Karrot, a South Korean secondhand trading platform, had more counterfeit listings blocked through government monitoring this year than any other online marketplace in the country.
Among 18 open marketplaces covered by the government's online counterfeit monitoring and takedown program, Karrot recorded the most blocked listings through the end of August, according to data the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) submitted to the office of Rep. Cho Ji-yeon of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee, on the 6th. A total of 12,809 counterfeit sales listings were identified and blocked on Karrot during the period. The ministry added Karrot to its monitoring list last year, and the platform has now topped the takedown ranking in the second year of full monitoring.
China's AliExpress ranked second with 12,430 blocked listings, followed by NAVER Smart Store with 8,772.
All three major domestic secondhand trading platforms, including Karrot, placed among the top five for counterfeit detections and takedowns this year. Joonggonara ranked fourth with 5,308 cases and Bunjang fifth with 3,737, both exceeding China's Temu, which ranked sixth with 2,894. Hello Market, another secondhand platform, has had no counterfeit listings detected since 2023.
The Korean Intellectual Property Office and the Korea Intellectual Property Protection Agency monitor online counterfeit sales and ask platforms to halt listings suspected of offering fake goods. The ministry noted, however, that the number of blocked listings may not reflect the overall volume of counterfeit goods circulating on each platform.
Karrot said that because its platform involves direct transactions between individual users, the takedown figures may include listings posted by private sellers who were unaware that an item was counterfeit. The company said it supports resolution through its own dispute mediation center when a buyer raises suspicions about a product's authenticity after a transaction.
"Counterfeit goods damage corporate brand value and consumer trust, not just cause economic losses," Cho said. "Since counterfeit products are circulating openly on domestic secondhand trading platforms as well, an effective management system needs to be put in place."
