Consumer group CHOICE has tested 22 toys from online marketplaces against mandatory toy safety standards for children, and found a number of toys from AliExpress, Amazon, eBay and Temu with significant failures.
The results come not long after CHOICE testing revealed 17 toys from online marketplaces – AliExpress, Amazon, eBay and Shein – failed mandatory button battery safety standards.
“It’s really disappointing to see more safety failures in toys purchased through online marketplaces, particularly as we get closer to Christmas, when we know many people will be buying products like these for the children in their lives,” says CHOICE Director of Campaigns, Andy Kelly.
“Some of the failures we saw in our testing could result in children under three years old choking from ingestion or inhalation of small objects or balls, or choking from objects like handles that could become lodged in the back of the throat.The fact that we were easily able to purchase these toys online is simply not good enough,” says Kelly.
The toys which failed safety testing were:
- AliExpress rattle
- Amazon lip shaped whistle
- Amazon rattle set
- eBay rattle
- eBay foam letters and numbers
- Temu elephant teether
CHOICE also purchased 16 other products from AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, Temu and Kogan, which passed safety testing.
When CHOICE contacted the retailers, Amazon, eBay, and Temu all told us the products have been removed from their platforms. AliExpress rejected our claims, saying it could not find the product (however CHOICE found similar items still on sale).
“While these unsafe toys have now been removed from sale, they should never have been available for purchase at all. Until we introduce stronger product safety laws, online marketplaces will continue to be under no clear, legal obligation to ensure the products sold by third party suppliers on their platforms are safe, even for children,” says Kelly.
“CHOICE is continuing to call for stronger product safety laws which will make it illegal for all companies, including online marketplaces like AliExpress, Amazon, eBay and Temu, to sell unsafe products,” says Kelly.
Items purchased and tested from Kogan did not pose any safety issues.
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