I have bought 50 lifeproof cases and now i have no way to sell them

[Twiizlar]

I bought 50 "fake" lifeproof cases wholesale. I say "fake" because these are the same as the original but you cant register them for a warranty. Same packaging and logo. Well i see a lot of these on ebay so i bought them thinking i could sell them on ebay. Once i got the cases i tried to post it on ebay but it said i am not authorized to sell in the phone cases category. I contacted ebay and they told me to send them the invoice. I did and they did not approve (obviosly becuase its fake) but i see atleast 30 other postings selling the same exact item. Now i am stuck with the 50 cases. I tried craigslist but i got 2 replys in one week and they all eventually dropped out. the wholesaler doesnt accept returns . idk what to do

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[glenm]

You could try a local phone cell phone shop to see if they would buy them from you. Anything you can get out of them at this point is a win.

 

[socaldude]

I say "fake" because these are the same as the original but you cant register them for a warranty.

High quality counterfeits still make them fake.

I would say consider it a lesson learned not to buy fake shit because it is DOUBLE theft; from the brand owner AND if you don't tell the buyer that it's fake.

My best advice would be to re-sell them wholesale or if you are really honest throw them in a dumpster.

 

[Mike Kavanagh]

re-sell them wholesale

Still highly illegal.

You learned your lesson today. Either go straight to the source or don't do it at all.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[socaldude]

Still highly illegal.

You learned your lesson today. Either go straight to the source or don't do it at all.

LOL the OP is 17, I seriously doubt he will throw the cases away.

Sell them to another seller wholesale at a swap meet or at a bodega, people that buy from these places know that the merchandise is fake and don't have a problem.

 

[codo3500]

One of the biggest issues I can see is the fact they're fakes and it's a "protection" style product. I've dealt hugely with counterfeits years ago, and they can look 100% the same, but when it comes to function they're far inferior. This could result in peoples phones breaking.

You need to ditch them to a wholesaler for cost or close to it, letting them know full-well what they're buying, and move on. I've been stung hard trying to sell knock-offs before, and have seen others get off way worse than me. Learn from the experience, avoid replicas like the plague.

 

[Twiizlar]

This is really up setting . I spent all my money on this and I researched a lot but apparently not enough. I bought these off aliexpress. And when I sell them I tell them they are fake . I see others on eBay with 0 feedback selling the same thing and they say its fake in the description so I thought I was good .

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[JPBB]

You could get some sales experience from this. Approach people in the airport, at the gas station...wherever and be honest it's a fake but see if you can make it a desirable purchase for them. Likely you will fail most of them time, but you won't forget the interactions and the lessons you learn. Be hungry. Be starving. In 20 years nobody will remeber any of this. Go forward; crash; turn; go forward again.

 

[Kak]

Did you know you were buying fake stuff?

 

[codo3500]

Did you know you were buying fake stuff?

I would hazard a guess he was told the old spiel "These are the exact same, we actually make the legitimate ones, but these are unlicenced. We're using the same manufacturing equipment, and just selling some on the side without the licencing".

Unfortunately, it just doesn't work that way.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Kak]

I would hazard a guess he was told the old spiel "These are the exact same, we actually make the legitimate ones, but these are unlicenced. We're using the same manufacturing equipment, and just selling some on the side without the licencing".

Unfortunately, it just doesn't work that way.

Point is. If your supplier led you to believe you were getting something you were not then they violated UCC and I would just chargeback the supplier send them a bill for my time.

If you chose to buy them with full disclousure that is your problem.

 

[Vigilante]

I bought 50 "fake" rolex watches wholesale from a company that creates unauthorized imitations. I say "fake" because the factory told me these are the same as the original but you cant register them for a warranty...in fact, they come with no warranty (which is tough to explain to the customers who buy them thinking they are buying the real deal.) Same ripoff of the packaging and logo. Well i see a lot of these on ebay so i bought them thinking i could sell them on ebay figuring as long as at least one other person was stealing from the real brand holder successfully, I could too. Once i got the stolen logo Rolexes i tried to post it on ebay but it (meaning, eBay) said i am not authorized to sell in the phony Rolex Watch Knockoff category. I contacted ebay and they told me to send them the invoice. I did (they were amazed... they likely sent this to the original factory brand holder for followup action) and they did not approve (obviosly becuase its fake --- we all know it's fake.) but i see atleast 30 other postings selling the same exact item. It's not fair that eBay lets some people steal but not me. Now i am stuck with the 50 watches. I tried craigslist but i got 2 replys in one week (seemingly from foreigners who wanted to send me cashiers checks) and they all eventually dropped out. the wholesaler doesnt accept returns... he said "what am I going to do with a bunch of stolen logo Rolex watches? He then hung up on me. idk what to do. Do you think on top of everything else, I might get sued by Rolex?

Kid, read through the story about the Rolex watches above. Doesn't it sound silly?

