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> The general public hasn’t the faintest idea how to differentiate between a safe product and an unsafe one, and they shouldn’t have to

The problem being that a marketplace platform with millions of small sellers has no reasonable way to do this either.

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Then, that marketplace has no viable business. Society does not owe them anything. Seriously, if your business model requires you to sell illegal stuff, then your company does not deserve to survive. That’s the basics of regulation.

You're assuming the conclusion. Why is it the marketplace platform who should be the police? Should banks have to audit your life before you can open a bank account? Should you be unable to transact with anyone if you're not rich enough for them to justify that expense?

It's not Walmart you're proposing to unperson here.


The sellers are in practice anonymous, and the consumer facing Temu (or Shein, or Aliexpress, etc) very much markets to consumers, yet shirk any responsibility. They are Walmart but ignore the little accountability Walmart faces.

Of course Temu is responsible for things I buy in the Temu app, and pay Temu for, which then Temu ships to me.


> The sellers are in practice anonymous, and the consumer facing Temu (or Shein, or Aliexpress, etc) very much markets to consumers, yet shirk any responsibility. They are Walmart but ignore the little accountability Walmart faces.

They are not Walmart.

> Of course Temu is responsible for things I buy in the Temu app, and pay Temu for, which then Temu ships to me.

If you send money to someone in the PayPal app, are they responsible for what you bought? Not just for giving you a refund; for having liability if your house burns down. If the seller keeps their inventory in a rented space, should you be able to sue their landlord? If FedEx delivers a package to you, are they responsible for the regulatory compliance of what's inside?

Consider what would happen if you did that. Could a normal person buy or sell something or rent space or send packages, if the intermediary had to take on liability for anything you do with it?


Paypal is not fronting products or shipping them.

So you want to sue Craigslist or FedEx?

On Craigslist I have direct contact with the seller. Not on Temu.

Fedex has (almost) no idea what they're shipping.

These are not even apples and oranges.




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