Things to think about when selling electrical goods

If you’ve been a regular follower of this blog, you might have noticed we go on about electrical safety quite a bit - even to the point of talking about Christmas tree light safety.

This is because it is paramount that all items purchased through Trade Me are safe.

Those who are in the business of trading have a clear obligation to ensure the goods they sell are safe under both the Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010 and the Consumer Guarantees Act.

As a market place, Trade Me provides the venue for sellers to do business with buyers and we expect those sellers who use our site to ensure that all applicable safety standards are met.

What does this mean in practice?

If you are thinking of selling electrical goods on the site, you should first read our help page on electrical safety.

Sellers need to have a ‘supplier declaration of compliance’ filled in and ready for inspection before the goods are listed on the site.

This is not just a Trade Me rule, it’s the law. If we find members are listing goods that do not have SDOCs, they will be removed from the site.

Sellers can help assure themselves of their goods’ safety by making sure NZ plugs are used. 'Foreign' plugs cannot be listed on Trade Me and we will remove any that we find offered for sale.

We do not allow ‘work arounds’ to this, such as supplying an additional adaptor that can be used to connect a device such as a cell phone charger to the NZ mains system.

The legislation applies to second hand appliances as well. 

Buyers can help themselves as well. Our buyer’s help page has advice on purchasing safe items, such as checking the item has the correct plug and operates on the NZ domestic voltage.

We’ve provided a lot of information in this area but we’re not the expert - that’s the role of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

For more information on electrical appliance safety, visit the Ministry’s Energy Safety website and check out their guide to supplying safe electrical products.