Half of second-hand webshops violate consumer rights

An investigation by the European Commission has found major shortcomings in the operation of second-hand webshops. More than half the of investigated online sellers were found to be “potentially in breach of EU consumer law” in a number of different ways.

Large-scale action

A large-scale sweep across 27 countries (the whole European Union minus Croatia and the Netherlands, but including Iceland and Norway) examined 356 online traders, with a focus on clothing, electronics, toys and interior design items. Of those 356, 185 (52 %) were earmarked for further investigations. Some of the main violations were: