The Commerce Commission has fined a Palmerston North man $5000 over three charges under the Fair Trading Act for not disclosing himself as being in trade.
Bilal Shurab was sentenced on July 10 and it marks the first time action has been taken against a trader for that reason.
The items he was selling were mostly second-hand household items.
"Traders must declare their status to consumers, so that consumers know they are protected by the Fair Trading Act and the Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA) and can exercise their rights," Antonia Horrocks of the CC said.
Shurab listed more than 1300 items between November 2016 and April 2017.
"Mr Shurab was operating a business on Trade Me but he failed to declare that when selling online ... this was liable to mislead consumers that they were engaging in a private sale and were not covered by the protections in the CGA," Ms Horrocks said.
A total of $3500 of the $5000 was due to Shurab selling an unsafe baby's cot, the Commission said.
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