Published
MyDeal.com.au (MyDeal) has today become the latest online marketplace to confirm its commitment to protecting consumers from unsafe goods online by signing up to the Australian Product Safety Pledge (the pledge). The pledge is a voluntary agreement, containing 12 product safety actions which signatories commit to and report on in an effort to improve and strengthen product safety measures across their businesses.
MyDeal is the fifth marketplace to sign the pledge, joining the inaugural signatories and online marketplace giants – AliExpress, Amazon Australia, Catch.com.au and eBay Australia who signed the pledge in late 2020. MyDeal sells household goods, like furniture and homewares, with more than 800 active sellers and 800,000 active customers. Over one million products were sold by MyDeal in the last financial year.
By signing the pledge, MyDeal commits to certain product-safety related responsibilities, which goes beyond what is legally required of it – demonstrating its commitment to providing consumers with a safe and trusted online shopping experience. Some of these commitments include:
- removing unsafe product listings within two business days and informing relevant authorities on the action and outcomes
- creating a pathway for consumers to report unsafe products
- assisting suppliers to comply with Australian product safety laws
- taking proactive steps to stop or limit the sale of banned, non-compliant and recalled products.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) welcomes MyDeal as the latest online marketplace to join the pledge, and encourages other online marketplaces that are interested in strengthening their product safety policies, to contact the ACCC for more information.
Background
The pledge (modelled on a similar initiative in the European Union) was developed by the ACCC in collaboration with the initial pledge signatories, in response to the growth in online shopping and the challenges associated with managing product safety in the online marketplace.