Can a buyer legally deduct "administration fees" from my payout without disclosing them beforehand?

The general principle at play

A sale agreement is based on the terms both parties agreed to before the transaction — a buyer introducing new deductions after delivery, without those terms having been disclosed upfront, is generally changing the deal without your consent, which most sellers would reasonably consider unfair.

Where this gets more complicated

If you agreed to broader terms and conditions somewhere, such as through a platform’s standard terms, that did disclose potential fees even if not itemized specifically for your transaction, the situation is less clear-cut — check whether any prior agreement you made actually covered this possibility before assuming it’s entirely undisclosed.

What to do about it

Ask for a specific, written justification for any fee that wasn’t discussed before the sale, and if none of your prior agreements covered it, you have a reasonable basis to dispute the deduction and request it be reversed or the full originally agreed amount be paid.

How ScrapTrade Makes This Easier

Fee structures on ScrapTrade are disclosed upfront as part of the platform’s standard terms, so there’s no ambiguity about what deductions, if any, apply to a transaction before you agree to it.