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We’re getting very close to Christmas now and I don’t know about you but I still have a lot of presents to buy and a lot to get done before the day itself.
Things have changed a lot over the last few years; I used to go into town to buy everyone’s presents and end up laden down with bags and bags of shopping, with rolls of wrapping paper sticking out of the bags and banging into everyone else as I tried to squeeze past as I constantly said ‘sorry, sorry’ (even if they walked into me). I’d always end up very stressed and knackered and not having made it to everywhere I needed to go.
Thankfully, I now can (and do) the vast majority of my Christmas shopping online, from the comfort of my home, with a cup of tea and a chance to browse different retailers and find the best prices and have it all delivered to me in time for Christmas.
We all want the best value for money and so it can be tempting to buy from the cheapest place we can get a product, whether that is a legitimate and trusted seller or not. This is especially true when it comes to electrical items that are often expensive.
However, the growing tendency to buy everything online has led to a huge increase in the number of fake electrical products sold to UK shoppers.
Did you know, that online marketplaces such as Amazon Marketplace, eBay, Facebook Marketplace and Wish are not bound to the same laws as traditional retailers and it is pretty easy to set yourself up as a seller on these places. Without the regulations in place to prevent the sale of dangerous electrical products, we are susceptible to buying a fake product without realising it and putting ourselves and our families at risk.
A third of people who have bought an electrical fake purchased it from an online marketplace such as this. These products often contain faulty, sub-standard or counterfeit components that can overheat, presenting a serious risk of fire or delivering a fatal electric shock. 7 out of 10 UK consumers are unaware of the risks they face when buying electrical goods from these online marketplaces.
I had no idea about this until I looked into it for this post, and it’s a scary thought and crazy that there aren’t more regulations in place. I’ve sure I must have bought products from these third-party sellers, absolutely believing them to be genuine and what if they aren’t and I’ve actually put my family at risk without realising?
I think of myself as being pretty savvy online, doing lots of research on a product, reading the reviews and information on it before I buy, checking out the seller, but reviews can be faked, pictures can be stolen from elsewhere or made to look genuine and we could be bringing a dangerous product into our home or someone else’s.
The UK charity ‘Electrical Safety First‘ are trying to prevent this from happening and consequently reducing the number of deaths and injuries caused by electrical accidents from dodgy items.
They’re not campaigning for anything crazy, but something that should be regulated as standard for third-party sellers, just as it is for trusted online shops.
They have a petition that you can sign that will hopefully change the law so that online marketplaces will have to:
You can watch the charity’s new Christmas-themed video below and sign the petition to help make these changes happen, here: Help stop the sale of dangerous electricals on online marketplaces
Here are some important things to watch out for when you’re shopping online:
Electrical Safety First have created a brilliant free extension for Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox that will let you know when you are not buying directly from a manufacturer or retailer that you know and trust when shopping on Amazon or eBay. You can download ‘Check It Out’ here: Check It Out Browser Extension
Please sign the petition and share it if you can and make sure you are buying any electricals from trusted and regulated retailers this Christmas.
This is a partnership with the charity Electrical Safety First but all words and opinions are my own. See my full disclosure policy here.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
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