Should Overseas Electrical Items e.g. lights (requiring mains power) be allowed on OzBargain?

neil on 03/09/2014 - 15:30
Last edited 03/09/2014 - 15:30

With many Australians converting from conventional lights to LED lights, we have experienced an increase of LED light deals from overseas sellers. Items bought overseas won't have Australian electrical standards compliance. Without the Australian certification, you are at risk from fire and electrocution not to mention possibly lower product life.

The recent Myled deal touched on some of those concerns.

So do we ban overseas lights from being posted on OzBargain? Do we need to add more things to the list? In the same respect, mobile phones and vacuums from overseas sellers such as Kogan and Amazon also do not have Australian safety certification.

Or should we be putting a warning in the description for each light post?

Should lights (req. mains power) sold by overseas sellers be allowed on OzBargain?

Poll Options expired

  • 34
    Yes, they should be allowed but we should put a warning in their posts.
  • 3
    Yes, leave things as is.
  • 5
    No, we should ban deals with lights (req. mains power) sold by overseas sellers.
  • 0
    Other (let us know in comments).
Site Discussion

Comments

  • Amaris on 03/09/2014 - 15:42
    -2

    Yes, Australia has the highest standards in the world for everything! So we should keep everything not sold in shops in Australia out. This includes all electrical goods, electronics, cars, baby carseats……good article in the SMH today…
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/driving-the-status-quo-201409…

    • [Deactivated] on 03/09/2014 - 19:27

      Genuine question here: do all products sold in Australian shops have Australian safety certifications?

      Surely there are countless goods available in stores across the country which have been imported (namely electronics and the like) which do not have the certifications?

  • mahgo on 03/09/2014 - 16:04

    Maybe grey import warnings for all categories could work, also including any warranty issues etc.

  • scrimshaw on 03/09/2014 - 17:06
    +6

    It is better to educate than to outright ban. That's why I picked the 1st poll option.

    Nobody really knew how dangerous and unsafe counterfeit phone chargers could be until it hit the news. This happened not once, but twice, and I think it drove the point further when the victim was located in Australia.

    Banning them completely means that there will be people still willing to buy these no-name lights when they get advertisements in their inboxes.

  • Cheeper on 03/09/2014 - 19:02

    Common sense should kick in when purchasing from o'seas, especially with anything electronic and more so with AC powered items.

    Firstly you have zero warranty… contrary to what the os retailer claims.
    You have zero consumer rights.
    If you want to buy expensive items and forego those two conditions then it is 100% your decision.

    As for buying anything AC powered or any domestic lighting product, that is about as foolish a decision anyone can make. Where do we stop at protecting people from their own foolish decisions?

    Any posts for cheap AC items are commented on fairly quickly on ozb anyway so anyone tempted would already be alerted.

  • ozy on 03/09/2014 - 23:19
    -2

    If its clearly stated, and buyers are aware, let them post.
    After all, a deal is a deal
    (excluding Myled deals where many never receive the purchases or get full refunds,and customer service is known to be poor at best)

    Ozbargain doesn't need to feel in anyway responsible if someone is killed/injured or a house burnt down due to allowing rubbish companies like Myled to post, as long as there is a CLEAR warning on their posts.
    I vote yes.
    Education through information is going to help curve many purchases and in turn empower buyers to make safer choices.

    I have a cheap led light 240v that i bought from banggood, rewired it as it had a non conforming earth, and shielding and it works great.
    Not many have had 10 years in electronics like me, so just impulse buy and have no clue how dangerous they can be.

    • ozy on 04/09/2014 - 23:41

      Whos the usless neg junky who has no comment but has the voice of a mouse.
      Make your point, its a forum.

      • [Deactivated] on 09/10/2014 - 17:39

        Both very good posts. In regard to the latter they neg because they either don't understand or don't have the ability to make a valid point. Anonymous (doubly anonymous when you think about it) negging ensures their limited knowledge isn't exposed to scrutiny.

  • timmypete on 04/09/2014 - 10:33
    -1

    So do we ban overseas lights from being posted on OzBargain? Do we need to add more things to the list?

    Or should we be putting a warning in the description for each light post?

    This would be prudent for any LED (or for that matter, cheap electronic device) that works off mains power. I also wouldn't just stop at items outside Australia, as LEDs sold by an Australian eBayer have been cited as problematic here in the past too.

    In the same respect, mobile phones and vacuums from overseas sellers such as Kogan and Amazon also do not have Australian safety certification.

    It is a valid point, but the risk factor is less here. Perhaps apply the rule when the quality or veracity of any certifications is in question. I've raised a point above about warnings/caution fields and perhaps a weaker caution (eg: "Caution: has EU/US certifications but not Australian") might be appropriate.

  • ozy on 09/09/2014 - 13:29

    29 vs 6.. Is that enough to roll out this change neil?

    • neil on 09/09/2014 - 13:35
      +1

      I think so.

      • Will discuss with mods.
      • Need to come up with proper wording.
      • May need to rollout a new feature so that all deals from x store, will have a default text. This will be useful for not only warnings but tips/tricks for other stores.
      • ozy on 21/10/2014 - 23:57

        Bump

        • neil on 22/10/2014 - 15:18
          +1

          Yes,

          We currently will add warnings manually to posts. I've subscribed to Myled but if there are any others, please use report.

        • ozy on 24/10/2014 - 07:52

          @neil: cheers neil.
          I don't envy the manual Beta stage of this new feature, good luck

  • RockyRaccoon on 05/01/2015 - 07:25

    Late to the party with this one but here is my experience with the quality of MYLED products.

    I bought some globes a few months back, and of the 5 3 have failed.

    1 blew when I was in the room, it went pop and the globe was hot. Another blew a few days ago, but i was not around. I discovered all the lights were out and when I replaced the fuse, I discovered this globe wasn't working, now it has been replaced, no more fuse issues, so while not 100% proof its pretty likely this globe blew the fuse.

    I have removed the remaining 2 globes and they are in the bin.

    I have bought a number of LED products from overseas and some have failed, but the MYLED ones with the heating issue are just dangerous.

    No more 220/240V LED's from overseas for me from ANY supplier. While they may not be as bad as MYLED, It's not worth the risk.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join