Dutch retail products sold on Bol.com and Amazon for up to 10 times original price
Cheap household products from Dutch retailers such as Action, Ikea, Etos, and Lidl are being sold online for excessive prices on Bol.com and Amazon, according to an investigation by De Telegraaf. Some items are listed for up to ten times their original price.
A pack of Action’s Superfinn bathroom cleaner, normally 1.14 euros, is sold on Bol.com for 9.99 euros. Four packs of Action’s Spargo lemon-scented wet wipes, which cost 0.99 euros per pack in stores, are listed online for 18.50 euros, or 4.60 euros per pack.
Lidl’s Silvercrest brand also appears inflated. A Silvercrest handheld vacuum costs 25 euros in Lidl stores but is listed for 40 euros on Bol.com. Other kitchen and home appliances, including toasters, air fryers, smoothiemakers, and beard trimmers, face similar markups. Etos products, such as a standard hot-water bottle costing 8 euros, are offered online for 17 euros in different colors.
Ikea items are also targeted on Amazon. A three-meter Koppla power strip with four outlets and two USB ports, priced at 19.99 euros in Ikea stores, is listed for 36.50 euros online. Martorp cutlery, priced at 34.99 euros at Ikea, appears on Amazon for 120.34 euros, De Telegraaf found.
The Dutch Consumers’ Association described the practice as “significant profiteering and misleading.” A spokesperson said, “We have seen this problem for a long time. The difficulty is that little can be done. Platforms like Bol.com and Amazon emphasize that sellers are free to set their own prices, and there is apparently no maximum markup allowed. We can only warn consumers and address the platforms.”
Bol.com responded that “business partners are generally free to set their prices. Nevertheless, we find it important to protect customers against unreasonably high prices. We intervene when necessary. Some partners attempt to bypass our rules, and we monitor those activities carefully. With 45,000 partners and over 51 million products, ensuring compliance is a complex task.”
