Not all of you may be aware that selling trademarked or branded products need you to have a license before you can re-sell them. Talk about Apple, Samsung, Nike, Adidas, Fitbit , and other big brands in the market – they are all under licensing agreement that protects their brand value by limiting their distribution channels.
To become an authorized distributor, you need to contact the manufacturer themselves and fill-out an application form to do this. Usually, they require a large minimum purchase (about $100,000 or even more), while others may prohibit you from selling brands made by competitors. Depending on their license agreements, you need to be able to fulfill their requirements for you to become an authorized retailer.
If you’re just starting out, there’s another legal way to re-sell branded goods and that’s through sourcing from liquidators.
Liquidators are suppliers that sell their products at very low prices in order to move stocks. Popular liquidation sales happen during end of season, or if a company is moving out, or have gone bankrupt. Sourcing from liquidators gives you the chance to purchase non-moving stocks, even branded goods, at really low rates. The only thing about sourcing through liquidators is that finding a specific brand/model may be a challenge since you are usually picking out items from overstocks. That said, finding a branded item to re-sell is legal through liquidators and you can still re-sell them at a profit.