I bought DJI’s banned camera — it was cheap and easy

The old movie version of a black market is all shadows and back alleys. The real one can look like a shopping app. That’s the point of this DJI story: if someone in the US wants a banned Osmo Pocket 4 or Pocket 4 Pro, the listings are already sitting on Temu, AliExpress, eBay, Mercari, Amazon, and Newegg.

The weird part isn’t just that they’re available. It’s how ordinary the whole process is. Fast shipping. Free shipping. No tariff drama. No seizure anxiety. The cameras are apparently already inside the country, even though rules ban them from entering.

That became obvious when the writer ordered a DJI Osmo Pocket 4 Pro from Temu and had it show up four days later. It came straight from a fulfillment center in Oregon, which is a pretty blunt reminder that enforcement at the border doesn’t mean much once the product has already made it into domestic inventory.

So the ban exists, but so does a very normal-looking retail path around it. That’s the story here: not a smuggler’s tale, but a marketplace problem dressed up as convenience. And convenience usually wins unless someone actually makes it expensive or hard.