What changed
25 'sterling silver' items tested by the Sheffield Assay Office for BBC Watchdog: 2 met the sterling standard (92.5% silver); 8 exceeded the 0.01% cadmium limit, the highest at about 10%; failing items came from Amazon (3), Temu (3), OnBuy (1) and Etsy (1); eBay's items passed the cadmium test; one Etsy necklace hallmarked 925 tested at 8.9% silver with up to 11% nickel
When
Findings reported by Retail Jeweller on October 22, 2026; BBC News full report November 3, 2026; The Cool Down follow up November 6, 2026
Who it affects
BBC Watchdog on The One Show; analysis led by Sophie Langley at the Sheffield Assay Office; toxicology comment from retired professor Rob Chilcott; responses from Amazon, eBay, Temu and OnBuy; Etsy did not respond
What to do
Pull the material claims on every jewellery, watch and accessories listing, match each to a test certificate dated within 12 months, and remove 'sterling' or '925' from any listing you cannot prove

Key takeaways

  • BBC Watchdog tests reported in October and November 2026 found only 2 of 25 'sterling silver' items from Amazon, eBay, Temu, Etsy and OnBuy were sterling, and 8 exceeded the 0.01% UK cadmium limit, the worst by about 1,000 times.
  • Amazon issued recall notices, OnBuy recalled and refunded, Temu ordered independent tests and Etsy did not respond; in every case the cost landed on the seller account that made the claim.
  • A batch test before listing costs far less than a recall: in an illustrative 500 unit example a recall costs about £5,750 against roughly £2,850 of lifetime gross profit on the line.

Items over the UK cadmium limit, by marketplace (BBC Watchdog, 25 items tested)

  • Amazon3items
  • Temu3items
  • OnBuy1items
  • Etsy1items
  • eBay0items
Source: BBC Watchdog tests by Sheffield Assay Office, reported November 3, 2026

What the tests found

Watchdog's shopping list covered the five marketplaces most UK shoppers use for cheap jewellery, with items ranging from a £1.55 bracelet to £1.99 earrings. The Sheffield Assay Office, one of the UK's four statutory assay offices, ran the analysis under Sophie Langley. The sterling result was stark: 23 of 25 items failed to meet the 92.5% silver content the word sterling legally implies. The cadmium result was the health story. Eight items exceeded the UK limit of 0.01% by weight, and the worst reading was about 10%, which Langley called "absolutely massive, relative to the limits we're adhering to."

By marketplace, the cadmium failures were three items from Amazon, three from Temu, one from OnBuy and one from Etsy. eBay said none of the items bought from its site contained illegal cadmium levels, and the reports do not contradict that. Separately, a £15 Etsy necklace sold as handmade sterling silver and stamped 925 tested at 8.9% silver, with nickel of up to 11% in one part of the chain. Its buyer, a 34 year old named Meranda, had developed skin irritation, and received a full refund from the seller after Watchdog made contact.

Rob Chilcott, a retired professor of toxicology, told the BBC that cadmium is a carcinogen associated particularly with lung cancer and poses a risk if inhaled or ingested, adding: "if you swallow it, that is really bad news." Langley noted that selling fake sterling silver breaches the UK Hallmarking Act, which carries fines or imprisonment.

The Watchdog jewellery tests in four numbers

25items bought as sterling silver
2met the 92.5% sterling standard
8over the 0.01% cadmium limit
10%highest cadmium reading
Source: BBC News, November 3, 2026; Retail Jeweller, October 22, 2026

How each marketplace responded

Amazon told the BBC that customers with concerns should contact it for support, and has since issued recall notices for the products Watchdog identified as unsafe. OnBuy offered affected customers refunds and initiated a recall of the product found to contain cadmium. Temu said it had arranged additional testing by an independent laboratory and was reviewing similar products, and pointed to its requirement that sellers comply with product safety rules. eBay said it strictly prohibits misleading listings and requires accurate descriptions, and pointed buyers to its Money Back Guarantee. Etsy did not respond to the BBC.

