Parallel importing - or not?

Cunning Stunt

Hi all
Quick question I hope you can help me with

I bought some branded sports clothing from a UK wholesaler, who trade officially in wholesale sports clothes, to sell online here in Denmark. Having received the items, I can see that they have US sizing on them.

I understand that importing branded items from outside EU is called parallel importing and can lead to issues for the reseller, but does this also apply when the reseller has purchased from a wholesaler within the EU as I did? The wholesaler claim that all of their stock is sourced directly from the brands themselves and that they have all necessary documentation.

In short am I stuck now with clothes I can't resell legally?

Thanks

BnB

I came accross this previously in another industry (Drink) but I presume it means the same thing.

Parallel selling or parallel product is product that is brought into the country (or region) outside of an official distributor. So - Lets say I have the distribution rights for Nike in Ireland and you have the Distribution rights for Nike in the UK. A third party can always go to the UK, buy a bulk of product off you in the UK and bring it across to Ireland and start selling it here. That product is considered "Parallel" product in Ireland.

Firstly, there is nothing illegal in it whatsoever. As long as you are paying your taxes and any import duties etc that may apply, you can buy and sell whatever you wish.

I, as the official Irish distributor, might be annoyed, but the most that I can do is kick up a stink with the Manufacturer and hope that they will in turn put pressure on you (the UK distributor) to stop selling it to the guy.

Then only thing the Manufacturer can possibly do to the guy who is parallel importing is, because they are an unofficial distributor/re-seller, they could (if they wanted to be a real pain in the rear) stop him from using their logos etc on his promotional material (website etc).

Ultimately, as long as you are 100% sure that the product is genuine (and not knock off) and you are upfront with your customers about the US sizing, I don't think you have anything to worry about at all.

CIARAN_BOYLE

if buying from the UK and selling from Denmark I would imagine that irish law is not really relevant to you so the expertise on this forum is unlikely to be relevant.