Using other's products in my products

[marks256]

I have no formal business education (yet), so please forgive me if these questions seem ignorant.


I'm going to make up a mock situation to better explain my question.

If my product was to make clap controlled lamps, could i buy an off-the-shelf, brand name, lamp, then put my own controller circuitry in it, and then sell it as my own?

That just seems highly unlikely to me... I'm ASSUMING i would need to get a license from the lamp manufacture, would i not?

If so, how would that work? I only plan on making 20 initial devices to see if they work out, and just the WORD "license" seems expensive...

I've already found a "lamp" for cheap, and it is an off brand, but i am still guessing i would need to contact the manufacture...


Any help at all will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[marks256]

I was told on another forum that i am a regular member at that it is perfectly legal to do it. is this right?

[TylerBakerllc]

As a cheap way to prototype I would certainly consider doing that... But dont take it any further than that. If you are planning on reselling it wouldnt make much sense to pay retail for a product, add more cost to it, and then try to resell it in a different box at a higher price than what the competition is charging.

Look to Manufacturers: Global Sources. There you can search for a manufacturer in china/asia that already makes a similar product and use them once prototyping is completed. I would suggest traveling over there once you are ready to order to set everything up. You will have to buy in bulk obviously, but if you are serious it is well worth it. Remember to consider die setup costs and art costs associated with the product packaging, as well as shipping. The companies over there are pretty good at assisting US customers.

BEWARE: I wouldnt advise ever sending money via Western Union or anything like that. Most Chinese manufacturers will gladly take telephone transfer or wire transfer. I hope this helps. PM me if you need any more help. I have sourced stamped metal products from China in the past... There are plenty of hidden costs to beware of.

[marks256]

I have been looking at some Chinese manufactures, but as i said before, i'm going to try 20 to begin with, and i'm broke, so no bulk ordering for me, and definitely no traveling to china any time soon

Actually i did find a cheap supplier of the product i need (about half retail), and they sell in the quantities i need (i just ordered 2 of the products for prototyping). I am going to try to avoid buying from Chinese manufactures until i become a bit more aware of the things i should be aware of (those hidden costs you speak of)


So it would be ok for me to take a product, and make changes to them, sell the modified product as my own, until i can afford to go bulk? (assuming this product will even sell 5 :s)

Thanks for the response.

[TylerBakerllc]

Whether you can or not kind of depends on where your selling them... I would assume that it would be illegal either way if challenged in court (surely that company is stamping their brand name or some kind of markings on there). If you plan to market and sell to stores you will have to design and print packaging for the product, which is costly in a short run set-up.

If you are just going to sell them on ebay or a flea market, then you probably have nothing to worry about and could very well find success. You may want to get your hands on a camcorder and post a video review of your product or a amateur informercial on youtube.com (or if you rent a flea market booth, you can play the video on a TV at your booth.

Either way good luck with your idea, and keep us posted. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions! Cheers! -Tyler

[marks256]

Hmm... well i was thinking of trying to sell it to an established online store. I'm not too worried about packaging at the moment, as i will worry about that when the time comes. No point in packaging without a product to sell!