Purchase offers outside the EU without a CE mark and with incompatible mains voltage
Hi,
I've noticed that many hi-fi devices, among others from Japan, are being offered on eBay Germany that have neither a CE mark nor the right mains voltage. According to the customs website, such devices are not even allowed to be imported into the EU, and even if they were, where are users supposed to get the 100V mains voltage from?
I find these offers misleading at best, if not dubious. Am I wrong here?
MK
4 comments
de3trader
·1 year agoYou're wrong:
You can import (almost) anything you want. But if you then want to officially sell it here, then you have to comply with the EU rules (including CE). Privately (from China), that doesn't matter to you.
CE is a declaration by the manufacturer/importer/seller that the device complies with the current and relevant EU regulations (and that they have possibly checked this too). They are liable for this with that very CE declaration.
So CE is indeed a mark of quality (e.g. insulation of power lines or radio interference). It can be dispensed with through personal import, but then it's at your own risk.
Otherwise please state your source to customs in the future...
PS: Generalizing isn't worthwhile here - not everything without CE or from China/Japan/USA/XYZ is bad; you should always check the individual case (e.g. mercury thermometers are banned, replacement products are unfortunately unusably bad, but German coal-fired power plants alone still puff 7 tons of it into our air every year).
sunrise1605
·1 year agoUnfortunately, you are the one who is wrong.
I once bought a device privately from a German dealer, so far so good. Then I got a message from customs asking me to please come by.
The device had been ordered by the German dealer in the USA, without my knowledge, without any indication in the listing, and had no CE marking. I was therefore asked whether I had the relevant documents; otherwise the device would be returned because it would not pass customs like that.
The dealer was then furious, he indirectly accused me of wanting to scam him, because of course I got my money back via PayPal.
He even wanted to "visit" me. We were talking about a few hundred euros.
I then declared to him under oath that I had had to leave the customs building without the device and gave him the phone number of the customs office so he could have that confirmed by them as well.
What does the internet say about the CE mark:
What does the CE marking mean? With the CE marking, you as the manufacturer show that your product complies with the relevant EU directives, compliance with which is mandatory. The CE marking is not a seal of approval or quality mark.
Conclusion: not a quality feature for the consumer, but important when importing.
de3trader
·1 year ago...device bought privately from a German dealer...device was ordered by the German dealer in the USA...
Do you see the contradiction yourself? Otherwise, Regulation (EC) No. 765/2008 helps, and look up “placing on the market” while you’re at it; all my various toys have made it through customs without exception. You just need to know (preferably beforehand) what you’re buying and which regulations apply when/to whom/where.
And as for CE, read my text again and understand it:
...device complies with the current and relevant EU regulations...
From that I concluded:
In that sense, CE is indeed a mark of quality...
I already gave examples of that.
sunrise1605
·1 year ago@mkekruse
It is up to each buyer to check for themselves what they buy abroad, whether they are even allowed to import such products into the EU/to Germany and operate them there.
A bit of personal responsibility and prudence should be something you can expect from adults.
Maybe such devices are interesting for hobbyists who have the relevant knowledge of the subject or who only need parts of them. Who knows.
No one is forced to buy everything that is offered.
There are even products imported into Germany without CE marking, mostly from Chinese dealers. How they got through customs - no idea.
So you always have to be extremely careful about what you buy, from whom, and where.
P.S. The CE marking is not a quality mark and is not intended for consumers.
Any manufacturer can stick this symbol on their products and claim that it complies with the conformity regulations.
Apparently no one really checks that.