October 30th, 2024Online marketplace exchange sites now outside 35 police stations

Special zones where buyers and sellers can more safely exchange items that have been purchased online have been established outside 35 24-hour police stations across Victoria.

The exchange sites provide people transacting items listed on online marketplaces with a safer alternative than meeting unknown people at locations such as their homes, parks, or carparks.

While many of the 35 sites are located in metropolitan areas, regional 24-hour police stations with Safer Exchange Sites in the central Victrian region include: Maryborough, Bacchus Marsh, Ballarat, Bendigo and Castlemaine.

Each Safer Exchange Site has clear signage outside the 24-hour police station, as well as CCTV coverage and lighting.

The roll-out of these sites follows a successful trial which commenced at a small number of 24-hour police stations across Melbourne’s northeast in mid-2022.

During the trial’s six-month evaluation period, thefts and robberies in the area stemming from online sales decreased, while police officers at these stations also observed people exchanging items on a regular basis.

This concept was originally developed following an increase in robberies, thefts and assaults linked to online trading, which peaked in 2020 before COVID lockdowns. Smartphones are the most common high value item stolen in these incidents.

While this offending slowed during the pandemic, Victoria Police did not want to see this trend return and Safer Exchange Sites were introduced as a result.

Exchange zones have been popular in the United States as online marketplaces continue to gain in popularity, with feedback indicating people feel safer meeting in designated sites with good lighting and CCTV.