Share
A damning report from consumer watchdog Which? has exposed a severe lapse in product safety across major online marketplaces, with hundreds of potentially dangerous products still being sold long after safety regulators flagged them.
Which?’s investigation found nearly 800 product listings matching items that the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) had identified as unsafe in the last year. Worryingly, 98% of these posed a “serious” or “high” risk to consumers. A subsequent lab test of 15 of these products confirmed the severity of the problem, with all but one posing critical safety risks.
The investigation revealed that products flagged as dangerous had been, on average, for sale for nearly six months after the official safety alert was issued. Marketplaces implicated included Amazon Marketplace, eBay and Etsy, among others.
The most shocking findings spanned several categories, posing risks that were often invisible to the consumer. For instance, Which? identified 142 listings for a poorly designed aluminium ladder model notorious for collapsing in safety tests, representing a clear ‘invisible risk’ where buyers cannot assess danger from an image.
Even more widespread was a single design of an electric saw appearing under 33 different brand names across platforms, including Amazon Marketplace, AliExpress and Temu. Which? lab tests on one version of this saw (branded KATSU) found it posed immediate risks of fire and electrocution, confirming it was illegal to sell in the UK as it failed to meet safety regulations.
Threats to children and homes
The research detailed severe hazards directed at the most vulnerable. Which? uncovered hundreds of products, from wooden musical toys to 3-D printed dinosaurs. Hundreds of dangerous items which are still being sold online, Which? claims, are marketed to very young children that contain potentially fatal choking hazards.
Equally alarming are more than 100 examples of baby sleeping bags that pose a serious risk of asphyxiation. Many featured hoods that could cover a baby’s face, or lacked armholes, which allows a baby to slip inside the bag and smother.
Everyday household items such as wax warmers, nail steamers, heaters, and bedside lamps were also found to contain faulty wiring, increasing the serious risk of electrocution or house fires.
The consumer association estimates that at least 8.8 million UK consumers have experienced harm from faulty, unsafe, or fraudulent products bought on these platforms.
Sue Davies, Which? Head of Consumer Protection Policy, criticized the platforms’ failure to take “even the basic step of acting on official reports.” She noted that the investigation proved it is “entirely feasible” for marketplaces to check and remove these listings proactively.
Which? is now calling on the government to urgently use the powers granted by the Product Regulation and Metrology Act, adopted in July, to impose clear legal duties on online marketplaces. Ms. Davies asserted that the delayed secondary regulations must be prioritized to ensure that dangerous items are prevented from reaching people in the UK, holding non-compliant platforms accountable with tough enforcement.
Right of replies:
An Amazon spokesperson said:
“We require all products offered in our store to comply with applicable laws, regulations, and Amazon policies, and we proactively monitor our store for safety alerts and product recalls and remove relevant products and email customers who purchased them.
“Safety alerts are specific to an individual products’ unique characteristics, including brand name, model number or design features, and our initial findings show that the vast majority of products highlighted by Which?’s research do not fall under the scope of these alerts.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we temporarily delisted the products tested by Which? and will remove any non-compliant items identified by our investigation and further refine our controls.”
An eBay spokesperson said:
“Consumer safety is a top priority for eBay. We have reviewed the listings identified by Which? and taken action where required, including removing items and notifying buyers where appropriate. We’re reviewing the wider marketplace to remove any identical listings.
“We work diligently to prevent and remove unsafe product listings through seller compliance audits, block filter algorithms, AI-supported monitoring by in-house specialists, and close partnerships with regulators. Several of the unsafe listings highlighted by Which? had been removed or ended before the investigation was shared with eBay, showing how existing filters and monitoring systems work to reduce unsafe products on the site.”
The Range:
The Range chose not to comment
A spokesperson for Shein said:
“On SHEIN Marketplace, all vendors are required to comply with SHEIN’s code of conduct and abide by the relevant laws and regulations of the countries where we operate. When non-compliant items are found, SHEIN takes immediate action to remove them, and we are continuously working on improving our processes to prevent these items from reappearing on our site.”
Temu:
Temu said they take compliance with their regulatory obligations very seriously, including by monitoring product recall and safety alerts issued by the OPSS and regulatory authorities. Temu said “We reviewed the 26 product listings as soon as we received your inquiry and found that none of them fall under the safety recalls. Twelve of the listings had already been discontinued before your inquiry. We have removed the remaining 14 listings as a precaution and are expanding our review to similar products to ensure they meet the required safety standards.
Which contacted the following marketplaces for comment and they didn’t respond:
-
Aliexpress
-
Banggood
-
BargainFox
-
Coolbe
-
DHgate
-
Desertcart
-
Ebuy7
-
Etsy
-
GoSupps.com
-
Grandado
-
Manomano
-
OnBuy
-
Ozerty
-
Shpock
-
UBeauty
-
Ubuy
About Which?
Related Posts
Discover more from Tech Digest
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