For sellers the pattern is the point. Every marketplace moved the cost onto the seller account that listed the item: recall, refund, removal, and in Amazon's case a recall notice sent to buyers under the seller's product. None of the marketplaces tested the items before sale. A UK jewellery listing that says sterling or 925 is a legal claim the seller owns, and the marketplace enforces it only after a journalist or a regulator finds the problem. Our guides to Amazon account health and Amazon restricted categories cover how a safety flag turns into a listing block.

So what: the money and the risk for a jewellery brand

The surprise in this story is not that £1.55 bracelets are not silver. It is that only two of 25 items at any price point passed, which means an honest seller of real sterling silver is competing on the same search results page against listings that claim the same thing at a fraction of the cost. That is a pricing problem until a test exposes it, and then it becomes a recall problem for whoever listed the item.

For example, take a UK seller with a 500 unit stock of a £12 'sterling' bracelet bought at £2.50 a unit (illustrative numbers). A recall means refunding every sold unit at £12, paying return postage of about £3 each, destroying unsold stock worth £1,250 at cost, and losing the listing's rank and reviews. On 300 units sold that is £3,600 in refunds, £900 in postage and £1,250 in stock, about £5,750 against roughly £2,850 of gross profit the line ever made. A £60 to £150 assay or XRF test on each new supplier batch, before listing, is the cheap end of that trade.

The same logic applies in the United States, where Amazon's jewellery category has its own quality and listing requirements and where US consumer product safety rules limit cadmium in children's jewellery. The sources here are UK tests, so US sellers should treat the numbers as a warning rather than a US finding, and check the current CPSC and Amazon category pages for the limits that apply to them.

What sellers should do: a seven step compliance routine

These steps are for brand owners and marketplace sellers of jewellery, watches and accessories. Each has an owner, a place and a metric.

  • Catalogue manager: export every live listing with the words sterling, 925, silver, gold plated, hypoallergenic or nickel free in the title or bullets, in Seller Central, Seller Center or your Etsy shop manager. Metric: count of material claims with no certificate attached.
  • Compliance lead: for each claim, file a test report from an assay office or accredited lab dated within the last 12 months, covering silver content, cadmium, lead and nickel release. Metric: percent of claims with a current certificate; target 100% before Black Friday.
  • Sourcing: add a batch test clause to every supplier purchase order and test one unit per new batch before it ships to a fulfilment centre. Metric: batches tested versus batches received.
  • Listing manager: remove or soften any claim you cannot prove this week, for example 'silver tone' instead of 'sterling silver', and keep the hallmark image only on items that carry a genuine UK hallmark. Metric: zero unproven material claims live.
  • Customer service: search the last 90 days of messages and reviews for words like rash, irritation, tarnish, green or fake, and escalate any SKU with two or more. Metric: flagged SKUs reviewed within 48 hours.
  • Account owner: read the recall and safety sections of each marketplace's policy and save the process for a voluntary recall, so you act before the platform does. Metric: documented recall playbook on file.
  • Brand protection: if your genuine sterling listing is being undercut by lookalikes claiming 925, report them through Brand Registry or the equivalent with your own test reports as evidence. Metric: reports filed and listings removed. See our Amazon brand protection guide.

Jewellery listing compliance check

  • Every material claim matched to a test certificate under 12 months old
  • One unit tested per new supplier batch
  • Unproven sterling or 925 claims removed
  • Reviews searched for rash, irritation, fake
  • Voluntary recall playbook saved
  • Lookalike listings reported with evidence

When this does not apply

If you sell no jewellery, watches or metal accessories, the cadmium limits are not your problem, although the lesson about owning your listing claims is. If you sell genuine hallmarked sterling silver with current assay certificates, you have nothing to change except perhaps to put the hallmark and the certificate on the listing, because this story will make shoppers look for proof. And if your products are only in the US, remember the legal limits quoted here are UK rules; your test plan should follow US federal and state cadmium rules and Amazon's US jewellery requirements instead.

Brands selling jewellery or accessories on Amazon and other marketplaces can ask for a free Amazon audit, which includes a listing claims check, or read how we handle a listing block in Amazon listing reinstatement. More marketplace safety and policy stories are on ecommerce marketplace news.

Sources

Get the next change before your competitors do

We send the marketplace changes that matter each week, with what to do next.

By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy. Unsubscribe any time.
Want this done for your account?

We run these playbooks on client accounts every day. Start with a free audit.

Get a free audit