Beware expensive knock-offs on Takealot
The Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) has ruled against Takealot and several third-party sellers for misleading deal listings on its platform.
The complainant — Buitendag Holdings (Pty) Ltd & Bumbo International Trust — noticed multiple advertisements for moulded baby floor seats that resemble its “Bumbo baby seat” with the branding digitally removed.
There were also allegedly versions of their product sold through the platform where their physical branding was replaced from the front of the product, but their original barcode was still at the bottom of the box.
Moreover, the floor seats were frequently listed as carrying significant discounts, with one showing a price of R599 juxtaposed with a note that the regular price was R2,000.
Bumbo’s baby seat retails for R649, making any claims of a regular price of R2,000 “deliberately exaggerated, deceptive, and false,” it said.
The complainant provided evidence of several baby seats sold on Takealot between January and April 2023:
- A green baby floor seat, sold by “Ocean Toys” for R788;
- A blue baby floor seat, sold by “SPAGOF SA” for R849;
- A grey baby floor seat, sold by “All Things Discount” for R1,299;
- Hemlock and mimosa-coloured baby floor seats, labelled as a “Bumbo Floor Seat”, sold by “Johannesburg Concierge” for R899; and,
- A coral-coloured baby floor seat, sold by “Tech Giants” for R1,299.
It added that all of the seats received, bar one, were the complainant’s Bumbo-branded seats.
Bumbo-branded baby seat listing with the branding digitally removed.
One of the seats received carried the brand name “anbébé”. However, it had a barcoded tag affixed reading “Bumbo Floor Seat Mimosa”.
The complainant said it has been unsuccessful in getting Takealot to remove these misleading advertisements permanently.
Given the opportunity to respond, Takealot submitted that it would not subject itself to the ARB’s jurisdiction and denied accountability.
The ARB contacted the marketplace sellers, only receiving a response from “Ocean Toys”:
We have noticed your feedback, and we are verifying. According to our preliminary understanding, the products provided to us by the supplier are different from your registered brand. While selling, they did not use any brand information of your company. We will continue to follow up relevant information.
The regulator noted that Takealot and the sellers are not ARB members and ruled on the issue for the guidance of its members.
“While it may be true that the Complainant’s Bumbo products are typically sold at R649, the Directorate does not have the jurisdiction to dictate selling prices on the Takealot platform,” it added.
Therefore, the ARB weighed the complaint’s merits to answer the following questions:
- Do consumers receive the advertised product?
- Is the pricing information misleading?
It considered the complaint in terms of Section II of the Code of Advertising Practice, including clauses 4.3.1.2, 5.3, and 5.4.
These essentially state that advertisers should be ready to substantiate any claims they make regarding the value of their product, including being prepared to submit documentary evidence of price reductions.
“It appears that the claimed discount and reference to a retail price of R2000 are unsubstantiated and in contravention of Clause 4.3 of Section II, Clause 5.3 of Section II and Clause 5.4 of Section II,” the ARB ruled.
The “anbébé” baby floor seat in question.
The regulator also considered the complaint in terms of section 4.2.1 of the code for the complainant’s submission that they received an “anbébé” seat. The clause states:
Advertisements should not contain any statement or visual presentation which, directly or by implication, omission, ambiguity, inaccuracy, exaggerated claim or otherwise, is likely to mislead the consumer.
As per the advertisement, it appears as though the listing is for a Bumbo baby floor seat with the same distinctive shape and a visible safety harness.
However, the seat received, advertised at R1,299, is from a different manufacturer and doesn’t feature the safety harness as shown in the advertisement.
“It therefore appears that these advertisements were misleading, and in contravention of Clause 4.2.1 of Section II of the Code as alleged by the Complainant,” the ARB said.
MyBroadband asked Takealot for comment on the ruling, but it had not answered our questions by the time of publication.
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