Legalities of re-selling store goods

moonpenny

Can someone help me?

I want to start making baby gift baskets, just for family / friends at the moment, to see how it goes before I commit to buying trade etc.

My problem is; I have bought some toys in the sale at M & S to use but am now worried that I might get into trouble with the store. The lady who served me was interested and I think I could have got an order from her, which set me thinking, If my baskets (with their toy) came to the attention of management, would I be in trouble?

I love what I've bought and want to go back and buy more in quantity, so they will probably ask questions! It is too risky and costly at the moment to buy from wholesalers.

martindow

This page on Ebay has links to information about Vero where certain manufacturers limit who can sell their items. This is a general limitation not just for Ebay.

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/vero/participants.html

Can't see M and S there but the list might not be exhaustive.

Good luck with your venture.

zorber

why would you get into trouble??
You have already given M&S the money for such items. They are now yours to do with as you please. If this would be for commercial gain then you would be better sourcing from a supplier for cost benifits.

Any how who says you havent bought them from the same supplier as M&S.

You get various cheap discount stores selling on top brand product that are either last season or over stocks.

motorguy

zorber wrote: »

why would you get into trouble??
You have already given M&S the money for such items. They are now yours to do with as you please. If this would be for commercial gain then you would be better sourcing from a supplier for cost benifits.

Any how who says you havent bought them from the same supplier as M&S.

You get various cheap discount stores selling on top brand product that are either last season or over stocks.

Unfortunately it doesnt work like that. You could argue that once you buy a pair of Nikes you can resell them if you like. Not so. They, through Vero will be on you like a rash should it be obvious you're selling them for profit.

M&S may take that approach. They may not, but they are within their rights to do so.

LittleVoice

pgilc1 wrote: »

Unfortunately it doesnt work like that. You could argue that once you buy a pair of Nikes you can resell them if you like. Not so. They, through Vero will be on you like a rash should it be obvious you're selling them for profit.

M&S may take that approach. They may not, but they are within their rights to do so.

Well, referring to what I have coloured red in your post, I've looked at what Nike actually say and, taken from http://cgi3.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=nikeuk
they (Nike) say
"It is legal to re-sell a genuine Nike product that you purchased, in its original, unaltered form in the territory in which you bought it and you may use NIKE trade marks to describe such items."

Sorry, I don't understand your interpretation.

motorguy

LittleVoice wrote: »

Well, referring to what I have coloured red in your post, I've looked at what Nike actually say and, taken from http://cgi3.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=nikeuk
they (Nike) say
"It is legal to re-sell a genuine Nike product that you purchased, in its original, unaltered form in the territory in which you bought it and you may use NIKE trade marks to describe such items."

Sorry, I don't understand your interpretation.

That statement by Nike allows you to sell a pair of Nikes that were a gift, dont fit, unused. From that statement there is also a list of Nike authorised resellers.

If you were to repeatedly sell new Nike items, and as Nike monitor the site daily, they would have issue with you reselling and not being an authorised reseller.

LittleVoice

pgilc1 wrote: »

That statement by Nike allows you to sell a pair of Nikes that were a gift, dont fit, unused. From that statement there is also a list of Nike authorised resellers.

If you were to repeatedly sell new Nike items, and as Nike monitor the site daily, they would have issue with you reselling and not being an authorised reseller.

I've given you a quote from Nike that doesn't place any limit on quantity. Please can you give me a reference for what you are stating but providing no proof for? What "issue"? What could they do about it? Unused?

ryandj

zorber wrote: »

Any how who says you havent bought them from the same supplier as M&S.

You get various cheap discount stores selling on top brand product that are either last season or over stocks.

They are not allowed to do this and it is know as the "grey market". M&S branded products are made only for M&S. The factories that make the own brand products for various supermarkets will, for an order of 10000 pallets, make enough for 12000 pallets in case of QC failures. Any that fail the QC, or any that are of the right quality but that are surplus to the initial order are often sold on the grey market by the factories to middle men and this is what often ends up in the pound shops. Very occasionally the manufacturer gets into trouble for this.

The fact that an M&S product may be made in the same factory as, say, a Morrisons product and is the same product with different packaging is another matter as well but not really relevant....

Interestingly, a large supermarket got into trouble recently. They were selling a well know brand of hair straighteners. The hair straightener manufacturer did not want to cheapen the brand and lower its image by being in said supermarket, so the supermarket bought them wholesale on the grey market instead. As a result, the brand took action against them, and I think they had a lot of complaints from customers anyway as the hair straighteners were 2nd's.

motorguy

LittleVoice wrote: »

I've given you a quote from Nike that doesn't place any limit on quantity. Please can you give me a reference for what you are stating but providing no proof for? What "issue"? What could they do about it?

Sure, no problem. I sold a couple of XBOX 360s when they were hard to get. My listings were pulled by VERO and i was asked to proved where i got them, why i was selling them etc. There were acting on behalf of Microsoft.

I would strongly imagine Nike would do the same - i am not an approved Nike reseller so me plugging away on ebay is going to cause them problems. Nike want big stores promoting their brand. They wont tolerate some bloke flogging their brand from his garage - even if i'm buying those items legitamitely from say their outlet store. Nike employees will get fired for reselling items they have bought for profit. Ultimately you're selling their product, but without the warranty, customer service, brand image, etc.

I was only using Nike as an example by the way, but some people seem to be focussing in on the actual company, rather than the principle of what was being said.

If you sell any 'brand' on ebay even over a reasonably short period of time, you will attract the attention of Vero.

motorguy

ryandj wrote: »

Interestingly, a large supermarket got into trouble recently. They were selling a well know brand of hair straighteners. The hair straightener manufacturer did not want to cheapen the brand and lower its image by being in said supermarket, so the supermarket bought them wholesale on the grey market instead. As a result, the brand took action against them, and I think they had a lot of complaints from customers anyway as the hair straighteners were 2nd's.

Prime example of what i'm saying. Nike / Microsoft / Other brands will see the selling of their goods by ebay traders as cheapening of their brand and will deal with it through VERO.

LittleVoice

Please refer me to the place (eg website) where Nike (and I'm sticking with them because they were specifically mentioned and I tried checking what they actually say) say they will pursue anyone who sells on legitimate goods.

(The quote I used does have a territorial reference and I seem to recall that there have been cases where manufacturers have taken retailers to court for selling products which flouted the territorial condition.)