Fruugo and eBay, despite both having signed the Australian Product Safety Pledge, are among several online marketplaces in Australia CHOICE found to still be selling a dangerous and illegal heater in October this year.
The Handy Heater Turbo 800 received a Shonky Award from CHOICE in 2025, bestowed upon the worst products and services of the year, for being a safety hazard and non-compliant with Australian standards.
However, CHOICE found this heater was still widely available on Australian marketplaces a year later and unsuspecting Australians could have ended up with this dangerous heater in their home.
Platforms have been caught selling dangerous items too frequently, and reforms are needed to hold marketplaces to account
In addition to Fruugo and eBay, at least six other online marketplaces in Australia were selling the Handy Heater in October 2026, including Woolworths, Big W and Kogan.
CHOICE head of government relations and policy, Morgan Campbell, says platforms have been caught selling dangerous items too frequently, and reforms are needed to hold marketplaces to account.
“It’s clear we can’t rely on them to prevent these products from being sold. The government needs to step in and introduce General Safety Protections that would make it illegal to sell unsafe products and place specific obligations on online marketplaces.”
The Handy Heater Turbo 800 does not have a power cord; instead it has integral pins, meaning the heater itself plugs directly into the socket and hangs from the wall. The Handy Heater claims this is “space-saving” with “no messy wires”. What it doesn’t tell you is that this breaches Australian electrical safety standards.
The Handy Heater Turbo 800 also lacks a standard Australian plug and socket and requires an overseas adapter to use, making it non-compliant in the Australian market. When CHOICE tested this product in 2025, we found the adapter made the heater sag and left electrical pins exposed. We also looked inside the heater and found shoddy wiring, a lack of internal thermal protection and the heating element mounted directly onto thermoplastic material.
The long list of issues with the Handy Heater earned it a Shonky Award in 2025, with CHOICE heating expert Chris Barnes warning consumers not to buy this dangerous product.
“Although they may seem like a cheap and convenient option for heating, they carry a serious risk of fire or electrical fault,” Barnes said.
UK-based online marketplace Fruugo signed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Safety Pledge in August 2026, committing to identifying and removing unsafe items from its site.
Despite Fruugo’s promise, in October 2026 CHOICE found over a hundred listings for the Handy Heater from different sellers on its Australian site.
Hundreds of listings of the Handy Heater Turbo remained on Fruugo’s site 24 days after it told CHOICE they would be removed.
After CHOICE’s second attempt to contact the business, Fruugo responded. Despite pledging to the ACCC that it would improve systems to detect unsafe products, Fruugo told us that the individual retailers on its website are responsible for the products they sell.
“Fruugo does not itself sell the relevant products, does not handle, verify or otherwise see the relevant products, and is not involved in the fulfilment process.”
Fruugo said, however, it takes complaints of this nature seriously and it will remove the products from its site, which can take some time.
Although they may seem like a cheap and convenient option for heating, they carry a serious risk of fire or electrical fault
Chris Barnes, CHOICE heating expert
Fruugo committed under the Product Safety Pledge to remove unsafe product listings within two business days of being notified. Despite this, 24 days after telling CHOICE these products would be removed, more than a hundred listings for the Handy Heater were still active on Fruugo.
eBay, an inaugural signatory to the Product Safety Pledge, also allows the sale of the Handy Heater Turbo to Australian customers. eBay did not respond to CHOICE’s initial requests for comment. Almost two months later, following another email from CHOICE, the ecommerce giant removed the shonky product from its site.
Morgan says because Fruugo and eBay have signed the Product Safety Pledge they should be held to a higher standard.
“By failing to remove this product within two days, both companies failed at the first hurdle,” he says.
CHOICE found listings of the Handy Heater Turbo available on eBay to Australian consumers.
Some companies, like Kogan and Woolworths, which also operates Big W, were quick to take down the dangerous products after CHOICE found them on their online marketplaces. However, they also told us that the responsibility for product safety sits with third-party vendors.
“Kogan.com operates an online marketplace where independent third-party sellers list and sell their own products,” a spokesperson says.
“All sellers agree to our Marketplace Seller Terms, which require them to comply with all applicable Australian laws and safety standards”.
A Woolworths spokesperson says “our marketplace sellers are required to ensure that all products listed on the platform comply with Australian regulatory requirements and mandatory product safety standards”.
Other sites selling the shonky heater, including Danoz Direct and Ortorex, did not respond to CHOICE and continue to sell the product on their marketplaces. Glovera says it is reviewing the matter and had not yet taken the listing down ten days after being notified.
CHOICE has submitted a complaint to state and federal consumer regulators, calling for further investigation and enforcement action, if necessary. CHOICE is calling on the ACCC to place extra scrutiny on Fruugo and eBay – both companies should be held to a higher standard since signing the Product Safety Pledge.
This is not the first time online marketplaces have been caught selling unsafe products. As part of a 2026 investigation into banned and potentially deadly toys, the ACCC sent Fruugo, eBay, Kogan and Amazon take-down requests for products listed on their sites, and the marketplaces committed to additional measures to prevent sellers relisting dangerous products.
In June 2026, CHOICE also submitted a designated complaint to the ACCC raising concerns that the sale of unsafe and illegal products is systemic across online marketplaces.
Platforms must be held accountable for what they sell
Morgan Campbell, CHOICE head of government relations and policy
In response, the ACCC agreed that Australia’s product safety laws have not kept up with the growth of online marketplaces and said reforms are needed to prevent unsafe products from harming Australians. “Australian consumers should be able to trust that products they purchase are safe, including when they buy goods online,” ACCC Commissioner Luke Woodward says.
Under the current system, it is difficult to police online marketplaces when they are not the direct supplier or are based overseas, Woodward says, and clear obligations should be placed on these sites to prevent the sale of unsafe products.
In July 2026, federal, state and territory consumer ministers committed to prioritise product safety reforms, including the consideration of general safety protections, which would place a clear legal responsibility on businesses to ensure products are safe before they are sold.
“There is an urgent need for stronger product safety laws that prevent unsafe products from being sold in the first place,” Morgan says.
“Platforms must be held accountable for what they sell.”
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James is a journalist with CHOICE's editorial and investigations team, decoding complicated consumer issues and reporting on how corporations and businesses affect the lives of Australians.
He has previously created podcast series for We Are Explorers and Protect Our Winters Australia, and has published in Cosmos and The Citizen. James has a particular interest reporting on science, environmental and social issues, and was a recipient of a JEERA Ossie Award for his journalism.
James has a Master of Journalism and Bachelor of Science in Physiology from the University of Melbourne. LinkedIn
James is a journalist with CHOICE's editorial and investigations team, decoding complicated consumer issues and reporting on how corporations and businesses affect the lives of Australians.
He has previously created podcast series for We Are Explorers and Protect Our Winters Australia, and has published in Cosmos and The Citizen. James has a particular interest reporting on science, environmental and social issues, and was a recipient of a JEERA Ossie Award for his journalism.
James has a Master of Journalism and Bachelor of Science in Physiology from the University of Melbourne. LinkedIn
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