An investigation by Electrical Safety First has discovered dangerous products putting residents at risk on sale in and around Bath, prompting calls for urgent changes to the law.
The charity discovered chargers, extension leads and travel adaptors posing a risk of electric shock, fire risk or failing to meet basic safety standards for sale online by sellers within a 20km radius of the city.
The investigation has prompted an urgent plea to MP Wera Hobhouse to take up a Private Members Bill in the House of Commons to regulate online marketplaces that would make them responsible for the safety of goods sold via their platforms.
Current gaps in the law mean that online marketplace such as eBay and Amazon are not responsible for the safety of goods sold via their platforms.
The charity investigated both Facebook Marketplace and eBay as part of its investigation, identifying six listings in and around Bath that failed to meet product safety standards in the UK.
Travel adaptors were found that exposed the user to internal live parts, risking severe electric shock to the user whilst extension leads were identified as failing to comply with basic product safety standards.
MP Wera Hobhouse has been selected as part of the House of Commons Bill Ballot draw which selects a handful of MPs who then have the opportunity to pick a Private Members Bill to take through the House of Commons.
Electrical Safety First has urged the MP to adopt its Sale of Goods Online (Safety) Bill that would close the loophole in the law whereby online marketplaces are not responsible for goods sold via their sites by third party sellers.
Other products found by the charity included phone chargers with non-compliant plug pins as well as other electrical items being sold with EU plugs, risking the long-term use of the appliance being operated with a travel adaptor that could pose a risk of fire.
Electrical Safety First reported the products to both eBay and Facebook Marketplace.
On contacting eBay, the products were swiftly removed for sale. The charity received no response from Facebook owner Meta regarding the findings on its marketplace.
Martyn Allen, Technical Director of Electrical Safety First commented: “Unfortunately, Bath isn’t an exception to the widespread issue of dangerous electrical goods being sold online.
“Our investigation shows how local residents in Bath are being put directly at risk from dangerous goods due to an unjust gap in the law.
“We urge Wera Hobhouse to take up our Bill so that people in Bath, and around the country, can be safer from the dangers of substandard electrical goods sold online.”
An eBay spokesperson said: “We welcome the information provided to us by Electrical Safety First and we have removed these items.
“We take product safety extremely seriously and our close working relationships with stakeholders, including the Office for Product Safety and Standards and Trading Standards, are an important part of our global product safety strategy for keeping our platform safe.
“Our Regulatory Portal enables authorities from around the world to remove listings of unsafe products within two hours and as of today, 182 agencies have been onboarded, and more than 32,000 listings removed.
“We also have automatic block filters in place, aimed at preventing unsafe listings. These filters blocked 7.4 million listings in 2021 and are updated on a regular basis.
“On the rare occasion that an unsafe product does make it onto site, we swiftly remove it and take enforcement action against the seller, which can be in the form of a warning, suspension or ban.”