The Ins And Outs Of Sourcing And Selling Licensed Merchandise
by Leeia Ladipoh on November 29th, 2007
Time and time again, the world of retail consumer business has proven that brand names are more important than almost any other part of the purchase, as far as the consumer. In part this is due to the fact that most people take it for granted that a recognizable name will only come attached to quality products, but we are sure that there are times where that is not exactly the case.
Be that as it may, when it comes to your own business, selling licensed merchandise can mean big bucks. These products are proven sellers, and it will be much easier to get them out of the warehouse and into the hands of your customers.
In this article we will take a look at what licensed merchandise is and where to source licensed products.
What Is Licensed Merchandise?
What do He-Man figures, Super Mario paper plates, and Dora the Explorer backpacks all have in common? They all fall under the category of licensed merchandise. This term refers to products which are derived from a popular creation, usually one that has been featured in some form of media.
The obvious benefit of these products is that they have mass appeal; has anyone else been trying to get their hands on a Bumblebee Transformer figure that actually transforms this year? They are literally flying off the shelves!
The result is that consumers are looking to find them wherever they possibly can, and if you happen to sell licensed merchandise as part of your business, odds are good that customers will find you.
Sourcing Licensed Merchandise
You might think that due to its exclusive-sounding title, licensed merchandise is harder to locate than other types of retail material; but in fact, the same channels you go through to source other types of merchandise will also yield up great supplies of licensed merchandise.
Here are a couple of ideas:
Wholesale Distributors: You can get great prices on licensed merchandise by purchasing en masse from a wholesale distributor. The benefit of this is the distributor has already done the work of getting permission to sell these products. You may be lucky enough to have a distributor located in the city where you live, in which case it’s just a matter of locating them and taking a trip. If you don’t, the Internet age is a golden time for you – there are wholesale distributors of virtually any type of licensed merchandise you can think of all over the Web.
The trick with Internet wholesalers, of course, is that you have to make sure that they do, in fact, sell the merchandise at wholesale prices. That takes a bit of research – because buying higher than rock bottom can take a significant cut out of your bottom line. You must also make sure that they are indeed an authorized distributor.
Manufacturers: Another way to find licensed merchandise is by contacting a manufacturer. This is often a bit harder, as manufacturers tend to have exclusive contracts with certain retailers for licensed products. Still, manufacturers are really looking to sell anywhere they can, so again, with a little bit of research and some legal help, you just might be able to obtain legitimate licensed merchandise for a great price. For instance, if you want to sell licensed NASCAR merchandise, you might want to do some research into who at the NASCAR organization to contact, and if they can point you towards manufacturers you can contact.
In closing, we would like to stress that word legitimate. It can be very tempting to sell “knock off” products which simulate licensed merchandise. The legal truth, though, is that the creator of a certain character, line of characters, logo, etc. must legitimize any products featuring that character or logo in order for it to be sold under the brand name.
You don’t want to get in any legal hassle here, so again use caution and good judgment when you are sourcing licensed merchandise!