Marktplaats bans sales of delivery worker apparel ahead of curfew

Online market platform Marktplaats is actively banning ads selling second-hand jackets and other accessories from meal- or package delivery services. In anticipation of the government implementing a curfew, more and more people were offering delivery uniforms for sale in the expectation that delivery workers would be exempted from the curfew, ANP reports.

"As part of the fight against the pandemic, we do not allow products that aim to circumvent the rules," a spokesperson for the online market said to the news wire. A Marktplaats team started removing and blocking ads selling clothing for delivery services like Thuisbezorgd.nl, Deliveroo, PostNL and DHL on Tuesday.

Thuisbezorgd.nl stressed that the company's bright orange jackets are not to be used for anything other than the delivery of meals. The company believes that its delivery workers realize this, a spokesperson said to ANP. "We think this is mainly coats that people still had lying around unused," the spokesperson said. "We saw these posts on social media this weekend, but mainly as a joke."

The spokesperson estimated that there are about 10 thousand Thuisbezorgd.nl coats in the Netherlands.