Selling children's toys and reasonble expectation - please help!

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping someone here can advise me because I haven’t been able to reach a person at Trade Me and seem to be getting routed only through the AI bot.

I recently listed an Our Generation Ice Cream Truck with some accessories, and I received the following message from Trade Me:

“This is a friendly reminder that it is your responsibility to ensure that your listing complies with applicable product safety regulations. It is important that any items you list are safe and legal to sell.

You must ensure that all children’s toys advertised or supplied in New Zealand comply with AS/NZS ISO 8124.1:2002 Safety of toys – Part 1: Safety aspects related to mechanical and physical properties. You must also ensure your children’s toys do not fall under the Unsafe Goods (Lead in Children’s Toys) Indefinite Prohibition Notice 2009.

Compliance with the Standard and the Unsafe Goods Notice is required by law and reduces the risk of death or injury. We encourage you to read them to ensure your item complies.

If your item does not comply, you must immediately withdraw your listing.”

I completely understand the importance of toy safety, but I’m a little unsure what a private seller is realistically expected to do in this situation.

I bought the toy from Farmers in New Zealand some years ago, so I had assumed that a children’s toy sold through a major New Zealand retailer would have met the applicable safety requirements at the time it was sold.

I’m not a product-safety engineer and obviously don’t have the equipment or expertise to test a second-hand toy for lead or independently certify it against a technical safety standard.

This is the message I was hoping to send to Trade Me:

“Thank you for your message regarding my listing for the Our Generation Ice Cream Truck.

I purchased this toy from Farmers in New Zealand some years ago. As it was sold by a major New Zealand retailer as a children’s toy, I have no reason to believe that there is an issue with the product in relation to lead or applicable New Zealand toy-safety requirements.

I am, however, simply a private consumer selling a used toy. I am not a product-safety engineer and do not have access to equipment that would allow me to test the toy for lead or independently certify its compliance with a technical safety standard.

If Trade Me has any specific information or concern suggesting that this particular Our Generation product may not comply with New Zealand requirements, I would of course appreciate being told. If there is a genuine safety concern, I am very happy to withdraw the listing.

However, in the absence of a specific concern about this product, I’m not sure how an ordinary private seller is expected to independently establish this beyond knowing where the toy was originally purchased.”

Has anyone else received a message like this when selling a second-hand toy?

Is this simply a general reminder that Trade Me sends out, or is there something specific about Our Generation toys / the Ice Cream Truck that I should be aware of?

I’m perfectly happy to delist it if there is an actual safety concern. I’m just trying to understand what Trade Me expects a private consumer to do in practice.

Thanks very much for any advice.