello

I am curious as to the legality of something.

Say person A was selling something
Person B was in the market for this something
Company C acted as a broker of sorts (sorry if it isnt the correct term)

If A sells "something" to B, through the company C ie money goes through the company, who is liable if the product goes wrong?

I assume brokers have some sort of cover for this?

Also, does this vary with services offered? Insurance brokers do not offer the insurance themselves, but the money goes through them does it not? Or do they just charge the ins. co. a percentage?

Sorry for the question not being quite as well explained as I have it in my head

Welcome your thoughts!
M

Some online sellers of (for example) computer equipment get out of their legal obligations like this. They act as an agent for the manufacturer, so all the support obligations fall on the manufacturer.

[JustinP1]

Max Turbo said:

jamesw2000 said:

Do a google search for the law of agency.

It all depends on what type of agency agreement is agreed upon or ratified by the client and the broker. Can get pretty complicated...

What is the product? If company C manufactured it then they would liable for anything that went wrong with the product (product liability). If the broker misold it then they could be liable as well... However there are all kinds of different outcomes and scenarios based on the product, company person etc. involved. You'd need more detail for specific answer...

Not read this so unsure of the accuracy but it may be of some use http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agency_(law)

HTH

Edited by jamesw2000 on Friday 12th October 12:06

Edited by jamesw2000 on Friday 12th October 12:08

Hi

Thank you for the info! Basically, the situation would be company C offering a matching service between A and B. A can provide what B is looking for. As it's a service, there is no need to worry about product liability.

Assuming the service is not missold, how can the company C protect itself from liability.

Sorry I am being coy with the information. If it wasn't obvious, I have a business idea that I believe is viable if I can secure this problem but do not wish to voice the plan in its entirety at this point.

Many thanks
Max

The answer to this depends COMPLETELY on the contract that the 'broker' has with both the service provider and buyer.

The quick answer is that unless the contract clearly stated otherwise, the 'broker' is liable as they are in effect providing the service and sub-contracting to someone else.

If the 'broker' is only being an intermediary, and is only paid as such and does not get involved in the deal between the buyer and seller, it may be different - ebay for example is an example of this.

Without knowing the exact scenario though, that is about as detailed as it can get!

[Max Turbo]

Horse_Apple said:

I suspect the answer lies very clearly in EBay's T&Cs.

I never mentioned anything about eBay?? I suppose it could be compared to eBay but rather than buying a product, you are buying a service.

The way in which eBay collect revenue is interesting. However, it isn't as suitable as acting as a 3rd party, in my case.

Many thanks
M

Edited by Max Turbo on Friday 12th October 20:01

[Max Turbo]

jamesw2000 said:

Max Turbo, feel free to PM me if you want some further advice and don't want to post the details on here.

YHM

[Horse_Apple]

Max Turbo said:

Horse_Apple said:

I suspect the answer lies very clearly in EBay's T&Cs.

I never mentioned anything about eBay?? I suppose it could be compared to eBay but rather than buying a product, you are buying a service.

The way in which eBay collect revenue is interesting. However, it isn't as suitable as acting as a 3rd party, in my case.

Many thanks
M

Edited by Max Turbo on Friday 12th October 20:01

Never said you did.

I'm saying that if you want to know how to act as a broker with no/little legal responsibility then the answer lies in their legal docs which you can just download from their site.

As one of the world's largest non financial brokers you can rest assured that they have spent a reasonable amount of money ensuring that their terms are the most legally protective and watertight as they possibly could be.

[Max Turbo]

Horse_Apple said:

Max Turbo said:

Horse_Apple said:

I suspect the answer lies very clearly in EBay's T&Cs.

I never mentioned anything about eBay?? I suppose it could be compared to eBay but rather than buying a product, you are buying a service.

The way in which eBay collect revenue is interesting. However, it isn't as suitable as acting as a 3rd party, in my case.

Many thanks
M

Edited by Max Turbo on Friday 12th October 20:01

Never said you did.

I'm saying that if you want to know how to act as a broker with no/little legal responsibility then the answer lies in their legal docs which you can just download from their site.

As one of the world's largest non financial brokers you can rest assured that they have spent a reasonable amount of money ensuring that their terms are the most legally protective and watertight as they possibly could be.

Ahh I see! Sorry for the confusion!

I see what you mean about eBay. The only thing is that they have millions to spend on this sort of thing whereas I have far less. Also, as they are only dealing with people sending items to each other, their risk is lower than what I intend to provide.

Never mind, I have done some research and I probably wont go down this route. Thank you for all the advice though

M