Check Out This Convincing JOOLA Clone, Sold by Walmart

"That's less than half the price of what it should be going for. What a deal, right?"

UPA-A President Jason Aspes posted a video to YouTube that should have you doing a double-take.

"I found this online the other day," he says in the video. "This is Walmart.com, and you can see a Pro IV Perseus JOOLA for only $129 – that's less than half the price of what it should be going for. What a deal, right?"

The seller, he points out, is not JOOLA. So he ordered it. Ten days later the paddle showed up.

Not surprisingly, the paddle isn't a real JOOLA either.

But at first look it's nearly identical to the real thing.

Aspes has ordered an authentic Pro IV before. The clone he's holding doesn't miss many details:

• All the JOOLA branding and colors are there
• It has the NFC chip on the handle
• The shape and dimensions are spot-on

There are a few small differences.

The genuine paddle comes with a branded grip while the clone does not; and a real Pro IV paddle has a window on the edge guard near the handle that exposes the core inside. The fake, well, fakes it.

"This looks nearly identical," he says of the fonts, which don't quite match up.

The 10-Step Anti-Counterfeit Playbook

Counterfeit paddles like this one are pervasive throughout the industry, generally targeting top brands like JOOLA, Selkirk, CRBN, Six Zero, and a few others.

The pricier and more coveted the paddle, the juicier the target for counterfeit brands. Popular secondary markets include Alibaba, Temu, and Facebook Marketplace. But big-box retailers like Walmart, apparently, are in the mix as well.

Aspes and the UPA-A are fighting back.

In an email to paddle brands in November, he acknowledged the issue has become an "existential threat."

And just this week, he circulated a document of best practices – including a 10-Step Playbook – paddle brands can use to better protect their products, many of which are the result of extensive R&D efforts.

"While each of you is a competitor in the marketplace," he wrote, "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."

The "Best Practices" document is the first move in a larger coordinated campaign the UPA-A is levying against the increasing threat of counterfeit paddles.