Hmm… perhaps I should ask the brands to sell under MAP? Or I would sell on eBay if they don’t buy my inventory. What do you think? I’m trying not to be stuck with inventory that I already paid for 
Selling it as used would only get a rock bottom price. I don’t know their MAP price but it must be pretty high because their products don’t get sold until I dropped the price.
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This is very accurate and true.
I cannot buy 3 pallets of liquid nails from Home Depot on a super duper secret sale, and sell them on Amazon even if they gave me an invoice, because Home Depot cannot give me permission to sell Liquid Nails on Amazon, as they are just a dealer and not Liquid Nails. Well, I can sell them on Amazon… until I get caught and a legitimate Liquid Nails dealer narc’s me out to Amazon or Liquid Nails and I am suspended for counterfeit.
There are other ways to sell the inventory, just Amazon is not the place for liquidations, super deals, etc. Dealers and distributors pay a lot of money for the value of their supply chains so when someone dips into their market they will drop hammers. We do regularly.
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Thank you so much for a well explained “chain of custody” with example. I appreciate it. Yep I bought this directly from Home Depot near my house (drove there to pick up every single piece myself). That’s probably broke the chain of custody. Besides selling on eBay, any ideas on how to not get stuck with inventory? I’m considering negotiating with the brand asking them to buy all my inventory or I would sell it even at a lower price on eBay (because the sales volume is way lower than Amazon). Any suggestion is appreciated.
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This would also be a receipt versus an invoice if Amazon ever asks which is often triggered by customers claiming “item not as described” or “used sold as new” etc but that is not relevant to your issue of selling the stuff.
Honestly it is risk versus reward. Being you drove there and most people don’t have a 53’ trailer I can assume you only have a few of these items. Only you can measure the risk of your seller account versus the loss or time of not selling these on Amazon. For example our Amazon account feeds 4 employees, so we would not risk suspension for 1 item. But if it was just me with a 9-5 and Amazon revenue covered my boat payment, and I only had 3 units to sell and done, I would consider it.
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Thank you. I would proceed to discuss with the brand to allow me to sell at MAP price on Amazon and Walmart. If they refuse, I would just sell at an even lower price on eBay. Reason for lower price is because eBay has way lower volume, hence need more incentive for buyers to buy. Also, lower price as a negotiation tool to convince the brand to accept me to sell at their MAP price on Amazon and Walmart. Thank you for all your effort. You just saved me from a bunch of headache 
Also thank you everyone @HobbesIsMyTiger @Tvoi @dwat0870 @Pepper_Thine_Angus @doilyboutique444 for discussing this matter. I love Sellers ask sellers!
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You would need a LOA from the brand to sell on either Walmart and/or Amazon.
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Hi @Dogtamer I saw your “thinking face”. Feel free to add anything. My ears are still perky and listening
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LOA? Letter Of Authorization?
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Yes. And you may not be able to sell what you already have because of the supply chain issue-the LOA would most likely be going forward because you don’t have an invoice for the first batch.
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Ah interesting. So I have to place an order from them before continue selling, right? Got it. Thank you.
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After speaking with the brand and getting permission.
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Most all of the salient points I’d have raised have already been well-covered by the seasoned & savvy forum veterans who’ve responded upthread w/ excellent advice, so I don’t have much to add.
That being said, while I would agree that the best step is to fully delete your Offer-Listing on that ASIN, I would advocated downloading the latest CLR (“Category Listing Report”), so as to have an internal record of what data Amazon’s automated systems considered to be authoritative @ that time, before making the deletion - and I would also suggest that using the Inventory Loader’s “Purge and Delete” functionality, as described in this 101524 SAS post by our friend dwat0870, is probably the best way to make said deletion:
I also agree that the best outlet for selling these “B” goods is likely to be a less-strict venue like eBAY - but I would probably not be in any hurry to list them ANYWHERE until - and if - you get a response from the IP RO (“Intellectual Property Rights Owner”) which sent the C&D Demand Letter, because you’re already in their cross-hairs, and it might not be wise to stir the pot.
Given that said RO’s goods are being distributed by a Retail behemoth like Home Depot, I’d imagine that there’s a fairly hefty MOQ (“Minimum Order Quantify”) tied to any contractual agreement you might reach to resell their products.
