[ripit]

For toys, always check for lead in the color. We know a family that discovered it on a counterfeit toy.

I wouldn't even know how to go about checking them for lead, though I'm pretty sure all the listings claimed them to be safe. I know that isn't worth much but neither are major retail stores claiming their products are safe. There is an article in cnn money about a group that tested toys from major US retailers and 1 in 3 had unacceptable levels of dangerous chemicals (20% were lead). There are endless stories as well as recalls regarding products in the US that contain dangerous chemicals. I work in retail and almost all the jewelry we get says it is unsafe for children in tiny print on the back. Most of the small apliances and lamps we get have warnings about the cord containing lead (and recommendations to wash your after touching them). This includes small appliances that deal with food. They are major brand name items too. As long as we keep buying everything from places like China that allow it,and let them get away with it, its going to be that way.

The only thing I know to do is have the children blood tested to see if they have/are being exposed. They have been recently tested and luckily there were no problems. It doesn't help that I made the mistake of moving to Niagara Falls, NY and at least for now am stuck here. The whole area is one massive toxic/radioactive waste dump (not kidding).

[MysteryOnion]

I wouldn't even know how to go about checking them for lead

Places like ACE hardware or Home Despots sell testing kits.

As long as we keep buying everything from places like China that allow it,and let them get away with it, its going to be that way.

Likewise, as long as we always make noise that it is unacceptable to sell inferior and dangerous crap to us that we can hold back those tides. Some of those unscrupulous manufacturers count on the attitude of the common consumers attitude of complaisantly doing an "oh well" and move on as some do when they loose "only" $10 on a half melted piece of plastic.

[ripit]

Places like ACE hardware or Home Despots sell testing kits.



Likewise, as long as we always make noise that it is unacceptable to sell inferior and dangerous crap to us that we can hold back those tides. Some of those unscrupulous manufacturers count on the attitude of the common consumers attitude of complaisantly doing an "oh well" and move on as some do when they loose "only" $10 on a half melted piece of plastic.

Thanks for the info on the testing kits. I agree that making some noise about the problem is defiantly warranted. It might reduce the problem so its probably worth the effort once in a while but I doubt it will ever go completely away unless countries like China clean up their act. The sad thing is, the Chinese people are hurt by it even more than we are. One of the latest problems there is counterfeit brand name baby formula. Apparently they found 141 factories making counterfeit baby formula that had little nutritional value and babies are dieing from malnutrition. They are basically starving to death. I would hope instances like this might open their eyes a bit to the costs of making and selling dangerous, poorly regulated products, be them counterfeit or not. It's sad such a price has to be paid though.

[MysteryOnion]

I doubt it will ever go completely away unless countries like China clean up their act.

Alas, like big corporations around us or say, not in China, this bad practice just simply becomes legal or well hidden with lots of money... pharmaceuticals companies as an example.

[jolepp]

While I have never personally had to file a claim for that reason, ebay used to take a very hard stance against sellers of counterfeit items and would often not require return (or so others have said). I gather it was out of fear of liability. Seems that ebay current policy is that you need third party confirmation (they will at their discretion accept a third party other than the manufacture) and they may require verification tht the item is properly destroyed or sent to the manufacture and costs of disposal may be paid by ebay. It seems like a rather vague policy to me. Returning a confirmed counterfeit item to the seller is illegal if I am not mistaken (in the US at least).
...

I'd guess the trouble with Ebay is that they really don't (or can't) have the resources to deal with problems outside their automated system. With the filter I think I just got a canned email applicable to a generic "Item not as described" case. In another incident I ordered a $2 step-down ring from a Chinese seller with the result that seller filed a nonpayment case on me despite having paid right after hitting "Buy now". This was resolved in my favor after I provided Ebay with the Paypal receipt email. However, I never got the ring, but the Ebay browser interface did not allow me to file a "Item not received" case, most likely because the seller had filed their complaint against me previosly, so I sent Ebay email(s) explaining the matter and telling them I want to invoke buyer protection to get my money back. Got what appeared to be canned responses, which failed to address the issue. Did not get the $2 back. After this I sent a paper letter to Ebay (*) as registered mail again explaining the issue and my wish to invoke buyer protection. After over six months I still have not received a reply nor gotten back the money I paid for an item I never received and I don't think I ever will. I suppose $2 + registed letter postage is well worth the lesson that one should not blindly trust Ebay (Paypal) buyer protection.

Since I have had just these two problematic cases in over 100 Ebay transactions I consider them useful for getting cheap Chinese stuff or an occasional second-hand lens. However, I would not use Ebay / Paypal for anything that costs more than I can afford to lose without consequence (other than annoyance ).

(*) The EU postal address was nowhere to be found on the Ebay web-page (usually a red flag ). The domain ebay.fi was registered to a proxy (another red flag). I asked and (to my surprise) got it from them by email though. Incidently, the government financial services regulator had the same address on file for Paypal (as I payment processor operating in this country Paypal needs to be registered with them).