Beware of This Clever Fake Paddle Scam at Big Box Stores

Opportunistic scammers are returning fake pickleball paddles to retailers like Dick's. You could be the one who buys it next.

As we've warned you about already, the proliferation of fake pickleball paddles in the market is real and only getting worse.

As prices continue to climb and more advanced tech falls behind the shroud of intellectual property and patent protections, opportunistic counterfeit operations see an opening: sell a convincing knock-off for a fraction of the retail price.

Either the consumer is duped outright or they're intentionally seeking a discount with the promise of similar performance. Whatever the case, the counterfeit paddle market is alive and thriving. And legitimate brands and consumers are the biggest losers.

It's become commonplace to see posts on Facebook and Reddit asking whether a paddle is real or fake.

Like the one below:

My brother just got this paddle for his birthday. It was purchased from Dick’s Sporting Goods. He thinks it might be a fake. How can you tell a Boomstick is real? He is saying the weights are too small and not branded and also it doesn’t have an S for Selkirk on the bottom of the handle. Hopefully this isn’t against the rules

To the trained eye, this is clearly a knockoff.

But here's the wild part: this paddle was purchased at a reputable big box store, in this case Dick's Sporting Goods.

The trick, as many commenters were quick to point out, is deviously simple:

• Someone knowingly bought a legit Boomstik from Dick's
• They then purchase a fake one from a site like Temu or Alibaba, likely for as little as $30 or $40
• What comes next is obvious: they repackage the fake paddle and return it to Dick's for a full refund
• That paddle then ends up back on the store shelves, where it flies largely under the radar until the next person buys it and notices something is off

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