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04-26-2010
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Activity: 0% Longevity: 83% | | Manufacturer e-mailing be about not being authorized reseller
Some bitch was e-mailing me about not being an authorized reseller of their product , which is a pretty successful/big product. Thing is they have a "minimum advertised price", "authorized resellers", etc....
I'm selling it for about 40% off anybody/anywhere and they don't like that..awww Get this, Amazon has repriced me down all the way until I got to about 40% off so I can hold Amazon in the buy box at like 35% off..I wonder if they are going to sue Amazon?? Amazon has got other versions of the product listed below the MAP as well.
Of course they don't like it, I'm devaluing their product and their pissed that there's a potential for a big loss of future income because all their resellers will say there's no way they can sell it anymore at the regular price.
So they bought a few of them from me. Good thing they told me before I shipped them out so I put my "old" return address on them, oops.
Well I know Amazon's take on this, that is anybody can sell anything at any price..that's the free market. And I'm pretty sure there's no laws pertaining to "authorized resellers", unless that is you have a contract with them, which ohh yeah, I don't!
They wanted to send me a letter from their lawyer, to cease and desist. I'm wondering if I should brighten my day any more by honoring them with a response.
So basically I can tell them:
a) welcome to capitalism where there's a thing called competition, sorry your monopoly is crumbling
b) talk to amazon, not me
c) tell your lawyer to review the first sale doctrine
d) I don't receive many letters and would love one from your lawyer, maybe you guys can get a nice vacation when you come to court over here
e) ignore completely
Either way I'm looking forward to the coming feedback bomb
Last edited by superstealth; 04-26-2010 at 03:30 AM.
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04-26-2010
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Does the company indicates, either on the product packaging or terms of sale in user guide and/or on official website, that the product is not permitted for resale?
If no, you should be free to sell the product at whatever price you feel comfortable with.
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04-26-2010
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Your best bet is to ignore them completely. If you are doing anything illegal they would have served you legal papers and taken you to court.
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04-26-2010
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So they bought a few of them from me. Good thing they told me before I shipped them out so I put my "old" return address on them, oops
^^ they sound like amateurs
ignore..., plus if youve had no take-downs, it means ebay isnt paying attention to any reports they are surely making...
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04-27-2010
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Activity: 0% Longevity: 83% | | Quote:
Originally Posted by oompaloompa So they bought a few of them from me. Good thing they told me before I shipped them out so I put my "old" return address on them, oops
^^ they sound like amateurs
ignore..., plus if youve had no take-downs, it means ebay isnt paying attention to any reports they are surely making... | Yeah I'm not sure they will bother with feedback, they don't sell on Amazon just bought me out before I added new inventory and that's when I got the e-mail once they found out I "procured" more as they said. They have a lot of products and Amazon is (supposedly) an authorized dealer, however I've heard in the past that Amazon grey markets stuff themselves.
As far as e-mailing me, I would have caught the address anyway. Big orders or oddball products get a little extra address verification through other methods. I've had companies order from me in the past but I figured it was just to check if anything was #### or stolen.
This is the second time I've been confronted though, the first time the manufacturer actually sold themselves on Amazon and had the monopoly.
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04-27-2010
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Activity: 0% Longevity: 96% | | Quote:
Originally Posted by oompaloompa Quote:
So they bought a few of them from me. Good thing they told me before I shipped them out so I put my "old" return address on them, oops
| ^^ they sound like amateurs
ignore..., plus if youve had no take-downs, it means ebay isnt paying attention to any reports they are surely making... |
Amazon are not as well
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04-27-2010
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If it does not have a tag or something indicating permitting to sale, you should feel like free to sell the product whenever and whereever
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04-27-2010
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Ok so I just found out that they had ordered from me in the past...it was a huge order and they bought it kind of sneaky, but the address didn't show the manufacturer it showed some other business. So that went out with my return address because it was almost $1000.
Then they ordered again in the company name and somebody from the company sent me the email, well they already know who I am from my return address in that case.
