Marketplaces such as those run by Amazon, Kogan JB Hi Fi, eBay, and Gumtree have become a major focus for the ACCC who is concerned that ‘Insafe products’ are being ranged there by distributors who are not necessarily obtaining the right certification for goods in Australia.

The Chair of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission Gina Cass-Gottlieb who was speaking at the National Consumer Congress earlier today outlined the importance of the ACCC’s role in protecting consumers from unsafe products ranged om marketplaces where the owner of the site running a marketplace is not taking liability for the goods being sold by third parties.

Among the priorities identified by the ACC for attention was unsafe products that don’t necessarily have the right certification with several questionable Asian operators opening up stores online claiming to be Australian web sites when its reality the goods are being shipped from Asia, others take space on a branded marketplace site.

Some operators are taking space on mainstream marketplace sites in an effort to benefit from the brand credibility of the retailers where their products are ranged.

JB Hi Fi terms and conditions specifically spell out the conditions when consumers are purchasing in their marketplace online store which is embedded in their main JB Hi Fi web site.

They claim that marketplace products are sold by third-party sellers we authorise to sell on our website.

JB Hi-Fi is not the seller of Marketplace products, resulting in the retailer not being liable for compliance problems.

This is because they are sold by third-party sellers and not by JB Hi-Fi.

They also point out that all marketplace products are available online only and are not available for purchase in-store.
This results in all liability sitting with the supplier who may or may not have an office in Australia.

Some retailers are using marketplaces to test products and their sell through before ranging them in retail stores.

The biggest marketplace in Australia is Amazon who have a love hate relationship with sellers.

For many brands selling on Amazon, there is the issue of loss of control—in terms of both pricing and branding but not the liability if a product is pulled up by the likes of the ACCC.

As the biggest platform in the eCommerce industry, Amazon has a “take it or leave it” approach with its sellers.

With Amazon private label brands often lose control over the way their products are sold and presented in a marketplace as the focus is always on Amazon’s brand.

Cass-Gottlieb claims “Reducing the prevalence of high-risk unsafe consumer products online will be key with ChannelNews suspecting that new regulations re the sale of goods such as e-bikes and questionable lithium batteries are set to be introduced.

The ACCC claim that they will use a combination of regulation, for businesses, compliance and enforcement tools, where appropriate.

“The risks in the digital economy are layered, they include not only physical harm from unsafe or non-compliant goods, but also the associated economic harm and decline in consumer trust in markets.” claims ACCC management.

“Addressing these harms is essential to maintaining trust in digital markets and ensuring those markets are competitive and safe,” Cass-Gottlieb added.

The ACCC also claim that improving product safety data to identify safety risks is also on their agenda.

The ACCC will begin a series of expedited reviews of existing mandatory standards from July 2025, following recent amendments to the Australian Consumer Law.

These reviews will consider which voluntary overseas and international standards should be added as compliance options for mandatory standards.

This will help ensure that mandatory standards are up to date and can lower compliance costs for businesses.

The ACCC will also work to continue to improve product safety data to help us identify risks and protect consumers.

This will include strategies to increase reporting of product safety incidents to the ACCC, working with other regulators and stakeholders to increase data sharing and undertaking new consultation and research to understand the key risks affecting Australian consumers.

“The priorities I have outlined today reflect the environment we’re operating in – one defined by digital acceleration and rising complexity,” Cass-Gottlieb said.

“These priorities are designed to respond to known harms, and to anticipate the emerging risks that could shape the future of consumer safety.

hey, reflect our commitment to protect Australian consumers and build and maintain their trust in markets in an era of change and uncertainty.”.