Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

  • avatar

    by: ru176
    New SaleHoo Member
    2 posts

    Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

    Posted 9 Jul 07 10:50 pm.

    Just a warning to potential importers of branded clothing from Chinese exporters. Brands such as Sean John, Phat Farm, Baby Phat, Gucci, Prada etc etc.

    We have just completed an investigation into the importing and selling of branded wear - and this is the bottom line :
    ALL branded clothing is covered by Legal Licensing Agreements - if you do not have a licensing agreement with the company in question, you cannot import or sell any products baring or resembling their branding. Licensing agreements are only awarded by the corporate office of the brand, and never a factory or distributor. You can also only obtain a sub-license from a Master Licensee and nowhere else.
    Most branded wear companies have a legal department whose sole purpose is to investigate brand theft, counterfeiting and the like. They initially will send you a cease and desist order if they find that you are selling brands without a legal agreement, under the assumption that the goods are either fake or stolen.
    If a cease or desist order is ignored, legal action is taken against you.
    Even if you buy from a site that specializes in the goods, the Customs officials are more vigilant when it comes to branded goods and have the telephone numbers of the Corporate company's licensing division. They call and confirm identifying security markers to determine whether the goods are genuine or not.
    You would need to confirm with the Corporate whether the listed site is a valid Licensee or not.

    If they are then it's all good. But remember that individual items under one brand are covered by different licensees, so it could be come a very tricky minefield to navigate.

    Be smart when purchasing branded goods - or stay away from it altogether...
  • avatar

    by: jimmy_huber
    SaleHoo Master Member
    2868 posts

    Re: Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

    Posted 10 Jul 07 4:38 pm.

    Thanks, This is common knowledge for most seasoned sellers. But Im sure that many new sellers are unaware of this.

    Wholesale Directory by SaleHoo

  • avatar

    by: bacpro
    SaleHoo Master Member
    330 posts

    Re: Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

    Posted 16 Jul 07 12:36 pm.

    Are you saying that even on Auction sites?

    For example let say you have an item like
    a Fendi, and you list as 1 item on auction
    can they still say you can't sell it? There is
    a website that sells Fendi they say they are ligit.

    If I buy from them and resell them on U-did or ebay, is this ok?
    Here' the website:
    link hidden

    Welcome to HotFashion.ws, your site for guaranteed authentic designer
    fashion by Gucci, Fendi & Prada. We carry Gucci, Prada, Fendi handbags,
    purses, wallets and accessories deeply discounted.

    Are they ligit???

    Thanks
    John (BACPRO)

    J Baca
    link hidden
    (Looking for Cheep Software, Look no further)
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  • avatar

    by: jimmy_huber
    SaleHoo Master Member
    2868 posts

    Re: Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

    Posted 17 Jul 07 9:05 pm.

    You should be ok Bacpro.
    You are just reselling liquidated Items sold by a site that deals in closeouts.

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  • avatar

    by: gulfy13
    SaleHoo Master Member
    472 posts

    Re: Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

    Posted 18 Jul 07 10:05 pm.

    Hi. If you are selling authentic, legitimate, items, aquired from an authorized dealer, or a liquidator, you can resell that item and you are covered by 'first right of sale'.

    Where most people run into a problem is that they are buying '7 star or mirror copies' of a brand and reselling them. This is against both copyright and trademark laws.

    It's a fact that most of the major designers have their products manufactured in china and the far east. However just because you buy that item from a manufactuor in china, and it has all the right tags, materials and markings does not make it an authentic,or legitimet item.

    Generally what happens is a company such as Ralph Lauren, places an order for 500,000 polo shirts. The chinese factory will produce probably say 600,000 of these shirts. Then ship the 500,000 to ralph lauren for distribution to it's stores and licensed retailers. Then they will sell through websites, the other 100,000 to people like you and me, for about 8 to 12 dollars per shirt. And they will make more money selling the bootlegged shirts than they will on the 'authorized' 500,000. Ralph Lauren paid about a single dollar per shirt.. Nike tennis shoes, at 50 cents per pair...

    This is what they are trying to stop.Bootlegged goods. If you can show that you purchased an legitimate polo shirt, lets say, from a liquidator, who bought all of Macy's unsold stock, they are not going to bother you.You are no the people they are trying to stop. They are after the guy who is buying them from 'Charlie Chan's Wholesale Website' and selling them at flee markets and ebay...
  • avatar

    by: dnabassethounds
    New SaleHoo Member
    4 posts

    Re: Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

    Posted 19 Jul 07 10:54 pm.

    Does the same apply to hard stock (i.e. Disney)? If I were to purchase 3 Kmart overstocked pallets from say... JD Wholesale and one of the pallets carried a lot of Disney soft stock and hard stock, would I then need to get a liscense to resell it? Can you and how do you acquire a liscense?
  • avatar

    by: gulfy13
    SaleHoo Master Member
    472 posts

    Re: Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

    Posted 20 Jul 07 10:59 pm.

    No, you would not need a licence to resell it. As long as the items are indeed 'authentic', you can resell them.

    Again, what they are trying to stop is sales of replicas, unauthorized copies and things like that. Not overstocks of original authorized items....read my post a couple above this one. It goes into a little more detail...
  • avatar

    by: jimmy_huber
    SaleHoo Master Member
    2868 posts

    Re: Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

    Posted 21 Jul 07 5:13 am.

