Consumers’ association: do not buy electronics from online stores outside the EU

The Consumers’ Association advises people not to purchase devices that run on electricity from online stores outside Europe. According to the union, there are irresponsible risks of, among other things, fire hazards.

The Consumers’ Association advises consumers to buy electronics from a European store of a European manufacturer when shopping online. The association advises to only buy electronics where the packaging states who produced it and to pay attention to quality marks such as those of the German GS, TÜV-Rheinland or the British standard BS. It is also recommended not to purchase electronics without CE marking.

In the advice, the union refers to research by the British Which? of last year, in which a large number of unbranded USB chargers, travel adapters and power banks purchased from AliExpress, Amazon Marketplace, eBay and Wish failed the test. Eight of the twelve USB chargers contained poor-quality parts, Eleven of the twelve travel adapters failed the safety tests and four of the nine power banks were unsatisfactory due to an increased risk of overheating.

The advice is part of a campaign to make consumers aware that items they buy online outside the EU often come from suppliers that do not comply with European rules. The campaign includes testing of 250 products, conducted by six European consumer organisations, in the categories of children’s products, electronics and miscellaneous, including cosmetics, jewelery and teeth whitening products. They placed the orders at online stores, such as AliExpress, Wish, Amazon, Light in the Box and eBay. Something turned out to be wrong with 165 of the products, according to the association, which involved the presence of harmful substances or irresponsible risks, such as overheating or giving a shock.