@sammoab wrote:
wow, you misread everything I have said and intend. Please, there is no need to be so negative. Your comment seems to say that I think I know everything. I do not. But at the same time I will not be rolled over by attempted bullying from the manufacturer. In the end it all worked out well for me, but it would not have worked out well if I had followed your advice.You say "Were you business savvy at all", Please, I have been in business for 50 years. And you?
I have never received a letter from a manufacture to cease and desist or be sued. You? Guess being in business for 50 years means a whole lotta nothing if you are getting letters from lawyers about the way you run your business. Cease and desist letters are not a good sign you are doing things right.
When they told you the first time to quit it, you kept poking the bear. You should have listened. Instead you had this brazen attitude "screw them! I got the right to trample their rights! My rights are more important!". That's exactly how your response came off. Only you know if that is how you meant it, but the manufacture took it that way too, or they would not have went the letter from their lawyer route.
Everyone thinks they can hide behind the first sale doctrine. It's a very fine line AND a slippery slope. You do NOT have cart blanch rights to sell just anything, in whatever fashion you want to. A manufacture spends a whole lot of money developing, making, and marketing their products. It would be foolish for anyone to do that if you could not protect your products. Resellers at times can hurt brands and cost the manufactures untold millions. You as a business owner, should know as well as anyone, or at least SEE how that is. You were trying to sell HUNDREDS of pairs of shoes, that were NOT new, and buyers had NO idea there was no manufacture support or that you were not authorized to sell them. Makes the company and brand look BAD.
