I see alot of posts for very inexpensive imported electrical items here on ozbargain. Rarelly is there any mention of them being compliant with Australian safety standards for electrical appliances. Why is this allowed? Surelly a bargain isn't a bargain unless it comes with some recognised assurance of safety for the buyer?
Why are posts for non Australian safety standard approved electrical items allowed on OzBargain?
growler on 31/10/2017 - 08:36
Comments
Some people take risks on imported electronics to save money against a domestic equivalent.
This community is about finding the cheapest deals. Price vs Value can often be subjective to the individual purchaser. Somebody like yourself clearly values certification more than a few dollars saved — others may not agree.Ok. But if the worst case scenario occurs and an ozbargainers house burns down because of a dodgy item they found through this website it risks reputational damage to the ozbargain brand itself. Thus my original question, why does ozbargain allow it?
This is a bargain community. OzBargain offers no guarantee or warranty for the products posted on here. A person who decides to buy an non-certified $19.95 electrical distribution board from China and installs it on their house (please don't do this), that person has no recourse through OzBargain if anything goes awry (and probably their insurer). Scotty and Neil may support members using their website, but they owe us no duty of care. That's where a sense of logical thought and personal responsibility comes in.
OzBargain provides the platform, the guests, members, manufacturers and retailers share products.
I am not suggesting that ozbargain has any legal liability. I am simply pointing out that it risks reputational damage if something that a buyer purchases through a link on its Australian based website doesn't comply with Australian safety standards and does harm to the buyer.
I understand where you're coming from, but an disillusioned or unsatisfied buyer only has a relationship with the retailer of the product.
OzBargain itself has done nothing to recommend or suggest a particular product — the community has.
Pffffft! If my mouse burned down I wouldn't be blaming ozbargain, thats for sure. Firstly, there was me to blame for seeing a stupid item and using it, then the seller or manufacturer…not the person who told me about it…
If my mouse burned down I wouldn't be blaming ozbargain
I would hope not. I'd take it back to the pet shop and make them answer for Mr. Squeaker's faulty wiring.
FInd me a power board that takes AU/CN/EU/US plugs and is Aussie compliant? You can't.
Because there are so many electrical standards around the world not just Australian and most of them would do fine as long as they the item is genuinely certified by them and compliant.
In the end buyer beware for cheapo elec even if it is Australian certified.
It's definitely buyer beware. For the record, I have no problem buying these goods. But if something were to happen, I'd have a complaint against the product. Not against Ozb.
Ozb is just a giant bulletin board for people who find deals and share them. Let's say your neighbor tells you of a great deal on an electronic doohickey. You say "but it's not AU standards compliant." Your neighbor just shrugs. I don't think you neighbor would be losing any of his reputation. Your neighbor isn't telling you to buy it, just that he shared that he reckons it's a deal. It's up to you to decide if it's something you ought to purchase.
It's definitely buyer beware.
Absolutely. Even applies to items with an approved standard logo…
The use & misuse of standards logos, along with the increased expectation of quality from manufacturers and suppliers, means that having an AS/NZS sticker or logo no longer incites a trust response from us consumers.
Manufacturers also copy each other, and go for the cheaper option; so if everyone is making items to a standard then that's what gets cloned and that's what gains the efficiencies of scale.
The complication is it is legal to plug an uncertified international device into a locally certified isolated stepdown transformer. What you are asking is well intentioned, but the fact is people can plug the item into their own generator quite legally.
happy to experience electrocution to save a few bucks
Because most adults should have the mental capacity to know the risks in buying a non-certified product. It isn't Ozb's problem.
Because we can!