Budget retailer PD Mart, formerly known as Panda Mart, has been taken to court by the Commerce Commission over allegations it repeatedly sold a wide range of non-compliant products – including those intended for young children.
The commission alleged PD Mart offered 57 different non-compliant products, including children’s toys and baby walkers. It also allegedly misrepresented seven types of children’s car seats as complying with an international safety standard when they did not.
PD Mart, which markets itself online as a "budget Chinese shopping mall", operates two 6000sqm outlets in Auckland's Pakuranga and Belfast in Christchurch, offering 50,000 products at low prices.
Commerce Commission general manager, competition and fair trading Rebecca McAtamney said consumers shouldn't have to choose between price and safety.
"Regardless of what something costs or what shop you buy it from, businesses must comply with the New Zealand product safety requirements that apply to the goods they sell.
"Product safety standards exist for a reason. When you walk into a shop and buy a product for your family, particularly a product designed for a child, you should be able to trust that the retailer has done the work needed to make sure it complies with New Zealand’s safety requirements.
"In this case, selling products that don’t meet those standards puts New Zealand consumers, particularly young children, at risk."
The commission said its concerns "did not arise from a single visit or isolated incident". From October 2024, staff visited PD Mart’s stores and allegedly found non-compliant goods on multiple visits.
During the investigation PD Mart recalled and removed potentially unsafe products, including children’s toys, baby rattles, bikes and baby walkers.
In September 2025, the Commission issued PD Mart a "stop now" letter over safety concerns involving children’s car seats. The notice prompted PD Mart to issue a recall of all car seats identified by the Commission and offering a refund to affected customers.
At the time, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said a total of 176 car seats units sold were affected across seven models that had been recalled.
Further action followed in 2026, when PD Mart gave court-enforceable undertakings to withdraw certain non-compliant products from sale and agreed not to sell products in categories where the commission had identified concerns for at least six months.
McAtamney said it was the "scale and recurring nature of the issues we identified that are a serious concern for the commission".
It's alleged PD Mart did not have adequate systems, policies and processes in place to meet its obligations, and that staff were not adequately trained.
The commission also accused PD Mart of misrepresenting customers' ability to return products under the Consumer Guarantees Act.
"Consumers have rights when they buy products in New Zealand, and businesses need to understand those rights and meet their obligations. They have a responsibility to comply with the law and invest adequately in the systems, processes and staff training needed to meet their legal obligations."
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