Santa beware: Recalled toys for sale on websites

PARENTS buying Christmas gifts on auction websites should exercise greater caution following a spate of toy safety scares, consumer watchdogs have warned.

Since June leading toy makers have recalled toys found to be potentially unsafe or coated in substances such as lead paint.

But research by the Irish Examiner shows versions of the recalled toys are on sale on auction websites like eBay. And sellers are failing to give sufficient information so would-be buyers can tell if the goods are from faulty batches or safe ones.

For instance, sellers on eBay are auctioning the Fisher-Price Go Diego Go animal rescue boats but certain batches of the product were recalled last month over a lead paint scare.

Only the boats with the date codes 137-7HF or 223-7HF are affected but a lack of information means buyers cannot know whether a toy is a recalled item.

On eBay alone six other examples were found where sellers had failed to give sufficient information about the product.

The National Consumer Agency (NCA) yesterday told parents to exercise care when buying on internet auction sites this Christmas.

But the NCA admitted the sales were still legal due to the nature of auction sites and voluntary nature of the recalls to date.

“This is a complex matter because internet auction sites are not selling the goods — they are just ‘facilitating’ the sale,” said an NCA spokeswoman.

Internet auction websites are billed as a popular way for private sellers to make money from unwanted goods like toys no longer needed as children grow up.

Retailers can face legal pitfalls if they continue to sell a recalled toy even after a voluntary recall but no such threat applies to private sellers.

This means toys like the Bindeez beads — recalled after tests showed the glue turned into a date-rape drug — could still be inadvertently on the market through private sales.

“It’s not illegal to sell Bindeez as these were recalled on a voluntary basis,” said the spokeswoman.

“It’s a grey area but consumers need to be careful they are not buying something that has been recalled or is unsafe.”

She said the NCA would look to work with online auction sites to get them to publish recall notices so buyers and sellers are fully informed about safety alerts.

Last night, eBay insisted the website took every opportunity to remind both sellers and buyers to check details, such as the serial numbers of the goods.

“It is also important to emphasise that with more toys recalled recently than in previous months, if some sellers have sold recalled items then it is in all likelihood an honest mistake,” said eBay spokesman Malachi Quinn.