Facebook Marketplace is a popular option for those looking to purchase used and higher ticket items at a reasonable (and sometimes bargain) price.
But reselling on such a major platform also means that recalled items can be easily re-sold — and this can be extremely dangerous.
Such is the case with the Boppy Company, which is issuing a warning alongside the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to Facebook Marketplace shoppers telling them not to buy the Boppy Newborn Loungers, as the item is no longer being sold due to recalls related to 10 infant deaths.
It was estimated that Boppy sold 3.3 million loungers across mass retailers in the U.S. like Target, Pottery Barn Kids, and Walmart as well as online at Amazon from January 2004 through September 2021 when the product was recalled.
The CPSC said in a release that the organization and Boppy have “sent numerous requests to Facebook Marketplace” to remove the product from resale and pointed out that it is “unlawful to offer for sale a CPSC recalled product on an online marketplace.”
The release also noted that two additional infants died after the September 2021 recall involving the sleepers.
“CPSC has sent on average over a thousand takedown requests every month this past year for the recalled Boppy Newborn Loungers, but Meta has not taken effective action in response,” CPSC commissioner Richard Trumka said in a statement. “Two post-recall deaths are unacceptable. Meta can and should be doing much more to save lives.”
Trumka also said that “until these sales are stopped, babies will continue to be at risk of death” and encouraged the platform to disable searches for the loungers.
Meta did not immediately respond to Entrepreneur‘s request for comment.
