MAC_Pixie04
Well-known member
So...I'm sure you've all noticed that some of your favorite brands have been at some really random places. Smashbox at Costco; Bare Minerals at Target, Origins at Target, T3 hair tools at Marshalls, Lancome at Ross....
Well, our store's business has been affected by this and the brands have caught on. We got an email today that basically said if you're seeing these products at non-authorized retailers, don't try to save a buck and purchase them there. Most of the time they're stolen, expired, or have been tampered with and it's not worth the trouble. One thing the brands have seen is people who own boutiques or are buyers for stores that are authorized to sell the products will up their order and adjust their inventory and then sell the products to a third party retailer and make a fat profit, since they only pay the wholesale price. Bare Escentuals is taking legal action against Target and Costco for selling their products without permission.
Also, GHD and T3 hair tools have been counterfeited and diverted and sold at Marshall's, Ross, TJ Maxx and on eBay and Amazon.com etc. These brands won't replace the counterfeit/tampered product, so you could find yourself out of hundreds of dollars in stolen or counterfeit products.
So if you see top brands in random places, especially if they're marked down like crazy, you're better off not buying them, because you could be contributing to a ring of illegal activity, and affecting the business of your favorite brands...which drives the costs up!
Anybody else seen anything random while out shopping that made you do a double take? I keep seeing Lancome and Vincent Longo in the clearance bins at the Marshall's in my town, and T3 blow dryers, but the boxes are always really sketchy looking, like they've been opened and then taped with like packing tape. It disgusts me, and regardless of how cheap it is, I'd never buy cosmetics from a clearance bin at the store that didn't regularly sell cosmetics. Ick.
Well, our store's business has been affected by this and the brands have caught on. We got an email today that basically said if you're seeing these products at non-authorized retailers, don't try to save a buck and purchase them there. Most of the time they're stolen, expired, or have been tampered with and it's not worth the trouble. One thing the brands have seen is people who own boutiques or are buyers for stores that are authorized to sell the products will up their order and adjust their inventory and then sell the products to a third party retailer and make a fat profit, since they only pay the wholesale price. Bare Escentuals is taking legal action against Target and Costco for selling their products without permission.
Also, GHD and T3 hair tools have been counterfeited and diverted and sold at Marshall's, Ross, TJ Maxx and on eBay and Amazon.com etc. These brands won't replace the counterfeit/tampered product, so you could find yourself out of hundreds of dollars in stolen or counterfeit products.
So if you see top brands in random places, especially if they're marked down like crazy, you're better off not buying them, because you could be contributing to a ring of illegal activity, and affecting the business of your favorite brands...which drives the costs up!
Anybody else seen anything random while out shopping that made you do a double take? I keep seeing Lancome and Vincent Longo in the clearance bins at the Marshall's in my town, and T3 blow dryers, but the boxes are always really sketchy looking, like they've been opened and then taped with like packing tape. It disgusts me, and regardless of how cheap it is, I'd never buy cosmetics from a clearance bin at the store that didn't regularly sell cosmetics. Ick.
