Dozens of ‘dangerous’ ladders found for sale on online marketplaces
Hannah is an investigative journalist covering retail issues from fake reviews and unsafe products to supermarket pricing practices. She's been at Which? for 12 years.
A recent investigation by Which? has found 100 telescopic ladders for sale on online marketplaces that appeared similar or identical to dangerous products subject to official recalls.
The ladders are also similar in design to a product bought from Amazon Marketplace that caused an electrician severe injury that has had a lasting effect on his livelihood and wellbeing.
The matching ladders found across online marketplaces including AliExpress, Amazon, eBay, Shein and Temu could put more people at risk, despite the platforms' insistence that the safety of their customers is a top priority.
Find out how to shop safely online and avoid dangerous products.
Telescopic ladders on online marketplaces
Last year we developed our own tool that allows us to match official warnings from the Office for Product Safety and Standards with products still being sold online. We set a high bar for what constitutes a ‘similar’ product, and our testing and investigations have repeatedly shown that products that appear similar can pose the same safety risks, even if they have different branding.
We were able to find 100 ladders that appeared to be identical or similar in design to official safety notices, which state a serious risk of injuries as the ladders could bend or collapse and cause the user to fall. When we dug into the reviews on the matching listings, we found multiple buyers on Aliexpress and Amazon reporting safety concerns – including ladders flexing or bending to complete collapse.
It's not the first time we've found unsafe ladders for sale on online marketplaces. When we ran our searching tool last year we found 142 ladders for sale across 21 marketplaces that were near-identical to a ladder pictured in an OPSS report.
Keep an eye on the latest product recalls flagged by Which?.
'My Amazon ladder snapped while I was 4.5 metres up'
Electrician Joffrey Bogemans knows all too well that marketplaces don't take customer safety seriously enough.
Joffrey told Which? that he was working on a fire alarm at a commercial premises when the telescopic ladder he was using suddenly snapped. Joffrey fell 4.5 metres onto a concrete floor; he survived the fall, but it could have been fatal.
Joffrey has still not fully recovered and his injuries have had a lasting effect on his livelihood and wellbeing. The fall left him with broken ribs as well as damage to his pelvis, wrist and ankle. Joffrey also suffered a cut foot and has continuing lung discomfort. He was unable to work for eight weeks as a result and could only return gradually on a reduced basis after that, which led to significant loss of income. Joffrey shut down his business due to the financial and physical toll of his accident and now works full-time as a safety campaigner.
Joffrey said he felt confident buying this product on Amazon Marketplace because the seller falsely claimed it met the product safety standard EN 131. Despite this, neither the seller nor Amazon accepted liability, so Joffrey began a lengthy legal process which is still ongoing.
The seller did not have liability insurance which means that even if Joffrey wins his legal case, there is no guarantee that they have the financial resources to pay out. The listing was removed, but the seller is still active on Amazon and has listings for similar ladders.
Amazon did not comment on Joffrey's case but told us that it requires all products listed on Amazon Marketplace 'to comply with applicable laws, regulations, and Amazon policies' and that it proactively monitors its store for safety alerts and product recalls and removes relevant products and contacts those who purchased them.
Ladders fail safety testing
It’s not just us finding repeated safety issues with products sold on these platforms. Which? is part of a coalition of safety groups and businesses calling for tough new laws to hold platforms to account, and work from our partner organisations is adding to the growing evidence.
When the Ladder Association carried out safety tests on 14 ladders bought from third party sellers on online marketplaces Amazon, B&Q marketplace and eBay in October 2025, it found that every single one of them failed and posed a significant safety risk.
Of those that failed, the Ladder Association claimed 86% were wrongly marked or marketed as conforming with the relevant safety standard, EN 131 – like the ladder that Joffrey bought. All of these ladders were subsequently removed from sale.
By contrast, the ladders bought from B&Q directly, rather than third party sellers on its platform, passed the Ladder Association’s tests.
In 2015, a tragic death involving a telescopic ladder prompted the publication of a Prevention of Future deaths report. Yet more than 10 years later, hundreds of dangerous telescopic ladders are still for sale thanks to the persistent failure of online marketplaces to do enough to prevent dangerous products from reaching consumers.
Clear legal duty is urgently needed
As part of our latest investigation we also found baby sleeping bags that pose a suffocation risk, as well as reciprocating saws, energy saving plugs and plug-in heaters that appear similar to safety alerts for products posing a risk of fire and electric shock. Our findings suggest that marketplaces are failing to take even the basic step of acting on official reports to protect consumers from unsafe items. We’re tired of doing their work for them.
