Walmart Falls Into The Abyss Of Counterfeits And Consumer Deception

Complaints are ignored, and counterfeit, infringing, and fraudulent products remain.

March 23, 2023, Los Angeles, CA – E-commerce websites enjoy a unique and profitable exemption from liability for products sold by third-party sellers. In contrast, brick-and-mortar stores don't have the same protections and can be sued for defective, dangerous, and deadly products.

While consumers may expect e-commerce sites to behave ethically and vet their sellers and police the goods sold, a behind-the-scenes look at Walmart reveals a shockingly different practice.

Walmart is both a direct retailer of fake and fraudulent items and has opened its website, Walmart.com, to global third-party sellers who can list almost anything they want, including counterfeit, replica, and fraudulent products. Counterfeit items appear right alongside authentic products, creating the illusion they are from Walmart or have Walmart's endorsement. Deceived consumers are spending good money on bad products.

Walmart adds an unusual twist. Walmart is snubbing trademark owners and leaving counterfeit, infringing, replica, and fraudulent products listed. The motivation may appear to be as simple as the transaction fee, but digging deeper, The Counterfeit Report found a more appalling practice. Walmart is the biggest shareholder (10-12%) of China's JD.com, an ongoing seller of counterfeits on Walmart. The e-commerce giant is China's largest direct retailer by revenue and is internationally known as Joybuy and other name variations.

Joybuy's performance hasn't escaped consumers. Joybuy has just a 47% positive rating from over 50,000 reviewers, and repeatedly sells counterfeits, yet remains on Walmart -- begging the question, how does Walmart vet its sellers?

The Counterfeit Report found over 120 listings for counterfeit, infringing, and fraudulent items offered by Joybuy or its affiliates on Walmart's website. Complaints were submitted for the listed items. An average of six complaints were required for each listing removed. Hardly an acceptable or effective practice to protect brand owners and consumers.

Some of the counterfeit and fraudulent products offered by Joybuy or its affiliates are shown below.

© The Counterfeit Report

Shown: The computer memory cards shown do not exist in the manufacturer's product line or the microSD^® standard -- they are all counterfeit. Consumers probably wouldn't suspect the fakes that may destroy data, install malware or a virus. The Combat Application Tourniquet^® is a replica and may catastrophically fail in a real emergency. Counterfeit Drewtech Mongoose^® auto diagnostic tools may alter braking, disable airbags, and destroy a vehicle's computer. The fraudulent 18650 Li-ion battery shown has a wild capacity claim of 10,000 mAh and has a fire and explosion risk. There is no legitimate 18650 battery with a capacity above 3800mAh.

Walmart's responses to trademark-owners complaints are often slow, with listings remaining for weeks, even months, before removal. Automated and disconnected responses further exacerbate the removal process. Walmart can deliver a product in a day but can't remove a counterfeit item for weeks.

• "Based on the information provided, we have not removed the reported item(s) at this time. "
• "A claim has already been created for this item."
• "Please further explain your claim, clarify your desired outcome, and provide corroborating information, such as URLs, documents, etc."
• "Your message wasn't delivered because the recipient's email provider rejected it. "
• And, the nonsensical, "Pursuant to our agreement with Marketplace Sellers, we allow them the opportunity to resolve patent/trademark/trade dress claims directly with the seller."
  

  

Everyone knows selling counterfeits is illegal, yet through huge legal loopholes and virtually immune to prosecution, IP laws, and safety standards, Walmart continues to enable and facilitate criminal activity with impunity. Walmart profits from fraudulent sales, impacting consumer safety and public trust. The consequence is destroyed U.S. companies and retailers, lost U.S. jobs, and duped consumers. The value of counterfeit and pirated goods is forecast to grow to $4.5 trillion, costing 5.4 million net job losses in 2023.

View more Walmart fakes here.