Getting an electrical product approved before selling.

[misslilnik1000]

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 🙂

[galacticom]

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******