The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) and the Toy Retailers Association (TRA) are urging consumers to buy toys from reputable retailers amid a sharp rise in Trading Standards investigations into counterfeit products.

The Intellectual Property Office’s Trading Standards Survey 2025 to 2026 found that 67% of responding local authorities had investigated counterfeit toys in the year to March 2026. Toys were the third most commonly investigated category, behind cigarettes and tobacco at 89% and clothing at 69%.

The findings come as the toy sector approaches its busiest trading period, with both associations highlighting risks linked to third-party sellers on online marketplaces. The survey also found that 64% of local authorities had observed links between counterfeiting and organised crime groups, around a third higher than the previous year.

Andrew Goodacre, CEO of Bira, says, “Bira urges consumers to be very wary of buying toys online through marketplaces. We already see too many fake and dangerous products being sold online, and this issue of toys shows more regulations are needed to make marketplace owners accountable.”

 

 

Natasha Crookes, director general of the TRA also comments.

“Counterfeit toys are a low risk when buying in-store from reputable retailers. Consumers should always take extra care when buying toys from online marketplaces, which are not regulated in the same way as trusted high street and UK retailers. Our advice is simple: shop with a reputable retailer that has a clear returns policy, and if a price looks too good to be true, it probably is.”

Separate research published by the British Toy & Hobby Association in June 2026 found that 90% of 89 toys bought from third-party sellers across seven major online marketplaces failed UK requirements. Of the products tested, 86% were deemed unsafe and a further 4% failed legal or labelling requirements. The BTHA estimates that at least 15% of toys bought in the UK now come from third-party marketplace sellers.

Bira and the TRA are calling on the government to use forthcoming Product Regulation and Metrology regulations to place clear legal responsibility for product safety on marketplace operators. The trade bodies argue that marketplace operators should be subject to the same product-safety obligations as traditional UK retailers, helping to protect children while creating a fairer trading environment for compliant businesses.