A counterfeit baby car seat purchased on Amazon for $299 shattered into fragments during a crash test conducted at 30 miles per hour. The test, performed by CNN in collaboration with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, revealed that the product failed to meet the minimum safety standards required by U.S. regulators. The seat was a fake version of the Doona car seat and stroller combo, which typically retails for around $500.
CNN published its findings on December 29, 2019, following a months-long investigation that began after concerned citizens reported issues. Seven business owners told CNN that their legitimate products had been copied and sold by counterfeiters on Amazon’s third-party marketplace.
The counterfeit seat was not sold by Amazon directly but by third-party vendors. Notably, the listing used stolen images of Ivanka Trump, then-President Donald Trump’s daughter, using the genuine Doona product. These images were used to deceive buyers into believing the counterfeit was authentic.
The product was marketed as a 4-in-1 baby car seat and stroller, priced $200 below the authentic version. Amazon responded by contacting affected customers, urging them to stop using the product immediately, and offering full refunds.
However, the counterfeit had already been sold through Amazon’s website and app, reaching homes and being installed in vehicles. This incident highlights a broader issue with Amazon’s business model. The company operates a vast third-party marketplace that allows outside sellers to list products alongside Amazon’s own inventory.
This system relies on trust and automated checks, which were compromised in this case. CNN’s investigation uncovered a pattern of counterfeit children’s products, with multiple business owners reporting that their legitimate items were being copied and sold by fakers on the same platform.
The fake Doona was the most dramatic example. The crash test, conducted at a standard collision speed of 30 miles per hour, showed the seat disintegrating rather than simply failing. A child in that seat during a real crash would have been completely unprotected, as the seat offered no safety at all. Amazon’s third-party marketplace has been a major driver of growth for the company, but it also creates persistent problems with counterfeit and dangerous goods slipping through.
The company’s response—contacting customers and issuing refunds—does not undo the risk that was taken. The product was listed, purchased, and used before any action was taken.
The investigation was prompted by reports from concerned citizens who noticed something wrong and alerted CNN. The resulting crash test was conducted according to standard procedures, and the outcome was clear: the seat did not meet basic standards and broke apart. Amazon did not announce any systemic changes to how it monitors third-party sellers for dangerous counterfeit goods following the incident.
The crash test demonstrated what can happen when Amazon’s monitoring mechanisms fail. The test was simple, and the result was equally simple: the seat broke.
A child could have died.
