With the cost of living crisis pushing people towards saving every penny, a lot of shoppers go online to purchase Christmas essentials such as tree and lights. The most popular marketplaces offer great bargains but sadly, fail their customers by listing illegal and dangerous items that can cause electric faults and house fires.
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Cheap lights can be unsafe - shop carefully
Testing by the consumer group Which? found that 10 out of 12 sets of Christmas lights failed to meet UK electrical equipment safety regulations. All the lights tested were purchased online and cost £15 or less.
Two sets from both retailers didn't pass compliance checks. They were missing key markings or came with no instructions. Both Amazon and eBay have removed the items from their websites.
An eBay spokesperson told the consumer group:
We take the safety of our users very seriously, and we have removed the listings that Which? flagged to us.
An Amazon spokesperson commented:
Safety is a top priority at Amazon and we require all products offered in our store to comply with applicable laws and regulations.
AliExpress and Wish are failing consumers too
Which? also tested items from online retailers AliExpress and Wish - both companies said they had also removed the products found to be illegal for sale.
One set bought from Wish, costing only £13, had multiple failings. Wires from a set of Fairy LED string lights sold by the retailer were easily exposed and the item posed both an electric shock risk and a fire hazard. It was also advertised as waterproof but Which? found no evidence to support this claim.
Wish commented:
As soon as we were made aware of these unsafe items being listed on our platform, we took immediate steps to take them down and conduct monitoring over certain other identical merchant listings.
More has to be done to protect the customers
Which? recommends that people buy Christmas lights from the high-street stores or a retailer they recognise.
Around 60% of house fires start through electric faults, according to Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service.
The consumer group is calling for online marketplaces to be forced to take legal responsibility to stop illegal products from being sold.
Sue Davies, head of consumer protection policy at Which? said that cheap Christmas lights might be tempting amid the cost of living crisis - but consumers could be ‘putting themselves in danger’ because online marketplaces are ‘failing to take safety seriously’.
She added:
The government must make online marketplaces legally responsible for dangerous and illegal products sold through their sites so that people are better protected.
Sources used:
- BBC News: 'Dangerous Christmas lights listed for sale online, Which? finds'
