Is this legal?...

[ivandabomb]

You guys know the little mini armor all protectants and cleaning sponges that are at the car wash in the vending machine?


Well hear me out on this one.

What if I took some other products that aren`t offered in vending style packaging and made them available in vending style packaging, such as Mothers Back to Black, bug and tar remover mini wipes or mini spray bottles, rain-x in wipes and other kind of products.

First off is that legal, to repackage existing products into smaller quantities and sell them. and if so, would this be appealing to any of you or car wash owners?

[Addicted2Bling]

That sounds good, if you were straight up and honest about what you were repackaging. And you would probably have to take that up with the companies you plan on repackaging from. Otherwise you would make a bad name for yourself and run your company straight into the ground.

I suggest making your own products and packaging them yourself

[ivandabomb]

Yeah your totally right, I should definately make my own products. But id like to start off by wholesaling existing reputable products. I,honestly don`t see anything wrong with reselling detailing supplies but in a different form.

Thanks for your reply

[RTexasF]

I`d say you should contact the various manufacturers and ask them.

[Trouble]

Legal, probally not, but I doubt they would bother suing you over it

[forrest@mothers]

Legal, probally not, but I doubt they would bother suing you over it

A company would be foolish not to protect their intellectual property rights. We do; every single day.

As for repackaging, I`d suggest you contact the manufacturers and ask their interest in selling you a product you plan to use.

Some may be interested, some not.

[RMD]

Not sure what you mean by "legal". Is it criminal, I don`t know. Would it expose you to civil liability (meaning get you sued), yes. Would you lose in court, yes. Is it a good idea, no.

Can you resell or distribute other people`s products? Sure. Buy low, sell high. But you probably need an agreement from the manufacturer to sell retail. Or, you might be able to rebrand a product made by someone else - many mfg companies do this. You probably will have to buy in fairly large quantity though.

Could be a good business if you have a bit of funding to invest.

[Bunky]

I some product suppliers like Mothers, Poorboys, and Autogeek sell smaller sample (4 oz) sizes of their product lines. I am not sure all are label correctly for resale. The problem is there is a lot of labor and other costs (bottle, cap) in making these so the price savings is not as dramatic.

[erichaley]

A company would be foolish not to protect their intellectual property rights. We do; every single day.

+1

Furthermore, if a company does not consistently protect their intellectual property rights, they risk losing those rights.

[Trouble]

A company would be foolish not to protect their intellectual property rights. We do; every single day.

As for repackaging, I`d suggest you contact the manufacturers and ask their interest in selling you a product you plan to use.

Some may be interested, some not.

Yea, I get all that Forrest, but wouldn`t you first contact the individual and see what they had to say before hiring a $500 pr hour attorney?

Good suggestion on relabeling products

[wendell jarvis]

contanct MFG

[Addicted2Bling]

I honestly don`t think the juice is worth the squeeze here. Even if you did buy in bulk and cut it all down into little small sized packages, you would have to buy the containers, the labels, not to mention all the time spent in filling them. And what are you going to do if someone wants to buy your product in bulk? Are you going to have a 55 gallon Mothers Drum sent to their house?

That whole business situation is shady and probably not the best idea...

[forrest@mothers]

Yea, I get all that Forrest, but wouldn`t you first contact the individual and see what they had to say before hiring a $500 pr hour attorney?

History tells us most offenders stop after receiving a cease and desist letter. But, sometimes it is necessary to use the courts to protect our rights.

The key to it all is to discuss it with the manufacturer BEFORE taking any steps. In addition to copyright and trademark laws, there are requirements with labeling and packaging which must be met on consumer products.

[Going Mobile]

I honestly don`t think the juice is worth the squeeze here... That whole business situation is shady and probably not the best idea...

+1.

Wow, the licensing, distribution and possible trademark issues/violations could be mind numbing. Any company can send a cease and desist letter and would probably do it in house. As for why would they bother? It could be as simple as the company doesn`t want their product sold in vending machines or they don`t want to be in the $1 bin at Target. As already mentioned, talk to the company(s) first.

[Bunky]

Most companies that have much IP either have in house attorneys (so already paying for them) or have attorneys working by contract so writing letters is not something that decide to do for cost. It is already factored in the overhead.