In assessing the consumer's response to risk two main risk reduction strategies have been identified, those of information search and the reliance on product cues. The role of product cues in providing information in second-hand markets is assessed. A reconceptualisation of the existing intrinsic/extrinsic model of product cues, based upon a new visible/ verifiable dimension, is offered. This model is then applied to the second-hand car market in order to explain the relationship(s) identified and point to the role of the seller in intervening in the predictive capacity of product cues. This framework highlights a number of complex relationships which may prove of use to marketers in assessing the role of certain product attributes in risk reduction.