Rebranded items and competitors
Hi all, not sure the right terminology for this question, so let me just explain the situation
We sell a product, let’s call it “Product A” on our store. We buy this product from the official manufacturer in China. We decide to start selling this product on Amazon, but notice there are lots of pages (5+ at least) for this product, all with different “brand names”. They are all the exact same product, just with a different brand name stuck on the box. And when I mean stuck on the box, I do just mean a sticker with a name on the box. These products come unboxed as you buy them in the 1000’s and sell them in different amounts, so there is no official branded boxing from the manufacturer.
We picked the top selling one and started selling through them as well. Didn’t make a whole lot of sense to create another page for the same product.
Yesterday, the company who owns the “brand name” for that product (it is NOT the brand of the product, just their company and the sticker they put on the packaging) sent us a message on discord threatening to report us to Amazon for being counterfeit if we do not remove our stock within 72 hours.
Are they correct here? Are we selling “counterfeit” goods by selling them through their branded page? Again, the product itself is legit. We both buy from the same manufacturer. But they (and everyone else) list the brand as their company name, not the brand of the actual product. The customer gets the exact same product, just a different label on the box.
Any guidance here would really be appreciated. Thanks!
9 replies
Seller_DTufFoxJuMU0M
Unfortunately, as you have realised the hard way, you can’t just sell on the best selling one.
As they have “branded” their item (we all agree, its stupid, and incredibly annoying as a customer when the exact same item is for sale 20 times just because the sellers have claimed it is a brand), sadly its quite common, especially on generic items
Amazon are I think now cracking down on it, requiring that brand approval be required on new brands, and that to pass band approval your brand name has to be permanently affixed to the product and/or packaging (they won’t accept just a sticker), however whether they double back and check the old listings, or just the new ones is anyones guess.
Technically yes, you are trying to pass you unbranded item off as a branded item, even if the brand is an unknown one, or you believe the product to be incorrectly branded.
You will need to either find a generic or unbranded version of your product, or if none exist create one.
Does your product have a barcode on it? Did you try to type that barcode into the create listing page to see if it directs you to the “correct” product
Seller_buHIlrzHQfgmK
I guess my last question is - Will Amazon actually punish us if we get reported by the competitor? The customers don’t care, they’re still getting the same end product. The only person that would report us is the competitor.
Seller_buHIlrzHQfgmK
When I contacted Amazon support about it, they replied with this
Please note that Counterfeiting is a specific type of trademark infringement. A counterfeit is an unlawful reproduction of a registered trademark, or a mark that is very similar to a registered trademark, on a product or packaging.
A look-alike item sold on a separate product product detail page without the improper use of a registered trademark is not a counterfeit, even though the item might look similar or identical to the trademarked product. However, lookalike products may infringe upon other intellectual property design rights, or constitute (in some countries) unfair competition/passing off.
This brand does not have a trademark, so will Amazon still see it as counterfeit?
