There are many brands that are inexpensive in the United States but costly in markets like Japan.
Of course, the reverse is also true.
Many of you might have the idea of importing and selling these items, or becoming an authorized distributor for the manufacturer.
However, these brands are well aware of this, so when you try to purchase products at their directly managed stores or official websites, there is often a rule stating that sales are limited to personal use only.
This is what is known as brand protection, and its purpose is to prevent resale by buyers, purchasing by select shops, and the intervention of wholesalers.
You may have experienced going to a brand shop, trying to buy about 10 of the same product at once, and being refused with a statement like, ‘There is a purchase limit of 3 per customer.’
Therefore, in this article, I would like to introduce 3 secret techniques for sourcing products even from brands with this kind of brand protection.
There are cases where businesses have sold products that cannot normally be sourced, scaled up their operations, and eventually become authorized distributors.
I hope this serves as a helpful reference for one form of business expansion.
Secret Technique 1: Purchasing as a Traveling Buyer
I think the entry point for many businesses often starts like this.
I often hear stories of people renting a large car and shopping around for products while traveling in the US.
The trick here is to make your purchases in cash.
Even with brand protection, there are many understanding people in shops, and it is relatively easy to find a store that will sell to you in bulk at once if you use cash, which does not leave customer information behind.
However, to prevent trouble, always ask if you can purchase the items for sales purposes.
There are buyers all over the world, so it is fine to say that you are looking for products to sell in your own shop, but in some cases, even sales to such select shops may be refused.
There is absolutely no need to lie about buying them as souvenirs for friends or to feel guilty about your purchase.
Secret Technique 2: Sourcing through Drop Shipping
Next, there is a method of using a third party called drop shipping.
Compared to directly managed stores and official websites, the regulations are relatively loose, and you can purchase items normally.
By the way, drop shipping refers to a sales and shipping method where the selling store does not hold inventory.
If you purchase a product, the drop shipping store will place an order with the brand they are contracted with, and the product will be delivered to you.
However, this method is not highly recommended if you want to purchase continuously for sales purposes.
The reason is that each brand randomly checks buyer information, so if you buy in large quantities too frequently, you may be flagged and unable to purchase. Also, compared to the brands themselves, the product selection is not as good, so you may not be able to get popular items.
Many of the products registered for drop shipping seem to be positioned as inventory clearance.
Therefore, product prices are often low and you can buy them at a great value, but the latest models are rarely available.
I think there is a benefit if your store style is to sell luxury brands at a discount, but it is not suitable for sourcing the latest season’s products.
Secret Technique 3: Purchasing from Authorized Brand Retailers
Finally, speaking from our company’s experience, we used to purchase large quantities of products at outlets in the mainland US and sell them at a shop we opened in Japan, or wholesale them to vendors at less than half of the Japanese retail price.
It was an era when a product with a regular price of about $200 in Japan had a regular US price of about $120, and we could buy it at an 80% discount for $24!
We sold them to vendors in Japan for about $60 and in-store for about $120. However, this caused the products to stop selling at other domestic stores in Japan, which led to complaints from the brand’s Japanese division to the US division to stop selling to us in bulk.
Actually, this development is very common with any brand.
And the method you can use when you can no longer source products directly from the manufacturer like this is to contract with a store that is already contracted as an authorized retailer for the brand.
The more volume a vendor handles, the cheaper the purchase price becomes, and you can make purchases without limits.
Depending on your relationship, this can work with a small shop, but if possible, it is highly recommended to contract with a large department store like Nordstrom.
Since the purchase price will change significantly, the key point when contracting with these brands is to always purchase from the country where the manufacturer’s headquarters is located.
The more famous the brand, the higher the hurdle for handling it becomes, so working hard to gradually increase your scale so that you can become an authorized distributor in the future is also one option.
However, please note that contracting with a department store in your target market, such as Japan, that handles the same brand is almost pointless, so just be careful about that!