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How to report a counterfeit on Wanelo
Ecommerce
3 mins

How to report a counterfeit on Wanelo

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    CHECK OUT THE BEST MARKETPLACE PROTECTION PLAN AVAILABLE FOR YOU

    Wanelo (from Want, Need, Love) is a social media shopping site where users can discover and buy products online. The platform operates as a digital mall with 30 million products offered in 550,000 online stores, including large brands and independent sellers. Wanelo works similar to Pinterest, as it allows users to browse through pictures and create a wish list for items they like to buy. 

    As with other popular online marketplaces, Wanelo is a potential target for counterfeiters and intellectual property infringers. You might find users on Wanelo that infringe on your intellectual property by illegitimately using your images or even offering a counterfeit of your product. 

    Is Wanelo legit? 

    You might wonder if Wanelo is a legitimate or fake online shopping site, which lures customers into buying counterfeit goods. Fake websites are set up by scammers that pursue identity theft by impersonating another brand to make their site look genuine. To clarify if Wanelo is legitimate, let’s look at a few facts about the company. 

    Based in San Francisco, Wanelo was founded by Deena Varshavskaya and launched in 2012. The company publicly displayed its funding, which speaks for a certain level of transparency. Especially in its early years of operation, Wanelo got good reviews in well-known media outlets. The platform’s terms of service, including its privacy policy, suggest that it is safe to use. 

    With that in mind, we can conclude that Wanelo is, in fact, a legitimate company. However, as with other well-known marketplaces, just because the company behind it is legitimate, it doesn’t mean that it is immune to fraudsters that exploit the popularity or reputation of a marketplace. 

    Types of infringements to look out for on Wanelo 

    Counterfeits

    Counterfeit goods, or knockoffs, are fake products that make customers believe they are buying a real product from a genuine brand. Counterfeits involve a form of intellectual property infringement as infringers copy the identifying elements of a brand to recreate their products, typically with lower quality resources to increase the profit of their scam. 

    Counterfeit products represent a global economy that is growing rapidly. The numbers from global counterfeit trades have grown from $30 billion in the 1980s to over $600 billion in 2021. In 2022, counterfeits are expected to hit $3 trillion in trade. While e-commerce skyrocketed during the Covid-19 pandemic, it simultaneously attracted a flood of counterfeiters that exploited consumers by selling knockoff products on various online marketplaces. 

    Copyright infringements

    A copyright protects the original works of a creator such as written texts, music, images, videos, and others. These works are automatically protected by copyright law when published in any form of tangible medium. 

    According to the US Copyright Office, copyright infringement occurs when a copyrighted work is unauthorizedly reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work. For example, when someone is using your images on Wanelo as a profile picture or to advertise products without your permission, this person is infringing on your copyright.  

    Trademark infringements

    Trademarks protect symbols, words, phrases, color schemes or other identifying elements of a brand that allow consumers to distinguish the source of goods and services. As such, you can trademark your brand logo or domain name, for example. 

    Trademark infringements occur when identifying elements like an existing logo on a product is likely to cause consumer confusion regarding the source of the product. Counterfeits are a form of trademark infringement as they fool customers into believing that they are buying a genuine product from a legitimate brand. 

    How to take down a counterfeit on Wanelo 

    Wanelo states that it works to ensure that the items listed on the platform are not infringing on the intellectual properties of others. The company’s policy is to block access to or remove copyrighted material that is illegally copied and distributed by platform users. In case of repeated copyright infringements, Wanelo might terminate users. 

    According to Wanelo’s Terms of Service, the platform responds to notices of claimed copyright infringement with respect to the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Wanelo doesn’t provide a counterfeit takedown form. If you find a counterfeit of your product or someone infringing on your intellectual property, you can send a copyright notice to Wanelo. 

    According to Wanelo’s guide on reporting copyright infringement, the notice should contain the following information:

    The notice can be sent to copyright@wanelo.com. 

    After receiving the copyright notification, Wanelo will remove or disable the infringing material and notify the user that is the source of the infringement. It will also communicate that the offender will be terminated from the platform’s services in case of repeat infringements. 

    What’s next

    Counterfeits and other intellectual property infringements have severe repercussions for brands including lost revenues, damaged relationships with distributors, as well as, damaged brand reputation. That’s why you should take down counterfeits on Wanelo immediately when finding them. However, e-commerce brand owners should beware that counterfeiters can quickly switch to another platform, like Debop or Bonanza, after being removed from Wanelo. 

    Monitoring numerous marketplaces manually in a systematic and consistent way is close to impossible. An efficient solution for preventing an ongoing whack-a-mole game with infringers is working with modern brand protection technology.  

    Red Points’ marketplace protection software detects and removes infringements on more than 5000 marketplaces and can scan 30 million listings per day. Taking a proactive approach against infringers helps your brand to restore your brand reputation, reduce customer complaints and save time focusing on your core business. By doing so you can recover revenues that would otherwise be diverted to bad actors. 

    Contact us today and learn more about how you can protect your brand on marketplaces with Red Points.

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