The builder's path
For: Shoppers in the EU can't tell whether a cheap product on a marketplace is the same kind that failed safety tests.
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
ὁ δὲ ἀνεξέταστος βίος οὐ βιωτὸς ἀνθρώπῳ
Routes to a solution
Each route is a different kind of journey, with real people and organisations to contact at each step, starting with those in European Union.
Step 1
Join an incubator or startup mission
They connect you to schemes and officials.
Y Combinator's free course and co-founder matching.
Accelerator for tech nonprofits.
Network of civic tech groups in many countries; find the one near the problem.
Step 2
Win a seed grant
Prove the idea works with a small, funded prototype.
Funds bold ideas in global health and humanitarian work.
Let the people a free tool helps fund its maintainer directly.
Grants for open source that makes the internet better.
Funds open source solutions from emerging economies.
Step 3
Pilot with a public body
A district, city or department tries it with real people.
Network of civic tech groups in many countries; find the one near the problem.
Ideas, sources and tools for this problem, from first interviews to funding.
The EU rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products, searchable by category.
Coordinates national consumer groups that test marketplace products.
Its members ran the 2025 mystery-shopping tests and platform reporting.
Starter prompt
Built from this problem's brief. Paste it into Claude or any AI assistant.
Help me design and build a first working prototype for this problem in European Union. Problem: Shoppers in the EU can't tell whether a cheap product on a marketplace is the same kind that failed safety tests. Who it hurts: Parents and bargain shoppers buying toys, chargers and jewellery from large online marketplaces. The moment it hurts: Adding a cheap baby toy or USB charger to the basket. What people do today: Shoppers rely on photos, ratings and a CE mark that may be missing or fake. Test results from consumer groups appear in news stories, not on product pages. Why it is still unsolved: Platforms remove a reported listing but similar items stay on sale, so a warning about one product doesn't reach shoppers looking at the next. What solved looks like: A browser extension that, on a marketplace product page, matches the item against EU Safety Gate alerts and published consumer-group test failures for similar products, and shows a clear warning with the source before checkout. Where: European Union First, list what you would need to learn from the people affected before building, as interview questions. Then propose the simplest version that would help, the screens or messages it needs, and the data it would use. Keep it cheap to run, accessible, and respectful of people's privacy. Flag anything you are unsure about instead of guessing.
Talk to the people who live it before you build.
“Some things are under our control, while others are not under our control.”
Get a working version in front of people fast.
Using AI is not cheating. Every tool carries the work of the people who made it, and using it well is how knowledge has always moved forward. The thinking, the care for the people who live the problem, and the judgement are still yours.
“The Analytical Engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves.”
Open data that fits this problem.
“When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it: this is knowledge.”
Tools matched to what this problem needs.
“A journey of a thousand li starts beneath one's feet.”
Ship it responsibly, and find help and funding.
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.”
Kit written for this problem from its brief; every link was checked. Links go to each provider's own site. Zetema is not paid for any listing.