Do I need a license to sell designer goods?

Hi,

Is there anyone that can help me with the following inquiries:

I'm planning to import designer goods to Australia (Diesel, D&G, etc), do I need any special license to resell those products, or would it be OK if I just get enough proof from the supplier (for example authenticity certificate/paperwork)?
I'm looking at Dogsb for designer sunglasses, lot of reviews in Salehoo show that it's a good company to deal with, if anyone has any other suggestion, please let me know.

Thanks.

Hi shonargaon,

For some brands, you may have to sign up as one of their authorized dealers to be able to resell their items. It's not so much a license as it is meeting their requirements for resellers. For example, some brands require their resellers a turnover of $100,000 a year in sales before they can stock their products. Others require that you have a store front. It really depends, but it's usually the high-end brands that have these requirements.

If you're sourcing name brand goods from a wholesaler or a liquidator perhaps, it's always a good idea to ask for an official authentication paperwork or any proof of authenticity in case you may need to prove that these items are authentic, that should be enough.

All the best!

Hi shonargaon,

Satya's right. What's important is that you are buying from a legitimate supplier of these designer clothing brands. You don't necessarily need a license to sell. But do try and secure proper documentations from your supplier, such as Certificates of Authenticity as back-up in case you may need to prove that the items are indeed authentic as claimed.

These documents may come in handy at Customs or other instances where you may be required to prove that you are not selling knock-offs.

Hope that helps. Cheers :)

In regards to liquidate designer brands, you need to be well informed of the restrictions in regards to brand name identification when marketing them. Each company will have a policy in place that you have to follow regarding each brand, and if you don't then legal action can always be brought against you directly.

Some designers will not allow any liquidated products to be sold publicly with their brand name in tact, so even though you may well be able to source them, marketing them as that brand can get you into serious hot water if you do not understand the agreement.

Just something to be really aware of if sourcing through liquidations : )

Thank you for all of your reply,

It does answer all of my question, I will ask dogsb if they provide proper documentation.

If there anyone has dealt with dogsb, please let me about your experience with them, i would really appreciate it

thanks

Hi shonargaon,

For reference as to what other members think of Dog's B.com, you can check out the reviews from other members on the supplier profile page and if you search the forum using dogsb as your keyword, I'm sure a few posts will turn up.

Link hidden: Login to view

All the best!

PS - Don’t forget to add a picture to your profile so we can all see your friendly face ;)

What about name brand items sold on liquidation.com for the purpose of reselling? I was watching a lot but the seller said something about buyer having the responsibility to research resell rights and that got me thinking. They are selling them in bulk-but if I have a business license and can prove I'm a legitimate business what else do you need to 'secure' or 'find out' before reselling those items elsewhere? I contacted liquidation.com and was told sellers must provide proof what they sell (as in name brand) is legitimate. Any suggestion or ideas on this? Would I have to directly contact each brand of anything I purchase to ask if I can resell it? Gymboree is the same way-they do NOT sell wholesale but people do make lots to sell as 'wholesale' and people are reselling it on ebay like hot cakes...just curious. I don't want to dive in head first to lose it all to technicalities. Thanks.

Hi atticblingandthings,

It's true that your seller/supplier should be able to give you proof that the products they are selling are indeed authentic brand name products. Any legit seller/supplier would easily agree to this request.

I read on another forum that some companies or brand owners will limit the distribution of their products to a certain region only so although you bought your stock off a legit supplier you might not be able to sell it right off - may this could be something you can look into.

Here's the post I was referring to - Link hidden: Login to view (check the third post)

Some brands are licenced for sale on a regional basis, ie. north america, europe, etc. etc. some more refined than that, to sell something in the UK which is licenced for resale in the US would be known as what is "grey market", whereas the garment in question will be genuine, however the item would have been imported to a different area from where it was originally intended for sale, therefore it would not have came to the UK via the correct UK distribution channels, the sale of genuine grey market goods is very commonplace, alot more than many people may realise, though not strictly legal, many brand owners turn a blind eye to a degree as it still generates advertising for them in a round about way, but other 'stricter' brand owners could hit you with a cease and desist order which I would advise to take notice of should the situation arise as some brands have extremely strict distribution.

Hope this helps somehow :)

Thanks for the reply-checked out the forum you sent. I think it's really hard to distinguish too..because if I bought something for myself to keep and then later decided to sell it, I wouldn't necessarily think I would need to contact a dealer to resell it b/c it was a personal purchase. I know these items are sold in my area but it's places like eBay that I guess I wonder about b/c you can sell worldwide on ebay and many of my customers are not in America. i see people selling brands I am in question about all the time on ebay and I know an authentic dealer who I can purchase from that I've found via Salehoo...and they sell some of the brands I've seen on other sites as well. I just don't want to break the law ;) I also don't plan on selling a billion of some of these name brands anyways....b/c...well it's not always cheap to get to start with ;)

"I read on another forum that some companies or brand owners will limit the distribution of their products to a certain region only so although you bought your stock off a legit supplier you might not be able to sell it right off - may this could be something you can look into."

Richelle's point is quite correct, in fact this often causes a lot of confusion when dealing in liquidated products, as a lot of 100% authentic designer products often have to have any branding removed for this reason, which of course then devalues them in the market.

Of course removing the branding also protects the brands value, no designer wants people to know that their garments can be purchased at such low rates.

In regards to first buying these products for yourself, then reselling later. There is absolutely no issues selling these types of products second hand, it's only selling new where you have to watch where you step.

It's still extremely confusing and hard to figure out what steps to take. Even if I contacted the brand's main office to inquire...selling on platforms like ebay or addoway, etc would still be difficult. I guess all I can do is more research but there isn't much lead way on Google.