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[JohnW2]

Lets take an analogy. To many people, tyres are expensive round black things<period>. For a given size, there is usually a selection of makes/models/prices. Only a few experts would be able to look at the cheap option and work out if it's OK, or if it's likely to blow out if they do 70 on the motorway. So we have to expect that any tyre on sale is safe, and that the supply chain is policed at least enough that we can be reasonably confident of that.

Exactly - and, as I said, the same usually/often applies to 'retailers' as well as consumers (end-users). It seems obvious to me that its the manufacturers (or importers) who need to be 'policed' - since retailers and end-users alike will often have no choice but to 'trust' what they are being sold (and assume that any applicable regulations have been 'enforced').

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Have you married BAS? As so often discussed (and not worth any significant 'repeat discussion' yet again!), it is really (IMO) unfair to expect retailers (particularly small ones) to be able to identify the 'dodgy' imports, especially when they have been bought "in good faith". Mere 'cheapness' does not prove that there is anything wrong with a product. IMO, they have a right to assume that anything which has been 'allowed in' to the UK has been subject to scrutiny by the relevant authorities (so that is where, IMO, the 'improvement' is required). If you don't agree with that, at a very least they should 'go after' (and apply severe penalties to) the importers, not retailers or 'facilitators' (BAS appears to live in some sort of Utopia {sometimes called 'Cloud 9'} in which the likes of Amazon Marketplace and eBay could reasonably be expected to verify independently the legitimacy/safety/etc. of every item which is sold with their assistance).

I don't suppose that there is one single piece of consumer protection or H&S legislation which was not when first proposed opposed by people with vested interests in minimising their costs and maximising their profits whining about how unfair and unreasonable and impractical and impossible it would be for them to change the way they worked.

I agree it's the importers to go after. Which in the case of items bought through Amazon or eBay are Amazon or eBay.

And yes we can do it, and IMO we must. If Amazon and eBay are unable to ensure that products bought on their UK website by UK buyers are compliant with the relevant UK standards then they must not offer them for sale. It really is that simple.

 

[bernardgreen]

Have you married BAS?

I can't..........I am not a vicar......

 

[JohnW2]

Have you married BAS?

I can't..........I am not a vicar......

Clever try However, if you look in virtually any dictionary, you will find that both meanings (plus a few others) are there!!

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

I don't suppose that there is one single piece of consumer protection or H&S legislation which was not when first proposed opposed by people with vested interests in minimising their costs and maximising their profits whining about how unfair and unreasonable and impractical and impossible it would be for them to change the way they worked.

I have no argument with that. However, I have absolutely no such vested interests, directly or directly, but am expressing my personal opinion in relation to "unfair and unreasonable and impractical" - and I feel sure that I am not alone in having that opinion.

I agree it's the importers to go after. Which in the case of items bought through Amazon or eBay are Amazon or eBay.

I don't understand that.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

For items bought on amazon.co.uk or ebay.co.uk it is amazon.co.uk or ebay.co.uk who are bringing them into the country.

Unless you want to blame the post offices/couriers.

 

[JohnW2]

For items bought on amazon.co.uk or ebay.co.uk it is amazon.co.uk or ebay.co.uk who are bringing them into the country.

Are we talking about the same thing? I am talking about eBay and Amazon Marketplace, in which case those companies are merely acting as a facilitator/'middle man' in relation to buying/selling contracted between two third parties.

Kind Regards, John

 

[slup]

The irony of all this is that it is almost impossible to export stuff to China from the UK.

They are happy to flood our shores with dangerous and illegal crap, but try and send anything in the other direction and you'll face the biggest battle of your life!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Are we talking about the same thing? I am talking about eBay and Amazon Marketplace, in which case those companies are merely acting as a facilitator/'middle man' in relation to buying/selling contracted between two third parties.

Kind Regards, John

We are talking about the same thing.

You are failing to see that the role of Amazon and eBay in situations like that is so fundamental to the goods arriving in the UK that they are doing far more than "merely acting as a facilitator/'middle man'". They are creating the market. They are providing sales facilities, payment systems and other business services, and charging for the provision of all those.

They are culpable.

 

[JohnW2]

You are failing to see that the role of Amazon and eBay in situations like that is so fundamental to the goods arriving in the UK that they are doing far more than "merely acting as a facilitator/'middle man'". They are creating the market. They are providing sales facilities, payment systems and other business services, and charging for the provision of all those.

All true, but the one thing they are not doing is importing, so I can't see how they can be described as "importers". Furthermore, virtually all of the services/activities to which you refer apply equally to most retailers, regardless of the source (or nationality) of what they are selling.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ekmdgrf]

Please elaborate!? What is being done to 'hide' these consignments?

They ship with a SEP field. Simple, effective and can run for over a hundred years on a single torch battery.

 

[phatboy]

You are failing to see that the role of Amazon and eBay in situations like that is so fundamental to the goods arriving in the UK that they are doing far more than "merely acting as a facilitator/'middle man'". They are creating the market. They are providing sales facilities, payment systems and other business services, and charging for the provision of all those.

They are culpable.

That sounds comparable to blaming the government for creating the high street, on which retailers hold stands and pay tax on their sales...?

 

[NewOrder]

I see it all the time in the IT industry. Some of the laptop chargers are now so good they are almost impossible to tell. I simply by products from Anker and Lavolta now to avoid the fakes.

I really don't know the answer is to stop people selling this crap.

Look on Ebay and Amazon they are full of listings for fire starters

 

[ekmdgrf]

Look on Ebay and Amazon they are full of listings for fire starters

http://tinyurl.com/kz7lhcj

I see what you mean.

 

[phatboy]

Look on Ebay and Amazon they are full of listings for fire starters

http://tinyurl.com/kz7lhcj

I see what you mean.

You funny.