We believe that preventing consumers being exposed to such widespread hazards would be no great challenge for platforms with the resources and technical capabilities of Amazon and other online retail giants.
The Product Regulation and Metrology Act, adopted in July 2025, enables the government to impose product safety requirements on online marketplaces through secondary legislation, but these have been delayed. It urgently needs to use these powers to ensure that dangerous products are prevented from reaching people in the UK.
Sue Davies, Which? Head of Consumer Protection Policy said: 'Cases like this reveal the life-altering consequences of dangerous products that Amazon and other online marketplaces can and should prevent from ever reaching consumers. Lives will be at risk until online marketplaces are truly held accountable.
'The government must urgently prioritise secondary regulations under the Product Regulation and Metrology Act to impose a clear legal duty on online marketplaces for ensuring the safety of products sold through their third-party sellers, with tough enforcement for those that fall short.
'By making online marketplaces legally responsible for unsafe products, the government can set a world-leading standard for product safety in the digital age.'
Which? is campaigning for stricter rules to prevent the sale of unsafe products. Sign our petition to protect online shoppers.
What the marketplaces told us
Every time a product fails our tests or we find a recalled product for sale online, we tell the platform in question. We shared our latest findings with the platforms - not just for ladders but across baby sleeping bags, energy saving plugs, plug-in heaters and reciprocating saws. Here's what they said.
Aliexpress
'AliExpress takes customer safety and product compliance extremely seriously. All third-party sellers on our platform are required to comply with applicable laws as well as AliExpress’s strict policies and standards. We act swiftly to remove non-compliant listings and suspend or terminate seller accounts that violate—or attempt to circumvent—these requirements.
'The products flagged by Which? have already been removed from the UK market. In response, we have activated enhanced proactive detection measures within our risk control system to identify and remove identical and similar non-compliant products.
'Our approach combines automated filtering with manual monitoring. This includes regularly scanning official product recall notices to detect and delist matching items. When new information about a potentially recalled product emerges, we investigate immediately and take appropriate action—such as removing listings—if violations are confirmed. Where a sold item is verified as identical to a recalled product, we notify affected customers in accordance with guidance from the relevant regulatory authorities.'
Amazon
'We require all products offered in our store to comply with applicable laws, regulations, and Amazon policies, and we proactively monitor our store for safety alerts and product recalls and remove relevant products and email customers who purchased them.
'Safety alerts are specific to an individual products' unique characteristics, including brand name, model number or design features, and our initial findings show that nearly all of the vast majority of products highlighted by Which? 's research do not fall under the scope of these alerts.
'Two of the items flagged by Which? have been removed and we will further refine our controls.'
B&Q
A B&Q spokesperson said: 'We take the safety of products sold by sellers at B&Q Marketplace very seriously and proactively check to ensure that no products that are the subject of a product recall are offered for sale.'
eBay
'Consumer safety is a top priority for eBay. We have reviewed the listings identified by Which? and have taken action where required, including removing items and notifying buyers where appropriate. We work diligently to prevent and remove unsafe product listings through seller compliance audits, block filter algorithms, AI supported monitoring by in-house specialists, and close partnerships with regulators. These measures prevent millions of potentially unsafe products from being listed each year.'
Shein
'SHEIN has robust measures in place to prevent illegal and unsafe items from being listed on our platform, and we continuously strengthen these safeguards. These controls begin before any seller is permitted to join the SHEIN Marketplace. This process helps to prevent non-compliant listings from reaching consumers. Once listed, products remain subject to ongoing monitoring and post-listing reviews.
'SHEIN also partners with internationally-recognised product safety and quality testing agencies, including Bureau Veritas, Intertek, SGS, and TÜV SÜD, to support our efforts to keep non-compliant products off our sites. Where a seller is found to be non-compliant or in violation of our requirements, SHEIN takes appropriate enforcement action. In this instance, warnings have been issued to the relevant vendors, and they will be subject to heightened scrutiny going forward.'
Temu
'Temu monitors product recall and safety alerts issued by OPSS and other regulatory authorities to identify and remove unsafe products. Following our review of the products identified, we found that they are not covered by OPSS recalls. The flagged products have different features, specifications, or are from different manufacturers than the recalled items referenced in the alerts.
We have integrated OPSS recall information into our seller training program to help third-party sellers stay informed of safety requirements. We stand ready to take down any product suspected of having safety concerns for review.'