Now, the first person who ordered made another big order today trying to clear out my stock..then it clicked, that they were the same..once I looked up the first big order its the same address.
LOL I actually e-mailed the customer today saying thanks for your repeated business and she e-mailed back thinking I don't know...I was going to ask if they want both orders sent together LOL but I guess I would be better to have separate tracking for each. They are going to waste their time writing me letters now and having lawyers threatening me.
I'm wondering if I should list more?? They are good customers!
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04-27-2010
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They have no legal grounds for forbidding you from selling their items. You did not sign any distribution agreement with them, or any agreement to sell at a particular price. This doesn't mean they won't try to harass or bully you, however.
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04-27-2010
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Activity: 0% Longevity: 81% | | Quote:
Originally Posted by superstealth
I'm wondering if I should list more?? They are good customers! | You should raise your price, so it costs them more but not enough to scare away other customers.
Example: If your products minimum price as set by them is $50. You sell to everyone for $45. Price rules on ebay and if you have decent feedback 9 times out of 10, people will pick you for a 10% savings.
Then you have a bulk auction for 100 at a time at $42. Most likely it would be them buying in that quantity. You can use their money to buy more of their product to under sell them.
Of course this all depends on if you products are not counterfeits.
Last edited by FattyM; 04-27-2010 at 02:52 PM.
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04-27-2010
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No they aren't counterfeits, it's just a more expensive item that in order to sell, well actually buy from them, you need a reseller agreement that says you have to go by their pricing rules. Basically if you don't buy from them you will have a very hard time buying the stuff wholesale because no authorized dealer will sell to you at cost or close to it just so you can go undercut them on the marketplace.
I don't have access to much of this stuff and debating whether I should bother trying to get more. They already have my home address since I shipped it UPS due to the value..this was before I got an address that accepts UPS/FedEx. So with the address they know who I am, etc.
New problem is that they ordered one to be delivered in state. Not sure if this is a lawyer or what, but either way I know what they are trying to do with that...report for sales tax. I have no choice but to cancel that one as far as I know. I thought about reshipping it through somebody in another state but I still made the sale here so I don't think that would matter where it was shipped from.
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04-27-2010
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That has happened to my gf from ebay... totally ignored them... nothing happened
If they have right, they can take down from Amazon. But they can't... that's why they threaten you.
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05-11-2010
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So the latest update to this is that they claim the items I sent them were either used or damaged, not in new condition...$1200 worth of merchandise. Obviously false. I have invoices from where I purchased the items, but that doesn't prove much besides that they weren't stolen.
This company probably has a warehouse full of returned products that they switched with the new ones I sent them.
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05-12-2010
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I think they do that to try and get your real return address from paypal so they can harass you with certified letters and threats. I would no longer sell it in huge quantities, but I would flood ebay the item well below their minimum msrp.
Also, there used to be a way to limit the number of items any one buyer can buy from you, but I don't know if you still can.
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05-12-2010
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They have my return address, I have nothing to hide. If they wish to take me to court over something that has no legal standing (ie. we have no contract that I breached) then they can go for it. The thing is they know they are unable to do anything to me.
It does not really matter what I do if they buy all my items and then claim I sent them used merchandise.
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05-12-2010
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List the quantity as 1 and make separate multiple listings. I doubt they have access to more than 2 or 3 ebay/paypal accounts. Just cancel their bid and block them as bidders if you are suspicious or limit the amount any one person can buy.
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05-12-2010
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I guess you didn't read that this is in the Amazon forum..customers can do whatever they want and return anything they want, and if you don't take the return Amazon will refund their money anyway
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05-24-2010
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Activity: 0% Longevity: 81% | | Quote:
Originally Posted by superstealth They have my return address, I have nothing to hide. If they wish to take me to court over something that has no legal standing (ie. we have no contract that I breached) then they can go for it. The thing is they know they are unable to do anything to me.