Good Luck, and please keep us updated on how this pans out.
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Step one, talk to the brand. establish a relationship.
Go from there
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My head is throbbing here.
WHY would the brand BUY your product when they produce it for LESS than you paid for the items?
In addition, you may find that eBay will also be closed to you if you are selling below MAP. Other sellers WILL report you to eBay for that.
I have successfully gotten sellers removed by putting eBay in touch with product managers directly at the brands so they do enforce some things at least.
“Also, lower price as a negotiation tool to convince the brand to accept me to sell at their MAP price on Amazon and Walmart.”
WHY would any company want to deal with you when you have already proven that you can’t be trusted to follow their policies?
You burned that bridge when you violated MAP. Generally (over 20 years of experience here) you MIGHT get a second chance IF you had/have a direct account and ‘missed’ a notification of updates to MAP pricing notifications. Of course, you ONLY get those notifications if you are a direct account!
My worst nightmare happens about twice a year when multiple vendors change their MAP at the same time. I can find myself sorting through 500 or 1000 items to see what needs to be changed. Fortunately since I have converted most of my items to ‘free shipping’ I have enough buffer there changes are rarely needed due to MAP changes – only price increases that result in added profit due to existing inventory!
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Thanks Dogtamer. This is a wise idea. Now I have to think whether I want to sit on this inventory for 6 months or return all of them to Home Depot. Hmm… 
Oh you’re so right. The dreaded MOQ. Hmm… I just downloaded their MAP sheet. The price that they want everyone to sell is $110/unit but I just found out that they themself sell it on Amazon for half that price 
. Man, fishy as hell.
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What an underrated advice! Yes this is the way to go. Actually I’m also a user of this product.
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I agree that you cannot violate MAP if you are not an authorized reseller of the product.
I disagree that First Sale Doctrine is useful in disputes with the manufacturer unless you are willing to go to court. If the manufacturer claims you have infringed their IP and decides to sue, you will either have to pay a lawyer, and settle or go to trial.
First Sale Doctrine is judge-made law. It has many differing decisions as precedents, some of them conflicting. Whatever quantity you have of the disputed product will not be worth the legal fees you will encounter, diversion of attention and the cash flow effects of them should you need to go to court.
Although I have sold liquidation stock in the past, I only rarely sold product below MAP because I did not need to. But I had the luxury in that period of time to be able to research what I was buying. And I tended to buy discontinued product which helped me not wear a target on my back.
Of course, I often bought discontinued product from the manufacturer, taking all of the remaining inventory, so they really were part of the process.
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haha sorry but thank you for taking time to reply
To protect their brand image (that’s it’s not a cheapo)?
Aww… so eBay also cares about MAP but not as strict as Amazon and Walmart?
Because I don’t know them or their policy. They can use the wording like “violate”. How could you violate something that you never agree with or sign any contract with them? The word “violate” is the wrong word to use.
Again, they don’t know me and I don’t know them. I never “violate” any agreement that I never seen.
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Totally agree. Honestly I was counting on them having that thought as well. I guess the key is whether the First Sale Doctrine law actually means something. Originally I’m planning to talk to the brand to see if they would allow me to sell at their MAP price. However a short while later, I discovered that they’re selling this product at half of their MAP price with a red “50% off” banner. WTH. I wonder if it would be worthwhile to sell at their MAP price… I still can return and get a full refund from Home Depot. It’s just a pain to haul that many units to the store.
Thanks for the tip
Walmart is catching up in this area.
I myself am a brand owner and got into a huge mess about 9 years ago.
There’s so much to it and what you’re doing isn’t gonna fly for a long time on any platform. It did 10 years ago…but the Chinese screwed it up by copying and selling cheaper.
Like Crocs – no longer a brand that is sold on Amazon, period. I’ve spoke with wholesale suppliers (mainly in Atlanta) when I get tired of selling my doilies and you wouldn’t believe the number of product lines who forbid sales on Amazon. 99% of them are also mid-level distributors as well. Disney is not there for example selling their products. Ty (beanie babies) is. And the letter that says I can sell “Ty Beanie Babies” must be from the company on their letterhead.
Walmart is close behind Amazon all the way around and eBay too.
Protect your account at all costs – once you screw it up, you won’t get it back. Even under a different email, IP, it all goes back to your Social.
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