Ladies and Gentlemen,

there have been many many questions / discussions about the subject of  "branded products" on the boards. (Some people also refer to them as "name products"

Examples of branded products would include products like iPods/ Nike shoes/ Chanel sunglasses. and the list goes on.

Simply put these products are NOT something you can buy.
It really is that easy.

If you find a supplier in China (or India or Israel or Australia or the US or any other country) that tells you they can make 1,000 Nike Air Jordans for you then they are LYING. The ONLY place you can buy a pair of Nike Air Jordans is from Nike (this includes their authorised distributors).

Can you in fact have 1,000 pairs of look-a-likes made complete with all the Nike logos and everything?.......Yes you can

Is this legal?.... Absolutely not.
What happens when you import them?..... The chances are better than even that the Customs department will seize them and destroy them.

Can you ask for your money back if this happens?........ Nope..... You are out that money.


Hopefully this will once and for all be a small amount of help to your new venture into import/export.

Brand Names belong to ONLY the holder of the brand name. You can't buy them from overseas from a factory.

( on a fun note:If you do buy products like this please contact me as I have a bridge I would like to sell you!


*********************UPDATE (Before anyone asks)**********************
Before anyone asks... this also applies to the new Apple iPhone. DO NOT BUY IT FROM ANYONE BUT APPLE!

Replying to [Foow]:
Sory but my English is bad. Please tell . Please say to me if i can buy brand products, but only in small mixes like 5 pieces? I can buy nevertheless also over ebay from Asia brand products thus must be nevertheless permitted? please consider which I in each case a small quantity of to buy wants and then resell would like. I am not a wholesale dealer only a small middleman. Thanks and greets.

Quoting from [rafal84]:


Yes you can buy from Ebay in Asia..... The products are technically required to go thru your Customs.. If customs decide that it IS a qty large enough to be cnsidered wholesale they might seize them..... Its a very hard area to know.... example NO customs department in ther world is going to consier 10 Nintendo Wii to be for your personal use.... they will slap you for something like that

Replying to [Foow]: coca cola spend 13m on worldwide brand protection every year, why should companies who do not buy this level of protection simply get it because "the blokes at customs want a new pair of shoes"

Quoting from [Foow]:



What happens when you import them?..... The chances are better than even that the Customs department will seize them and destroy them.

Give the examples where this kind of goods were seized by the customs?


Can you ask for your money back if this happens?........ Nope..... You are out that money.



Hopefully this will once and for all be a small amount of help to your new venture into import/export.


Brand Names belong to ONLY the holder of the brand name. You can't buy them from overseas from a factory.


( on a fun note:If you do buy products like this please contact me as I have a bridge I would like to sell you!

so you haev the illegal way to buy and sell them:

*********************UPDATE (Before anyone asks)**********************

Before anyone asks... this also applies to the new Apple iPhone. DO NOT BUY IT FROM ANYONE BUT APPLE!

Replying to [Foow]:

Hellow simple message:

donot confuse:

BRANDED PRODCUTS ARE AVAILABLE FROM ONLY FROM THE
'COMPANY,ITS AUTHORISED DISTRIBUTOR, ITS DEALER"

Quoting from [Thambi]:


Replying to [Foow]:


Hellow simple message:


donot confuse:


BRANDED PRODCUTS ARE AVAILABLE FROM ONLY FROM THE

'COMPANY,ITS AUTHORISED DISTRIBUTOR, ITS DEALER"

Correct..... read the post more carefully and you will see I state that numerous times. There are a few very rare exceptions but generally the trademark owner and their reprisentatives are the only ones you can purchase from..... Thanks Curdy.

Quoting from [curdrice]:

Quoting from [Foow]:





What happens when you import them?..... The chances are better than even that the Customs department will seize them and destroy them.

Give the examples where this kind of goods were seized by the customs

Can you ask for your money back if this happens?........ Nope..... You are out that money.





Hopefully this will once and for all be a small amount of help to your new venture into import/export.




Brand Names belong to ONLY the holder of the brand name. You can't buy them from overseas from a factory.




( on a fun note:If you do buy products like this please contact me as I have a bridge I would like to sell you!

so you haev the illegal way to buy and sell them:

*********************UPDATE (Before anyone asks)**********************



Before anyone asks... this also applies to the new Apple iPhone. DO NOT BUY IT FROM ANYONE BUT APPLE!

Curdrice,

There have been a number of postings from people in the forums about having their products seized by customs (you can happily go find them). Both for being fakes and for being imported without permission of the trademark owner... You can also learn more about seizures that have been made for the many Customs websites of differing countries.... Most of them post stories about seizures.

"so you haev the illegal way to buy and sell them"

I am not sure what you are meaning here.... I think perhaps the "selling the bridge" comment? If so you will note that I prefaced the comment with "on a fun note" with an emoticon after it....

Have you never heard the old cliche about selling someone the Brooklyn Bridge (or the Sydney Harbour Bridge or any other bridge)????...It refers to the idea that if someone is naive enough to purchse a product WITHOUT doing any research then you can sell them anything.....hope that makes sense.....its a VERY old cliche.

I guess it is either that or you are suggesting I deal/ trade illegally... You might want to be careful how you make those comments, since that could well be construed as a persoanl attack, not to mention being libelous....

Replying to [Tell me why]:I am looking for a penfriend.

Replying to [Foow]: Hi all, I import into Australia and was concerned about "Parallel Importing". I contacted a legal firm that specialises in copyright and trademark issues. They told me that at one time the trademark owner or authorised holder in Australia, could go importers on copyright infringements due to printed matter etc. Also, trademarks on packaging. But apparently laws were changed in Australia which virtually allows parallel importing (with exceptions) I think these laws came into effect in 2000. If I order something from a supplier in US for instance and product is also sold in Australia, if logo is not a forgery and goods are authentic, they really cant do anything to stop you bringing them in. You must let people know that you are not associated with manufacturer and also let people know that manufacturers warranties dont exist etc. Its a grey area. Its caused much confusion and frustration with big distributors in Australia. Here's an example. Wilkinson guitar parts. Trevor Wilkinson had Gotoh making machine heads in Japan. He also has Sung-il and Jinho music making his machine heads and guitar bridges in Korea. These companies export to anyone thats got the money to buy. A big Australian Musical Instruments and Parts Distributor trades in Gotoh made Wilkinson stuff and another imports from Sung-il and Jinho Music, Korea. Its caused confusion all round and changes to laws in Australia does not stop importers selling their products. I contacted Gotoh and they dont know what the go is in Australia. I contacted Australian distributors and they dont want to buy into it now. Where at one time, they'd lodge an objection with customs. Having said all that, is it worth the hassles?

Quoting from [teleman]:


You are correct in your surmise. it IS a grey area and is why it is also called the "Grey Market". A lot of the brand name owners will try and fight this, some won't. It is pretty much impossible to know until you try it.


The biggest drawback, as far as I can tell, is the warranty problems. The company will NOT honour the warranty if you didn't buy it from a distirbutor (or them direct) in Aus. That to me makes the whole enterprise a bad idea (especially when you are dealing with products where people EXPECT a full warranty!)