Purchase & Sale Is it legal to buy sets of things and sell them by piece?

[ddc0685]

Jurisdiction

California

Hi,

I am questioning the legality of purchasing things in large sets and selling them by piece after removing their original packaging. I sell flatware and kitchenware and one of my suppliers have some attractive yet inexpensive sets of spoons, forks, etc. But they come in packages of 36 pieces of the same type or size and is very hard to sell say 36 identical spoons to the same person. Customers would rather buy 12 of each. So I was wondering if I would get in legal trouble by opening the package and selling them by piece so each person buys whatever quantity they need. That would involve removing spoons and forks out of the manufacturers packaging and selling them without any packaging. That also applies to pans, cups, plates and other housewares. My supplier is a distributor so they say they cannot give any advise.

 

[army judge]

Read what it says on the outside of the package, something like this:
NOT FOR RESALE INDIVIDUALLY, SOLD AS A SET.

 

[adjusterjack]

I am questioning the legality of purchasing things in large sets and selling them by piece after removing their original packaging.

Nothing illegal about it.

If there is no prohibition on the package you could do it but you would be selling the items second hand with no warranty and you should tell your customers that. If your customers are OK with that, then fine.

If there is a prohibition on the package and you don't comply, the worst that can happen is you lose your source for that product if the supplier or manufacturer wants to make an issue of it.

You might check the manufacturer's website and see if smaller quantities are available.

 

[mightymoose]

Any prohibition on the package would apply to retail. If you are selling second hand (used) it should not matter.

 

[hrforme]

I'd go one step up and check with the manufacturer to see if there are any agreements in place between them and the distributor and who the distributor sells to.

 

[zddoodah]

As a general rule, you may legally sell anything that you legally own. Excluding food products (which may be subject to FDA regulations with which I'm unfamiliar), if you buy a 12-pack of widgets, there's no restriction on selling them individually, unless your contract with the person/entity from whom you bought the 12-pack of widgets puts some sort of restriction on that.