Wayfair: ‘No Truth’ to Child Sex Trafficking Claims

Wayfair: ‘No Truth’ to Child Sex Trafficking Claims
Niraj Shah, chief executive officer of Wayfair, attends a conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 10, 2019. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Zachary Stieber
Updated:

Wayfair said claims the company was involved in child sex trafficking are false.

“There is, of course, no truth to these claims. The products in question are industrial grade cabinets that are accurately priced,” the company said in a statement to news outlets.

“Recognizing that the photos and descriptions provided by the supplier did not adequately explain the high price point, we have temporarily removed the products from the site to rename them and to provide a more in-depth description and photos that accurately depict the product to clarify the price point.”

Cabinets, pillows, and other items priced in the thousands on Wayfair’s website sparked people’s interest, and social media sleuths sought to dig further. Many of the products that appeared overpriced included names like Samiyah and Yaritza. Some of the names were the same as children who went missing in recent years.

One theory was that children were for sale through the listings.

One cabinet was listed as $12,899.99 while another was going for $13,799.99 before they were removed from the website.

People also pointed out other supposed oddities, such as a picture of a bookshelf including the book “Bloody Harvest,” a tome about organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners.

Falun Gong is a spiritual practice from China based on the principles of truth, compassion, and endurance; it was banned by the Chinese Communist Party in the 90s.

One Twitter user who posted videos about what was happening included a disclaimer saying he wasn’t claiming to know human trafficking was going on, he just wanted to show people why Wayfair was trending.

Another user said that even if the situation wasn’t sex trafficking, she believes there was some kind of money laundering or another illicit activity being performed.

The theories appeared to originate on Reddit, another social media website.

Zachary Stieber
Zachary Stieber
Senior Reporter
Zachary Stieber is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times based in Maryland. He covers U.S. and world news. Contact Zachary at [email protected]
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