It does not really matter what I do if they buy all my items and then claim I sent them used merchandise. | They can NEVER take you to Court. It sounds like that you are selling a "Single Stream Distributed" product, Check some of my past Posts like this one: http://www.aspkin.com/forums/multipl...tml#post138355
The sad truth is that MANY resellers of these types of items go out of Business and their inventory winds up on the "OPEN Market" which means that you can sell the product to ANYONE, In ANY Quantity, at ANYTIME, for ANY PRICE---CASE CLOSED!!! That is the LAW,--U.S. Law, Law of the Land, NOT some lame company's Law.
If you were an "Authorized Reseller" with a contract with the company THEN they would tell you that you are in Breach of that contract, and pretty much Boot you from their Aurhorized reseller list, Maybe even take you to Court for BREACH OF CONTRACT---NOTHING ELSE!!!
So as long as the item is NOT XXXX sell it to your Hearts Content without worries, Offer your inventory to them if you like, Offer them your source--for some sick amount of money of course. Or simply tell them to go F##K OFF!!!
You DO NOT have a problem----GUARANTEED!!!!
Take it from someone who has been in the resale game for a L O N G TIME!!!
Last edited by slapped; 05-24-2010 at 02:17 AM.
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05-24-2010
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Originally Posted by slapped So as long as the item is NOT XXXX sell it to your Hearts Content without worries, Offer your inventory to them if you like, Offer them your source--for some sick amount of money of course. Or simply tell them to go F##K OFF!!!
You DO NOT have a problem----GUARANTEED!!!! | I have a slight (major) problem..they buy all my stuff, which I send to their fulfillment center, which has racks of customer returns, and then they tell me/Amazon I sent them used/damaged merchandise..as in, they grab some stuff out of their trash and want to return it to me for a full refund, or they just throw my stuff on the ground, stomp on it a few times then want to return it. Pretty petty stuff for a company that has their **** together as far as bringing a product to market.
My only other problem is I don't have a source for the stuff, it was liquidation stuff..it's not like I need to sell this product or that it even was a great seller, I just don't need this BS.
I've completely ignored all request for return for around two weeks now, so I'm not sure if something else will come up but 30 days for feedback e-mail is coming soon. If Amazon takes the time and can see through their attempts here then I have receipts for the original goods and photos of my remaining inventory that I'm not selling
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05-24-2010
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WOW, I NEVER Heard of ANY Company acting like that, I do Kinda Understand it though.
The company knows that it has no Legal leg to stand on to stop you as I indicated in my last Post, so they are resorting to this tactic.
Well, this MUST be illegal, so I would consult with a Lawyer, or Maybe even the police, as far as Amazon I would Let a Lawyer contact their legal department.
I would say that it is a Pretty good bet that if you contacted Amazon and told them, they would most likley "Brush you off" and Shut you down. With a Lawyer on your Side who is talking to their Legal Department I think you would have a Much better Chance of surviving this.
I know that it would cost some Money, (Not as Much as you may be thinking, Though) but It would most likley be The difference in Keeping your Amazon account open, Which I think is the Real issue here for you.
I am sorry that I could not be more Helpful.
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05-24-2010
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Originally Posted by superstealth I have a slight (major) problem..they buy all my stuff, which I send to their fulfillment center, which has racks of customer returns, and then they tell me/Amazon I sent them used/damaged merchandise..as in, they grab some stuff out of their trash and want to return it to me for a full refund, or they just throw my stuff on the ground, stomp on it a few times then want to return it. Pretty petty stuff for a company that has their **** together as far as bringing a product to market.
My only other problem is I don't have a source for the stuff, it was liquidation stuff..it's not like I need to sell this product or that it even was a great seller, I just don't need this BS.
I've completely ignored all request for return for around two weeks now, so I'm not sure if something else will come up but 30 days for feedback e-mail is coming soon. If Amazon takes the time and can see through their attempts here then I have receipts for the original goods and photos of my remaining inventory that I'm not selling | Just don't sell it in lot of more then 2. If someone buys more than one auction cancel the sale. Check for shipping address from NY, CA, Chicago and Miami as those are the major areas their lawyers would be operating from.
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05-24-2010
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To many cancel sales on Amazon will get your account close.
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