    Does the same apply to hard stock (i.e. Disney)? If I were to purchase 3 Kmart overstocked pallets from say... JD Wholesale and one of the pallets carried a lot of Disney soft stock and hard stock, would I then need to get a liscense to resell it? Can you and how do you acquire a liscense?
    Yes he is correct. You are just reselling liquidated stock as noted in my post above as well. You are ok to sell those items :D

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  • avatar

    by: randomxs
    SaleHoo Junior Member
    21 posts

    Re: Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

    Posted 8 Jan 08 1:33 pm.

    does this also apply in selling those liquidation items in a store to local people?
  • avatar

    by: mana2006
    SaleHoo Master Member
    379 posts

    Re: Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

    Posted 8 Jan 08 10:28 pm.

    Some of my suppliers will also request that I don't advertise their name .... Some brands also require me to remove retail tags or pasckaging in order to prevent returns to brick and mortor stores
  • avatar

    by: gulfy13
    SaleHoo Master Member
    472 posts

    Re: Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

    Posted 8 Jan 08 10:59 pm.

    Yes, most brand owners will request that the original price tags be removed. this protects chain stores from people who will buy products with the original tags at a high discount and then return them to a factory store for the original amount refund..

    Most often when you buy a branded item let's say such as a 'tommy bahama' mens shirt from a liquidator, you will notice that the clothing label will often have a black ink mark drawn through the label at the collar of the shirt..

    This shows that the shirt has been sold through a liquidator or closeout vendor and cannot be returned to a chain or factory store for a full refund...
  • avatar

    by: jimmy_huber
    SaleHoo Master Member
    2868 posts

    Re: Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

    Posted 8 Jan 08 11:19 pm.

    One thing you also need to know if you purchase any Sears Liquidated stock they monitor the serial codes on everything they liquidate. Make sure to destroy the serial numbers so they cannot trace the numbers back to you if you sell them on ebay. They have many agents that will purchase craftsman brands on ebay just to see if it is a product they liquidated.

    Also be carefull as Sears is good at sending you junk pallets. Like if you order 24 pallets they may dump 2 pallets of unsellable gas cans on you but still charge you thier pallet prices.

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  • avatar

    by: iowasellers
    New SaleHoo Member
    9 posts

    Re: Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

    Posted 15 Jan 08 8:08 pm.

    I have read on here of sellers who have had their EBay accounts disabled for reasons mentioned in this topic. What suggestions would you have for documenting the purchase of name brand clothing from liquidators? It would be good to know what documentation you would need to send to EBay or the clothing manufacturer to prove that the goods you are selling are not boot legged. Thanks
  • avatar

    by: gulfy13
    SaleHoo Master Member
    472 posts

    Re: Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

    Posted 16 Jan 08 1:12 am.

    Well, some companies will provide a sanitized invoice and you can take a photo of that and include in your listing. I normally get my items from stores at discount and always include a closeup copy of the receipt. This has worked well for me.

    Too, keep in mind that 'copyright' is a broad spectrum definition. It can mean use of the branded name or use of their stock photos and discriptions. Try to always take your own photos and discribe the items in your own words..This can very from company to company. some will allow you to use their discriptions and some won't. Same for photos...

    Also, I know it a pain, but it dosen't hurt to send a copy of your purchase invoices to ebay along with a notice of 'intent to resell'.

    If you have aquired the items for resell from a legitmate source and the goods are indeed authentic, then you have the right to resell them and are covered under the 'first right of sell' law.

    That being said, too, you have to keep in mind that some major companies use strict licencing agreements that say you can only sell their goods if you are licened by them or sub-licenced by an authorized distributor..It's a tangled mess when you get right down to it and most of the little guys cant afford the lawyers to see that their rights and not trampled on..
  • avatar

    by: Rodl
    SaleHoo Junior Member
    10 posts

    Re: Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

    Posted 22 Jan 08 2:14 am.

    A little confused about selling non authentic branded/replica items!!!

    I notice that there are many companies registered online who do sell such items. Take Brandslover.com, a company i came accross when i did a search on google, they sell replica handbags and watches and openly admit to this on their website. They also offer a dropshipping service so my question is:
    1. How do they get away with selling replica items?
    2. Assuming one decided to dropship their products on an online store, what would be the legal consequences/implications?
  • avatar

    by: gulfy13
    SaleHoo Master Member
    472 posts

    Re: Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

    Posted 22 Jan 08 10:08 pm.

    Well, selling replica's is illegal and it's not a matter of if you get caught, it's more a matter of when...

    The parent companies do prosecute when they catch up with the sellers..Keeping in mind that there is a good market for conterfiet goods, alot of sellers change the names of their websites and start up business again and again..
  • avatar

    by: towzer
    New SaleHoo Member
    6 posts

    Re: Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

    Posted 13 Feb 08 8:33 am.

    Good advice.

    My company -- GlobalSources.com (NASDAQ: GSOL) -- offers buyers only what we call 'Verified Suppliers' on our site.

    Basically, ihis means that we have visited the suppliers (thousands of them in China) personally to make sure they are real companies with real products and real people working there.

    Helps insure you won't get burned by phony set-ups. Take a look. Could be very helpful to you.

    You may also want to check out the articles on importing from China at link hidden
  • avatar

    by: wandder
    New SaleHoo Member
    2 posts

    Re: Warning to importers of branded clothing from China

    Posted 25 Feb 08 12:14 pm.

    I've just joined to salehoo, I'm a bit confused of how to start my business.
    Well, I'm thinking of buying nike shoes and also brand clothing from China with a very low price to resell them here in Brazil, how can I do that?
    What do you advice me to do: Buying original or replica goods?
    I don't know what to do?
    Thank you for your help,
    Vanderlei Freitas