Online marketplaces are putting lives at risk by selling unsafe products - Rocio Concha of Which?

But it certainly isn’t all freewheeling fun. The London Fire Brigade (LFB) say so far this year they have been called out to an e-bike or e-scooter fire on average every two days. One key reason for that is because the lithium batteries used to power them are too often available to buy online through unregulated sellers. The LFB has described lithium batteries as the city’s “fastest growing fire risk”, yet consumers can get their hands on one for prices ranging from £300 to £1,000. The result is a serious risk to the owner’s life should the product catch fire - as we saw happen recently in a kitchen in north west London.

These issues aren’t new. Which? has repeatedly raised the alarm on unsafe products, from electric blankets which caught fire to illegal weapons such as so-called zombie knives, for sale on the largest online marketplaces, sites which millions of people use every day.

In our most recent investigation, we found that online marketplaces are still not taking satisfactory action to stop unscrupulous sellers posting potentially unsafe products on their sites. A faulty smoke alarm that failed all eight of Which?’s tests to detect smoke and sound the alarm is still being sold on eBay despite us discovering the product in 2018.

The faulty alarm wasn’t just widely available on eBay, but also AliExpress and Wish - raising huge concerns about the industry’s current approach which is risking people’s lives. On eBay, 20 sellers have sold nearly 1,400 dangerous alarms. Even more concerningly, AliExpress have told us they have over 53,000 more of them in stock.

Clearly, putting the public at risk like this isn’t acceptable. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), which currently operates out of the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), has conducted a review into the issue, but still we await its publication, meaning more needless delay on making our product safety regime fit for purpose.

The review is an opportunity to make sure online marketplaces finally take the legal responsibility for protecting their customers from buying items which could do them harm. The problem is especially acute during a cost of living crisis in which many consumers are increasingly tempted by items that are cheaper and purportedly a ‘better deal’.

To properly protect consumers, the OPSS’ review must recommend that the government steps in to give online marketplaces greater legal responsibility for preventing unsafe products being sold on their platforms and for responding to reports of dangerous products quickly. But if we are to see lasting change, then the OPSS also requires urgent reform. That means handing it independence from the government and giving it a clear mission to put consumer safety first by equipping them with the necessary powers and resources to do its job effectively.

Another consequence of letting online marketplaces get away with selling unsafe products is that it unfairly undercuts the high street retailers that play by the rules. High streets, once bastions of local communities, are already enduring challenging times thanks to the growth of online shopping, a process accelerated by the pandemic. Their business shouldn’t take a further knock at the hands of unscrupulous online sellers.

Purchasing a product only to find that it doesn’t work as described is always frustrating. But when consumers’ lives are at risk due to unsafe products sold on some of the largest online marketplaces, it’s completely unacceptable. Which? and other organisations have continuously raised the issue, and yet shamefully it still persists.

Shoppers deserve to have the confidence that the same rigorous safety standards apply to both the products they buy online and on the high street. The OPSS and DBT must stop dragging their heels on publishing the long-overdue Product Safety review and the government must be ready to swiftly reform a system that is no longer fit for purpose.