Pickleball industry groups, paddle brands organizing effort to combat counterfeit market
Last Edited
Dec 18 2025
Category
News
Several industry groups are organizing an effort to combat the rising issue of counterfeit pickleball paddles, which are currently being sold in large quantities through unauthorized online retailers.
In a memo sent to several paddle companies last week, United Pickleball Association of America President Jason Aspes shared an "Anti-Counterfeit Best Practices Guide" with the brands, which lays out 10 steps they can take to better protect themselves against the counterfeit market.
"It has become abundantly clear that this is an industry-wide challenge that threatens the integrity of our sport, the safety of players, and the long-term health of your businesses," Aspes said in the memo. "We will have a far higher probability of success if we address this problem together."
In an interview with The Kitchen, Aspes said he's been doing his own shopping online to try to identify where the knock-off paddles are coming from and just how easy it is to buy a fake through seemingly legitimate sellers.
Counterfeit paddles claiming to be from top brands such as Selkirk, JOOLA, CRBN, Six Zero and others are common on sites like Alibaba, Temu and Facebook Marketplace.
But there also are fakes on more reputable sites, like Walmart and other big-box sporting goods sites, Aspes says.
He said he recently bought a paddle claiming to be a JOOLA Perseus Pro IV for $129.99 on Walmart's website, just as an experiment to see what he would get.
What arrived was a very well-disguised clone that would only be identified as such by somebody who knew what to look for.
How paddle manufacturers can fight back
Aspes' memo to paddle brands included detailed steps they can take to prevent their products from being copied and sold at a fraction of the price.
The 10-step guide also included data from Red Points, a global leader in combating IP theft and online counterfeits. Red Points has been instrumental in helping brands across multiple industries identify, track and remove fraudulent listings before they cause material damage, according to Aspes.
WHAT THE RED POINTS DATA SHOWS
- Counterfeits are rising across all e-commerce channels.
- AI is enabling more convincing fake listings and websites.
- 61% of counterfeit purchases happen unintentionally.
- 1 in 3 customers stop buying from the brand after receiving a fake.
A few of the key steps outlined in the document that Aspes shared with paddle manufacturers include:
Establish strong IP protection: Register trademarks globally (US, EU, China) to protect brand names, logos, paddle models, trade dress and player names.
Use product authentication tools: Such as embed NFC chips tied to serial numbers, laser engraving or internal serialization and verification portals for retailers and consumers.
Manufacturing differentiation: Use proprietary molds and unique shapes, sign exclusive factory agreements, restrict mold sharing and audit factories for unauthorized production.
Aspes said he has arranged for Red Points to host a free seminar for paddle manufacturers early next year to go over best practices.
Educating the public
Separate from that effort, there also is a "Don't Trust A Fake" campaign in the works, which will be an industry-wide effort to urge consumers to avoid buying and playing with counterfeit paddles.
That campaign will aim to educate players on how using counterfeit paddles hurts the industry and jeopardizes the integrity of the sport -- since the paddles in question were never approved by the sport's governing bodies and it's impossible to know what's "under the hood" without deconstructing the paddle.
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