The Victorian government rolled out new hoverboard safety regulations on Thursday, designed to protect consumers from a product that had a nasty habit of bursting into flames.

The legislation will require hoverboard sellers to obtain safety certificates from a government regulator before they can be sold.

Thanks, says one of Australia's largest hoverboard suppliers, but it's too late. We've already moved on.

"Down and dirty importers looking for a quick buck have ruined it," Airwheels Australia hoverboard distributor Chris Brown told Fairfax on Thursday.

After Fairfax revealed a number of house fires linked to hoverboards overseas – and one in Australia – Mr Brown said his once-booming sales dried up.

He's now taken the difficult decision to stop importing the hoverboards.

His remaining inventory, heavily discounted, is on sale via Airwheels' website.

"We were getting calls day in day out from people wanting refunds. We just made a decision to get out of it.

"I don't think there is anybody trying to do this in a legitimate way in Australia – everybody's gotten scared."

The boards Mr Brown sold were certified to Australian standards, he said.

"But you get what you pay for" – some of his boards cost close to $2000.

Meanwhile, he said, "$200 cheap pieces of s--t" were still widely available on eBay and Alibaba and being imported into Australia under customs' noses.

Fairfax has confirmed such devices are readily available.

But Mr Brown also revealed another worry – he couldn't guarantee the quality of his Chinese suppliers.

"The hardest thing you've got when importing anything from overseas, let alone China, is ensuring what the doco states is what you're getting."

"It was becoming too hard, we cannot take the risk of selling an inferior product.

"You just cannot be too careful".