topic Re: Getting an electrical product approved before selling. in Selling

Getting an electrical product approved before selling.

misslilnik1000 — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 15:08:28 GMT

Hi everyone, I'm just wondering if anyone here has any experience in getting imported electrical products approved by australian standards before selling them?

Im gathering it is fairly expensive, but does anyone know a rough cost and how hard the process is?

I have also seen this sellers item which i can't imagine would be legal to sell in Australia?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/AC-POWER-SUPPLY-ADAPTOR-CABLE-for-Nintendo-Wii-/270931220651?pt=AU_Video_Game_Accessories&hash=item3f14c258ab&_uhb=1

From what i know any powered Australian product has to have insulated pins, not even the US to AU adaptor provided in this listing has insulated pins.

Most of the products i am looking at selling i would easily be able to provide a legal australian power supply with it, would this mean i would still need to get the product itself tested?

There are a few items i would like to sell similar to this listing however, which need specific chargers and are close to impossible to source with australian plugs already on them, so if i was to provide one with a good quality US to AU adaptor with insulated pins would this be sufficient? Would i still be able to get this product tested or would it be completely disregarded because it doesn't have the australian plug as standard?

Thanks 🙂

Re: Getting an electrical product approved before selling.

bookmanx500 — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 05:09:03 GMT

Contact the Elactrical Regulatory Authorities Council. Their web site - erac.gov.au.
They should be able to give you all the info. you require.

Barrie

Re: Getting an electrical product approved before selling.

misslilnik1000 — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 06:33:32 GMT

Thanks Barrie, thats been very helpful information. Iv had a good read up on the erac.gov.au website. But i guess what I'm really trying to find out is from other peoples experience, what i should expect the cost of getting something approved, this information if very hard to find.

I also don't want to try and get a product approved that could be possibly illegal and get knocked back (after already forking out the fees), surely someone one here knows if it is legal to sell something with a us plug with a good quality converter?

Re: Getting an electrical product approved before selling.

cq_tech — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 06:43:17 GMT

Well if it isn't, then I (and a lot of others) are in big trouble because almost every electrical item I buy from China comes with a US or EU plug and an Australian adapter. The items are all rated to work up to 240VAC@50Hz. Are they illegal? I doubt it, because customs lets them in.

Is the item you're considering importing built to run on 240V or the 110V that is used in the US, as that's where your real issue will lie?

Re: Getting an electrical product approved before selling.

misslilnik1000 — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 06:57:10 GMT

Hi cq, Yes my device is 110-240v compatible. I did read up somewhere though that if the Australian plug does not have insulated pins then this does not meet australian electrical standard and is illegal to sell. Which means all these cheap US to AU converters on ebay would be illegal as they aren't insulated.

So i guess thats why i am worried that maybe it could possibly also be illegal if it doesn't have a australian plug standard?

There are many hong kong sellers selling power supplies and adaptors without this insulation, which I'm fairly confident is illegal as it doesn't meet australian electrical standards. Obviously it's a bit difficult to control what overseas business are selling to Australia, but i wouldn't want to risk it within Australia. I have managed to source a good quality US to AU converter that has this insulation, but at the same time i don't know if that is sufficient or wether the product needs to have the australian plug already. I don't want to waste my time getting a product like this approved just to lose the admission fee and be told it has to have an attached Aussie plug.

Re: Getting an electrical product approved before selling.

putney32 — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 08:19:02 GMT

-------, but at the same time i don't know if that is sufficient or wether the product needs to have the australian plug already. I don't want to waste my time getting a product like this approved just to lose the admission fee and be told it has to have an attached Aussie plug.

so what you are saying is that you want information, but you are not prepared to pay for that legal opinion, because it may not be what you want to hear???

sorry I thought people paid for that legal opinion in order to get the RIGHT OPINION, not just some hearsay from an internet chat site

?:|

Re: Getting an electrical product approved before selling.

misslilnik1000 — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 09:03:08 GMT

Putney i don't think thats what I'm saying at all. Any electrical product that is imported and isn't already certified in Australia has to be certified and marked before selling, that is a fact that i know.

