“If CPSC staff can identify these illegal listings using your site, Meta indisputably can prevent them from appearing in the first place,” Hoehn-Saric wrote to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “I urge you to do more to stop the illegal sale of recalled consumer products on your Marketplace to prevent additional infant deaths and injuries.”
In a similar letter sent to the CEO of Mattel, which owns Fisher-Price, Hoehn-Saric wrote that the company “clearly has not done enough to incentivize consumers to act upon the recall” and asked it to consider new approaches, including refunding the full purchase price of all Rock ‘n Plays.
Fisher-Price spokeswoman Catherine Frymark said in a statement that the company has recently told the CPSC it is willing to increase the cash refund available to consumers. She said the company immediately stopped selling the Rock ‘n Play when it was recalled and has “worked diligently to remove all recalled product from the market.”
Meta spokeswoman Ashley Settle, in a statement, acknowledged that, as with other resale sites, “there are instances of people knowingly or unknowingly selling recalled goods on Marketplace.”
“We take this issue seriously,” she said, “and when we find listings that violate our rules, we remove them.”
Despite recall and repeated warnings, deaths continue
The CPSC and Fisher-Price first recalled 4.7 million Rock ‘n Plays in April 2019, saying about 30 deaths had been linked to the product. About 70 deaths have been reported to the agency since then, including eight since the recall, according to the CPSC. In January, the agency issued a new warning about the product, again encouraging consumers to immediately stop using it.
In his letters, Hoehn-Saric said the pace of listings for the Rock ‘n Play on resale sites does not appear to have slowed.
“The persistent secondary marketplace for Rock ‘n Play sleepers indicates that consumers either remain unaware that the Fisher Price Rock ‘n Play has been recalled or believe selling the recalled product on the secondary market is a better choice than acting on the recall remedy Fisher Price currently provides,” Hoehn-Saric wrote
He noted that Rock ‘n Plays are listed online for about $25 on average, and consumers can sometimes make more by selling the product than they would by taking part in the recall. The recall provides a refund only for those who purchased the product on or after Oct. 12, 2018. Those who purchased the item before that date receive a voucher for another Fisher-Price product.
“I urge you to announce the recall once again, but this time with a more robust remedy that creates a strong incentive for consumers to destroy the products and a marketing budget to ensure that consumers are aware of the recall incentive,” he wrote.
Facebook long urged to stop resale of recalled products
Facebook has for years faced criticism that it hasn’t done enough to hinder the sale of dangerous products. Members of Congress have repeatedly written the company demanding it to do more, and safety advocates have made similar pleas.
CPSC spokeswoman Pamela Springs told USA TODAY that the agency sent nearly 60,000 requests to online marketplaces to take down recalled products over roughly 13 months. More than three quarters of those requests went to Facebook, Springs said – an average of about 120 requests a day.
Of the 3,981 Rock ‘n Plays agency staff found over that period, she said, 93% were listed on Facebook.
A 2021 USA TODAY investigation found deadly recalled children’s products regularly changed hands through Facebook Marketplace even though technology such as photo or text recognition makes them easy to find and remove.
USA TODAY found listings for 14 recalled products that had contributed to the deaths of at least 121 children and hundreds more reports of incidents or serious injuries. Many were listed by their brand names. Dozens were later marked as sold. Reporters also were able to purchase recalled goods on Facebook Marketplace and create posts for recalled items as if they were for sale.
Given new life on Facebook Marketplace, recalled products have gone on to harm people, USA TODAY found. In July 2021, a 5-month-old girl smashed her head on a laminate floor after falling out of a recalled Bumbo baby seat purchased on Facebook Marketplace, according to a report to federal safety regulators. At least 112 children have been reportedly injured using those seats, including two dozen who suffered fractured skulls.
