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tazlove Tracy's bears
Posts: 72

hi I normally sale my teddy bears on eBay or a the craft fair.
I was at a teddy bear shop the other day and it only sales handmade bears from local people.
I was talking to the girl in the shop telling her how I made bears myself and she asked me for my number and she would tell her boss about me
cut a long story sort I ended up saling 8 of my bears to the shop (i was very happy to do so).  bear_original

the next day I was on Facebook and I sew my bears were on there, so I message the lady to see if I could advertise that my bears where for sale in her shop
an she said NO, she said the bears where her's now and they had nothing to do with me as I had sold them to her. bear_ermm
but as I looked at the pictures on her page I could see she had taken all the labels of them and even cut my name label off them and the not suitable for children label off them.
I have had a friend go into the shop and she as doubled the price she paid to me and is selling them as her bear with her name on them.
now i have had a message from her asking me if i would like to sell her some more bears.

what would you do ??????????

Jenbee Barnetby Bears
England
Posts: 781
Website

Sorry to hear this has happened to you, i am unsure what the legal position is on this, but it doesn't sound right at all. It may be a good idea to go to the citizens advice bureau and find out what you can do about it.

I would suggest not selling her any more bears unless you are happy for her to continue doing what she is doing, it sounds as if she is someone you don't want to deal with long term. I had a very bad experience with a shop myself last year and so am now very careful about who i trust with my bears.

Natasha Handmade Bear Boutique
California
Posts: 164

Oh, this is sad. I do not think I would sell to this lady again or I will sell at the price where I do not mind her cutting off the lables:)). And you probably could still share the information about your bears for sale in that shop, she can not stop you from doing it, you actually advertising her shop by doing it.

jenny Three O'clock Bears
warwickshire uk
Posts: 4,413
Website

Well firstly once you sell to a shop, unless you have a signed contract that is pretty much it...you don't have the right to set the price. What you have to remember is that shops usually have to pay VAT, overheads, staff wages etc and that is why they will charge more as they need to make a profit. Usually shops will ask for between 20%-50% trade discount...which is why..when you arrive at your selling price, if you intend to sell to shops you need to work it out on the basis that you will still need a profit, even after you deduct trade discount. Otherwise it's not wise to sell to shops.
As far as removing your tags and selling them as their own then that is sort of theft of your intellectual property....so I think that you have every right to complain there. It doesn't matter if you get paid for supplying a shop with something, they do not then have the right to claim they made the item, they simply bought the right to sell it. They can't for example, take your bear apart and make a pattern and reproduce your bear...they can't use your photos unless you give permission. They bought the bears and they can sell them. That's it.
So if you are worried you need to speak to them and get assurance that they haven't removed your identity.

EJ Netcong, New Jersey
Posts: 1,595

I am so sorry this happened to you!  I am outraged!!   Boo and hiss to the person for taking off your tags! 

That said, ALWAYS get things in writing...it makes things so much clearer and avoids disappointment. 

But Jenny's perfectly correct...it is what we call in the U.S. your WORK PRODUCT, and you own the rights to your work ....she cannot sell it as her product without your specific permission.  Maybe your citizens advisory board can help with that.

tazlove Tracy's bears
Posts: 72

thank for all the message
i well be thinking twice about  selling some more bears to the shop.
beside i have a craft fair in march so all of my bears will be coming there with me.

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