Ear me, ear me, ear candle sellers

So, you’re an avid fan of ear candles and you want to spread the word by selling them on Trade Me?

Great! We’re proud of the extremely diverse assortment of things available on the site, even if they do involve earwax!

Ear candling dates back to 2500 B.C and involves beeswax and cotton ear candles being inserted into the ear. Yes, you read correctly – into the ear.

The generally-held belief by those who testify to their effectiveness is that ear candles utilise a process called ‘convection’ which allows the soft wax to oxidise debris in the ear canal and turn the debris into vapours.

However, not everyone believes in the effectiveness of ear candling. There’s significant, lengthy and waxy debate on the topic, but we won’t get into that here.

Lots of the claims made about ear candles are therapeutic, e.g. claiming they can cure migraines, fix ear nose and throat problems, and/or relieve pain or inflammation.

All of these are therapeutic claims.

By law, when therapeutic claims are made about your items it makes them medical devices.

We don’t doubt that there are plenty of people who swear by ear candles to sort some of these issues, however, therapeutic claims such as these should adhere to the guidelines produced by the Association of New Zealand Advertisers.

Here at Trade Me we try to keep an ear out for these kinds of issues so we can make sure Trade Me users are well-informed about their rights and responsibilities.

This is going to get complicated, so bear with us

What it boils down to, is that therapeutic claims must be able to be substantiated by evidence.

There are three ways that you can be permitted to make therapeutic claims in your Trade Me listings (that includes Q&A sections):

1. You’re a registered pharmacist selling general sale medicines on Trade Me; or
2. Your ear candles are a Medsafe WAND database registered medical device; or
3. You have substantiated evidence to prove that your therapeutic claim is truthful.

OK, I’m a registered pharmacist wanting to sell medicines and ear candles on Trade Me, what do I do?

Read our guidelines in place about selling medicines on Trade Me and get in touch.

We don’t allow medicines to be listed on the site unless by a registered pharmacist – this is to ensure that all medicines sold on Trade Me are legit and lawful.

Please note that obligations under the Medicines Act 1981 will still apply to the ear candles. If you want to make therapeutic claims in your listings then you will need to meet the same requirements as with any other therapeutic claims.

I’m not a registered pharmacist but I want to sell ear candles and make therapeutic claims in my listings because I’ve registered them on the WAND database, what do I do?

Great!

We just need some evidence that your ear candles are on the WAND database, such as a registration number. We strongly suggest that you include the WAND number in the body of your listing.

We will still require evidence that the therapeutic claims and the mechanism of their effect is substantiated.

This has gone in one ear and out the other!

I’m not a registered pharmacist and my ear candles aren’t on the WAND database but I want to make therapeutic claims, what do I do? 

Unfortunately, you’re in a bit of a sticky situation here. The only way you could make therapeutic claims in your listings is if you demonstrate that ear candling is a ‘method of treatment’.

In order to do this, you’d need to provide substantiated evidence of the truth of the therapeutic claim and that the mechanism of their effect (e.g. ear candling) is substantiated.

This should be done by clinical trials and include robust scientific evidence. The Association of New Zealand Advertisers has noted that it is unlikely that ear candling will meet the threshold for substantiation of therapeutic claims.

Given the reality of that requirement, general members wanting to sell ear candles probably shouldn’t make any claims.

Okay, so if I can’t make therapeutic claims in my Trade Me listings, what can I say?

The Therapeutic Advertising Pre-vetting Service has some great examples of what you can and can’t say. They recommend that you state something like this:

“Ear candling is used to soothe and comfort the ear canal.”

Be careful not to say things like:

• “ear candling relieves pain”
• “my Mother-in-law said ear candling fixed her migranes!”
• “ear candles removes debris from the ear”
• “ear candles remove earwax”

These all fall within the ambit of being restricted to either medicines, medical devices, or methods of treatment.

If you are ineligible to make therapeutic claims about your ear candles because you don’t fall into one of the exceptions, be careful not to include testimonials or anecdotal evidence that makes therapeutic claims, as this too would be in breach of the Therapeutic Advertising Pre-vetting Service and ANZA guidelines.

ANZA also recommend that sellers include a warning about ear candles, as there is a risk of hot wax burning, scalding or causing pain to users.

Making therapeutic claims about ear candles if you don’t meet one of the three sections may also result in you breaching the Medicines Act 1981. We don’t want anyone using Trade Me to inadvertently break the law, so if you have any questions, get in touch with us.

We’re all ears!