The deadly smoke alarm still being sold on eBay
Five years on from first finding a dangerously unreliable smoke alarm being sold through eBay, a Which? investigation found the same unsafe product widely available across eBay and other online marketplaces.
The unbranded and dangerous smoke alarm, sometimes listed as the SS-168, repeatedly failed to detect smoke and sound the alarm when tested, yet it was still available to buy through eBay years after the marketplace had been informed of how dangerous it was.
20 of the first 250 cheapest listings on eBay for smoke alarms were for this alarm, with prices starting at less than £5, and according to figures listed on eBay, 20 sellers had sold 1,379 dangerous alarms.
Find the best smoke alarm for your home with our smoke alarm reviews.
Dangerous smoke alarm fails tests
Our research showed that this type of alarm was simply unable to detect smoke reliably, regardless of the kind of smoke we tested it with. In Which? lab tests it initially failed to sound the alarm in seven of our eight smoke detection tests. When we retested it a year later, it failed to sound in all eight smoke tests.
Two samples of the SS-168 failed to sound when tested to detect smoke from two smouldering cotton fires, two fires fuelled by liquid solvents and two made up of fast slamming plastics. And after originally passing one of our two wood fire smoke detection tests, it then failed both of the retests, failing to sound on both occasions. If there’s a fire in your home and this is your only way of detecting smoke, the consequences don’t bear thinking about.
20 listings on eBay out of the first 250 cheapest smoke alarms might not sound like a lot. But the twenty sellers more than pack a punch with the volume of alarms they're selling. One seller has sold more than 400 of the alarms, another has shifted 264, with three further sellers accounting for more than 300 sales between them.
In total, and according to figures listed on eBay, the 20 sellers have sold 1,379 dangerous alarms.
And as well as simply not doing the one job it was designed to do, the instructions provided with the alarm aren’t in English.
eBay fails to prevent dangerous alarms appearing for sale
In 2018, when we first investigated this dangerous alarm being sold through eBay, we found that around 100 of the cheapest 250 smoke alarms listed on the platform were for this model. When we alerted eBay to the scale of the problem, it removed listings for all of these alarms.
In 2019 we raised the problem of this alarm with eBay again and it removed 60 listings from its site.
In 2022 we checked to see whether alarms that had previously failed Which? smoke detection tests were continuing to be listed, and found none in the first 500 listings we reviewed on eBay. This showed what can be done by online marketplaces to crack down on products like this that can’t be sold legally in the UK.
But this dangerous alarm is once again widely available, illustrating how easily sellers can list products like this, even when the platforms know how dangerous they are.
Dangerous smoke alarms also found on AliExpress and Wish
Listings for this dangerous alarm aren’t confined to eBay. We found listing after listing on AliExpress and Wish.
On AliExpress we found 23 listings from sellers claiming to have sold 407 alarms in total and, who if believed, tell us they have 53,368 more in stock. And we found 14 of the cheapest 250 smoke alarms listed on Wish, a platform we have previously informed about this dangerous and unreliable smoke alarm, were for this product.
When we checked Amazon none of the dangerous alarms in question were listed by it or any Amazon Marketplace sellers.
More dangerous smoke alarms to avoid
The SS-168 isn't the only smoke alarm bought through an online marketplace and tested by Which? that simply doesn't work.
Every time we test unbranded alarms or alarms from less well known brands, such as the Digoo DG SA10, we find products that fail to sound when smoke is in the air. There are nine reviews for these dangerous Don't Buy alarms on our site.
Check out our rogues' gallery of Don't Buy smoke alarm reviews.
How to buy a smoke alarm that you can rely on
We design tests to put smoke alarms through all the extremes they could be exposed to if a fire happened in your home. We use four individual test fires for each alarm with one made of smouldering wood, another made of cotton and two fast flaming fires fuelled by solvents and plastics, and test two samples of each brand of alarm with all four test fires. All of the fires are controlled under lab conditions.
We record how thick the smoke is when the alarm sounds and how long it takes the alarm to sense the danger and sound the alarm. Any alarm failing one of the smoke detection tests will be a Don’t Buy.
Our results show it's just not worth taking chances on a device that could save your life. When you need to buy a new smoke alarm, go for a well-known brand being sold through a well-known shop or website.
