Article "life jacket life vest" with item number 137371390540 without CE marking
Summary: bergmensch68 reported purchasing a life jacket from a seller who misrepresented its origin and sold it without a necessary "CE" mark. bergmensch68 expressed concerns over the safety compliance of the product as it is intended for use in commercial boat rentals. They attempted to report the item on eBay, but their complaint was rejected. miriam@ebay acknowledged the issue and stated that it would be investigated internally. Other participants advised purchasing safety equipment from professional retailers to avoid such problems and discussed the importance of regulatory compliance and the challenges of enforcement for products sold online. bergmensch68 concluded that future safety-related purchases would be made through specialized vendors.
Hello everyone,
for the following situation, I would like an honest opinion from you:
I bought the item "Life jacket" with item number 137371390540, assuming it was a product approved in the EU. The seller lists Euskirchen as the location, but Hong Kong is more likely to reflect the truth.
Since this is personal protective equipment (we are commercial boat rental operators), the item should also comply with the standards. The item arrived after a short time, but the "CE" marking was missing on the life jackets. When I asked the seller about it, he said there were visual reasons for not printing the CE mark. But he had the certificates for the life jackets and could send them to me. That makes no sense to me, since the CE mark is a selling point (or rather a must in the EU).
I requested a return and, after endless back and forth, the seller also sent me the return labels.
Now I come to the actual question: I reported the item to eBay ("report content"). Unfortunately, both the report and the subsequent complaint were rejected.
What do you think? Is it normal for items without a CE mark to be sold on eBay here in Germany?
Best regards
*sweet-melody*
·1 week agoHello @bergmensch68 !
These life jackets may not be sold here without CE marking
not sold.
In my opinion, you should have asked the seller before buying
and could have spared yourself the hassle.
The seller's answer was of course nonsense.
Quote from the AI:
Legal requirements and rules
EU regulation: Life jackets fall under the EU regulation for personal protective equipment. They absolutely require CE certification and a valid declaration of conformity. [1, 2]
eBay policies: The platform requires compliance with legal requirements regarding product safety. Offering non-compliant safety items can lead to the listing being deleted. [1]
Liability: Anyone who places unsafe or unapproved protective equipment on the market is liable for significant legal and financial consequences if an emergency occurs. [1, 2]
Exceptions and declaration
Genuine life jackets: Without a CE mark, they may not be traded either commercially or privately as safety equipment for serious water sports. [1, 2]
Decoration / collectibles: If they are demonstrably historical or unusable decorative items, these must be clearly declared in the listing as decoration and not as protective clothing.
roter_rauch
·1 week agoYou don’t need to ask such sellers anything anymore. You’re saying it yourself: they’re not allowed to be sold here.
And the reference to liability – where & how should that be enforced, in Hong Kong? After a fatal accident may have occurred while rowing because the life jackets were useless?
That eBay’s AI sees nothing illegal in that is more than embarrassing.
I’d also like to point out that precisely because the CE mark is so important, it’s often forged and applied to products.
The EU probably needs to regulate much more strictly and probably also scrutinize trading platforms like this more closely. It’s outrageous that reputable manufacturers constantly have to defend themselves against enablers of dumping prices and other scammers, consumers can no longer make sense of it, and ultimately end up taking risks that should largely be ruled out.
bergmensch68
OP1 week ago · EditedThat's true as well, the CE mark is easy to forge. We've learned from that and will in future buy safety-relevant items from specialist retailers.
What do you think about eBay's behavior? That an item like that isn't blocked?
roter_rauch
·1 week agoApparently there isn't a suitable automatic check for that yet. Items that are unconstitutional or products with bare breasts are apparently easier to spot, though not always, of course.
But eBay has to/will delete such offers. The booming trade with the Far East is certainly another level of difficulty, but especially with products with safety requirements – life jackets, electronics, toys … …, something fundamental really needs to change there soon. The EU is at least trying, which elsewhere is apparently no big deal and can harm consumers.
sunrise1605
·2 weeks agoMaybe you should buy your gear from the appropriate professional dealers.
Ebay is, as you can see, not always the right place, since the platform is flooded with Chinese junk. Euskirchen would have told me, for example, that this is probably a Chinese person. The seller name can also be an indication, and incidentally the price too.
Then there is a legal notice, where you can also check, and if you open the reviews, you can see where the seller is from.
bergmensch68
OP1 week agoThanks for your honest opinion, and yes, the price should have raised suspicion.
miriam@ebay
Hello @bergmensch68 and thanks for bringing this to our attention. We understand that the situation is frustrating for you as a commercial boat rental operator and we take reports of possible violations of our policies and applicable legal requirements seriously. The matter you described is currently being reviewed internally.
Best regards
Miriam
bergmensch68
OP1 week agoHello Miriam,
I’d be very interested to know how eBay handles such offers.
Best regards
bergmensch68