There are no shortcuts that include taking someone else's intellectual property. Live and learn.

 

[Vigilante]

How did you pay for the merchandise? If you used Paypal or a credit card, you can do a chargeback to the seller.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[OzzieRob]

As a full-time eBay seller for over 7 years now i must say NEVER sell fake products. What happens is you grow your business and after several years of hard work you now have $100K worth of products and then you are caught for copyright infringement by eBay. Who do you sell all this stuff to? I know as i did the same and learnt the hard way and never again. They only way i know of is to contact an eBay seller through their website who sells the same fake products, send them a PM but don't try to sell to them through eBay. Tell them you have the same fake products and dump them fast at cost price. Not recommended but easy enough to sell.

 

[JAJT]

It's worth pointing out that sourcing a real product for yourself is the EXACT same amount of work as souring a fake.

Always stay above the board. There's no reason to get into the knock-off market.

 

[Vigilante]

By the way... don't give up. You have learned a super valuable lesson, and are a million steps ahead of most 17 year olds. Figure out how to get yourself out of this one, and live to fight another day. You just earned a significant war scar. Keep going.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Thriftypreneur]

This is really up setting . I spent all my money on this and I researched a lot but apparently not enough. I bought these off aliexpress. And when I sell them I tell them they are fake . I see others on eBay with 0 feedback selling the same thing and they say its fake in the description so I thought I was good .

If you're 17, why not just sell them discretely at your school?

 

[Kak]

What about a rebrand? Then you are not using the lifeproof name.

You still probably have issues with the patent.

 

[CommonCents]

I admit I bought a fake Minnesota Vikings jersey, it's all they were worth until they find a real QB.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MJ DeMarco]

Theft and counterfeit goods is not a business model. I have little sympathy when a thief gets thieved.

 

[Pineapple]

I'm fully against people selling fakes.

I once got scammed for a nice pair of loafers. From that day forward I only purchase from retailers, or of course review everything prior to a purchase. Dun do it

 

[skylizard]

Toss the cases. Lesson learned. Don't deal with that kind of stuff.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[FastLearner]

Throw them away. Don't sell them, that would be a terrible start in any kind of business transaction.


Or just give them away on Craigslist for free.

 

[Rawr]

Get real.

 

[Mike Kavanagh]

I'm disappointed in the people say for him to re-sell to a wholesaler. This is not the way to learn.

Know why Lifeproof cases cost $60-$100? Intellectual Property. In America the court system goes to great lengths protect IP.

Here is a local news report for the sale of fake products at the flea market.
$1.5M In Counterfeit Goods Found At Md. Flea Market « CBS Baltimore

Telling him to re-sell them is a horrid idea. What if he makes money on it? Success usually begets success right? What works, works?
See what I'm getting at?

Learning a valuable lesson from a mistake requires it to actually sting or hurt to be a reminder. Ever touch a hot stove as a child? Bet you didn't do that again.

Lost a couple hundred bucks on fake merch to sell? Yeah bet you wont do that again either.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[JPBB]

After some thought, I retract what I said about trying to sell them while letting buyers know they are fake. Don't sell them as cases at all. My point was to learn some sales experience (or any experience) from it. Your best bet may be to upcycle them into a giant art sculpture, or individual kids toys, dog toys, iTunes gift card cases, etc.

 

[socaldude]

LOL stop trying to engage in Entrepreneurial Arbitrage. Nothing valuable comes easy. Just do business the right way, honestly and ethically and your life would be so much easier.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

The beauty of this thread (and the people that make up this forum) is that most of us have come to the same conclusion about this situation: Dishonesty, theft, and patent infringement (and whatever else you can mix in) is NOT the way of the Fastlane. Its pure blooded Sidewalkean.

Drop this thread on some other forum (that shall remain nameless) and you can bet your booties that everyone would be recommending and scheming on how to turn this "challenge" into a legit money making opportunity.

Speed to the forum as a whole.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Kak]

I dont know what my take is on people selling replica rolexs. Everyone knows they are fake when cheap and some idiots want a 100 dollar "status symbol" lie. They are obviously not taking business away from real Rolex.

I hate rolexes.

 

[codo3500]

I dont know what my take is on people selling replica rolexs. Everyone knows they are fake when cheap and some idiots want a 100 dollar "status symbol" lie. They are obviously not taking business away from real Rolex.

I hate rolexes.

It's one of those funny things about piracy, it's probably made Rolex's even more desirable, and been excellent marketing for Rolex. Much like Game Of Thrones makes more money due to piracy (they publicly endorsed it). I also believe piracy has helped industry standards such as Photoshop become industry-standard, students adopt the technology, but the legit businesses are forced to pay huge dollars for licences for the machines of their staff. In saying this, I believe piracy as a whole is a problem, but impossible to police. Replicas are much the same, and China's lack of enforcement of western patents is a major problem for Fastlaners in the long-term.