Unless there’s a sale on, don’t be tempted by incredibly cheap alarms - anything under £10 is to be avoided most of the time. And look for an accreditation mark on the packaging, such as the Kitemark, that shows the product has met the official test standard.
And be careful where you shop – our research indicates that cheap and unreliable smoke alarms - and dangerous carbon monoxide (CO) alarms - are typically only widely available through online marketplaces.
Read our guides to the best smoke alarms and best carbon monoxide detectors to find a model you can trust.
Which? calls for government action against unsafe products
The government needs to clamp down on the current frightening gap in the product safety regime. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has been looking into this for a considerable amount of time – despite Which? testing repeatedly highlighting unsafe products on marketplaces. It now needs to publish the result of its review and follow up urgently with decisive action so that online marketplaces legally have to take responsibility for preventing unsafe products from being offered by sellers, remove them swiftly if they're found and prevent them from reappearing.
Sue Davies, Which? Head of Consumer Protection Policy, said: 'It's really worrying that online marketplaces have failed to stop the sale of a potentially deadly smoke alarm, with more than 1,000 sold on eBay alone since Which? tests revealed how it puts lives at risk.
'The UK's product safety system is not fit for purpose and Which? investigations have repeatedly uncovered dangerous products sold without adequate safety checks or monitoring on online marketplaces which could endanger the lives of people buying them.
'The government needs to give online marketplaces greater legal responsibility for preventing unsafe products being sold on their platforms and for responding to reports of dangerous products quickly. This should be a key change urgently implemented from the OPSS’ long overdue product safety review.'
Which? also shared the research with the London Fire Brigade (LFB), who stressed the importance of shopping carefully in this market.
LFB Assistant Commissioner for Fire Safety, Charlie Pugsley told us: ‘We thank Which? for its work raising safety concerns about faulty alarms. Smoke alarms are vital as they can detect fires in their early stages and give people precious time to leave a property in safety, so it’s essential that they work correctly.
We would always advise buying a smoke alarm from a reputable retailer with a 10 year, or long-lasting sealed battery, and always buy alarms that are marked with a current British Standards or European (CE) safety mark, so you know they’re approved and safe. And always test your smoke alarms regularly to ensure they are in good working order, replacing an alarm when needed.
If you purchase a faulty smoke alarm and the retailer doesn't take your concerns seriously, report it to Trading Standards as they could be breaching your statutory rights and putting your safety at risk if they’re non-compliant. Make sure you purchase a replacement smoke alarm as soon as you can.'
What the online marketplaces told us
We shared our findings with the online marketplaces these alarms are sold through. All three agreed to remove listings on their platforms, and as we went to press, all 57 had been removed from eBay, AliExpress and Wish.
Since raising our concerns with eBay and Wish, both platforms have contacted buyers to let them know that this alarm is unsafe. Our buying team recently received an email from eBay recommending that owners stop using the alarm. eBay’s email stated that the alarm, ‘may have been recalled or pose a safety hazard.’ It went on to say that it’s not permitted to be sold on eBay and that owners should direct any questions to the seller or the manufacturer. eBay advised owners to check out the EU rapid alert system for dangerous products, RAPEX, also saying that customers may be eligible for refunds.
In the email our buying team received from Wish, owners were advised to stop using the alarms immediately and to dispose of them. And Wish went one step further in committing to process refunds for buyers who had, ‘received (or expected to receive) these products within applicable time frames’.
As we went to press, we hadn’t received a similar update from AliExpress.
Ebay told us: 'We only allow our sellers to list smoke alarms manufactured by a specific list of approved brands, so we immediately removed the listings that Which? flagged to our team. We have also conducted further sweeps of our site to remove any similar listings.
'In 2020 we implemented additional safety measures which aim to prevent the sale of unbranded smoke alarms, and we are currently reviewing these measures to make sure items such as these do not evade them in future.'
Wish told us: 'Each of the items highlighted within this report have been removed from the platform as they clearly violate safety standards. We are also monitoring for any identical or similar listings and will take any further appropriate action.
'We are in the process of contacting impacted buyers and we are also exploring remedial action against any offending merchants.
'We remain committed to creating a safe and fun environment for users to shop online and continue to deploy new measures to help prevent, detect, and remove unsafe items from being listed on the platform.'
AliExpress told us: 'The items identified as part of the investigation by Which? have been removed. As a third-party marketplace, AliExpress does not take custody of the goods being sold.'