I just thought someone might know what is legal to sell and what isn't. Getting a product certified isn't just a legal opinion it is a mark to say the product has been tested and what is required to sell the product.. Obviously if that product is clearly not a legal product by Australian standards by a long shot then there would be no point getting it certified hence not selling the product at all.

I don't know wether my product is legal or not, i just thought someone might, considering so many sellers on here are selling products with plug converters. Clearly if no body knows the answer then no one is actually getting their products certified which is what they are required to be doing by law.

Re: Getting an electrical product approved before selling.

k1ooo-slr-sales — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 05:27:53 GMT

. . . Any electrical product that is imported and isn't already certified in Australia has to be certified and marked before selling, that is a fact that i know.

simple, by your own standard if the product you are intending to sell isn't marked it isn't legal to sell.

Re: Getting an electrical product approved before selling.

retrogeekaustralia — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 12:59:49 GMT

exactly, although what it sounds like you are trying to say is, why bother asking for help if i have to get it certified anyway right?

Well if the product is so obviously against Australian standards then there would be no point certifying OR selling it it in the first place. THIS is what im trying to find out, whether my product has any chance at all of even being regarding as compliant...

Going by this recent post http://community.ebay.com.au/topic/Buying/Electrical-Compliance-Selling/500165391

If this in fact is correct, then there would be no point in even thinking about selling OR getting the product tested/marked for compliance.

I was hoping it wasn't illegal as i have seen so many people selling products like this, but i didn't think it would be legal - that is was i was trying to find out.

Re: Getting an electrical product approved before selling.

gizmoclearance — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 15:03:03 GMT

Good Question

I once imported some electrical goods but very soon I realized anything that plugs into wall power point should be certified beforehand

However I doubt most ebay sellers would bother doing that because you have to compete with overseas sellers who are only responsible for their local authority

the question is, if the products hare ROHS or EU certified, do they have to go through Australian Authority again?

Re: Getting an electrical product approved before selling.

galacticom — Mon, 24 Apr 2017 04:14:32 GMT

A late reply but putting this for anyone else who comes across this -

If the applicance its self runs directly off AC mains power (without a low voltage DC power adapter), and it is on the prescribed item list, the device must meet Australian standards and have approval from an Australian electrical safety authority. Pretty much everything is covered by the prescribed item list.

The cost for application and approval is about $800+ depending on what you need and if you do it right first time etc.

If the device is low volage and uses a DC power adapter, such as a USB charger, or wall wart transformer, you can just get an approved power supply to sell with the item and you don't need to get the item its self approved.

Just about all USB and other power supplies from overseas on ebay are non-compliant as are many local ones. Approval symbols from other juristictions (such as the EU CE symbol) do not count in Australia in any circumstances. Some products also have fake numbers which makes it even harder for you. I searched ebay for the cheapest USB chargers with Australian approval that I could find and ordered 250 units of them. When I received them, I was suspicious as they didn't look right and chcked the Australian approval number online (The number was written so small I had to take a photo and blow it up on the screen to even read it). The approval number was registered to Apple and this was definitely not an Apple product, so they had just faked the approval tick symbol and number. I have also had ones that have an approval number in the photo on the ebay ad but when the item arrives, they don't have one. I have reported these to ebay but they take no interest or action against the sellers other than tell me to start a return process. This is frustrating and also allows for a non-level playing field.

While Ebay don't take reports I have made seriously, the state electrical safety inspectors do and they will come after Australian sellers who do not comply, particularly since several houses burnt down and a woman was electricuted to death from an online purchased non-compliant usb charger a year or two ago.

******PLEASE NOTE THIS IS ONLY MY PERSONAL UNDERSTANDING FROM MY OWN RESEARCH AND EXPERIENCE - I'M NOT A PROFESSIONAL IN THIS FIELD AND I DO NOT WARRANT, GUARANTEE OR OTHERWISE ACCEPT LIABILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OF ANYTHING I HAVE SAID ABOVE WHATSOEVER - YOU NEED TO DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH AND DO NOT RELY ON WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN - CONTACT YOUR STATE'S ELECTRICAL SAFETY AUTHORITY FOR ACCURATE INFORMATION******