Steps to make sure second-hand products sold are safe
The ACCC expects online marketplaces to implement effective measures to protect consumers from unsafe products being sold on their platforms, including second-hand products.
If you’re an online platform which hosts listings of second-hand products, you should help protect consumers from harm. Make sure products sold on your online marketplace are safe, compliant with product safety laws, and listings include accurate information.
Provide education and resources for sellers
- Provide education and compliance resources for sellers which includes information about the mandatory standards and bans that apply in Australia, and information about product recalls.
Verify sellers and audit listings
- Verify sellers’ contact information for listings.
- Have guidance and checks in place to make sure that seller policies, including warranty, return and refund policies, are consistent with the Australian Consumer Law.
- Audit listings for non-compliance with safety standards, recalls, and bans, and quickly remove unsafe products from your platform when identified.
- Audit and remove listings that are identified as containing incomplete or misleading information.
Requirements of your sellers
- Ask sellers to indicate on their listings if they are operating as a business, as this may affect consumer remedies.
- Require sellers to provide clear and complete information in descriptions, photographs and images, including information about warnings, ingredients, labels, instructions or limitations on use.
- Require sellers to disclose if a product is second-hand and to use agreed terms about product conditions such as terms like ‘as new’, ‘excellent’, ‘good’, ‘fair’, or ‘used’. Provide sellers with clear guidance on what these terms mean on your platform.
- Require sellers to include in product listings, details of any defects, damage, or safety issues, and any other issues that may affect the safety, use, or lifespan of the product.
- For products which are subject to Australian mandatory standards, require sellers to provide evidence of compliance with those standards, such as test or compliance reports.
Example
Sam buys a second-hand toy from an overseas seller via an online marketplace. The toy contains button batteries that are in a non-secure pouch in the toy, and easily accessible.
Sam then sees media coverage of an incident involving a similar toy, where a child had accessed the button battery contained within the toy. Button batteries can be lethal for young children if accessed and swallowed.
After seeing this coverage, Sam is concerned about the safety of the toy he bought. He tries to contact the seller, but they don’t respond to Sam’s messages. He contacts the online marketplace for help with the seller. The online marketplace has policies and practices in place to resolve product safety issues between buyers and sellers.
They help Sam to return the toy and get a refund from the seller.
Make it easier for consumers
- Provide consumers with information on their rights, and making safe buying decisions for second-hand products. Include information on high-risk products and those which must comply with mandatory safety standards.
- Have policies and practices in place to resolve product safety issues between buyers and sellers. Issues might include defects, recalls or bans of a product especially when buyers and sellers can’t resolve the issue themselves. Be responsive to consumers and authorities when product safety concerns are raised.
- Make it easy for consumers to report product safety concerns to you (the online marketplace), and the seller, by having clear contact details.
Find out more about how to sell safe products online.
Join the online product safety pledge
Online marketplaces can join the Australian Product Safety Pledge which aims to protect consumers from safety risks when shopping online. It does this by working with online marketplaces to strengthen product safety measures.
See more on our online product safety pledge page.