My Fastlane Plan

[onlyup]

Hey everyone, i'll keep the intro short and sweet, since its probably very similar to most of yours; work a 9-5, want more time/freedom/money etc.

I've always been entrepreneurial, but I've also always been one to need to see the plan from start to finish before i started - a debilitatingly over thinker - as oppose to engaging and improvising.

but i digress....

so im in the local store the other day and i see a product, and im like damn, that's amazing. i cant believe i havent seen this anywhere else. and there's 1 on the shelf. it's $25.

(for the sake of the story lets pretend that they're socks that have individual toes, like gloves)

i snap a pic of it, go home and look it up online. they have a website (domain registered in 2010). im starting to get really jealous that i didn't think of it. so i start searching around and there are other similar products like it, but this one seems to be the best because of the way it's designed.

so i do what any fastlane entrepreneur would do - go to alibaba and start looking around for manufacturers that make this thing. and i find a bunch. in fact, i find the manufacturer that makes this item i saw in the store (or possibly a knock off).

email a few of them for pricing on samples etc. and i end up going with the vendor that makes the ones i saw in the store.

i ask for 10 samples. my thought is i want one, I want to try to test the market and see if i can sell them online locally through ebay/craigslist/kijiji, and i am also thinking i might be able to go to mom and pop shops and see if they want to carry them.

now this is there it gets fuzzy because im not quite sure how to proceed; i cant morally (and im sure legally) sell these things in the OEM packaging that the other company sells them in can I? they're based in the US, im in Canada. this is the kind of thing people get locked up for right?

what if i had the manufacturer change the packaging and sell it under my own brand?
or i could go with another manufacturer all together that makes a similar interpretative of the product, although there are some properties in this one that makes it the best - think a certain type of material that keeps your feet warmer.
...

so here i am, i ordered 10 samples, including shipping it cost me $100. i just Western Union'd the money this evening.

would love any input on a direction I should take with this. hopefully this wont stop at - "leave this brand's product alone", but if it does, at least 9 other people will be getting cool Christmas presents

 

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[Jab]

You should create your own brand, and change the packaging. Even if it's not illegal where you are, it's not a particularly nice thing to do and stuff like that has a habit of coming round and biting you in the arse further down the line.

 

[Alana]

I agree with Jab's comment entirely. If you ad your own twist, enhancement, alteration (etc), then go for it. Otherwise it's simply reselling the same product (and I'm guessing it's already patented/copyrighted in some way/shape/form). If it is something like a piece of clothing (which is oh-so-hard to patent....LuLu Lemon anyone?), can you change the fabric, the design, the way it's made (I'd buy a pair of 'locally made' socks over a pair of socks made overseas). Are you selling quality (socks A are use hand spun yarn or natural dyes or come from a yak found in the far corners of the earth)?or price (socks A are cheaper than socks B? or uniqueness? (socks A glow in the dark and socks B don't). Figure out what it is about the product that you're selling and realize that if you sell the exact same thing but just under a different name, some bigger (and more wealthier) company will do the same to you.