The court cited a need for sales expertise of luxury products at authorized retailers. You know, the men and women who are the "perfume spritzers," in department stores, who clamor to spray your wrist if you let them. They have a tough and obnoxious job, but according to the French Tribunal de Commerce, they are specifically trained and skilled at what they do. More believable was the need to protect a brand in a specific sales venue.
— Read commentary on yesterday's eBay ruling in the French courts at EBay ruling in France reeks of protectionism, at Market Watch.
I'm sorry, Robin, but it's not only that.
If you can read French, you have several articles on LeMonde.fr . But I think you can find things in English on iht.com
It's also a problem of image, of unfair competition ('vente deloyale' / sale without authorization), of counterfeit (for instance when sby sells a 300 ml bottle of N°5 that does not exist)….
You can easily imagine than a fine of 40 million euros (62 million dollars) is not only a problem of who should be the 'perfume spritzer'.
A future consequence, I guess, is that brands are going to sue websites that sell decants. Decant is a new form of counterfeit.
Ambroxan, was just posting a snippet from an article, and even that article did not say it was “just that”.
But if they get similar results in the US (and I think the Tiffany vs. eBay case comes up soon) then quite sure you're right about decanters. Actually, I think they have a case against decanters regardless, should they choose to pursue it.
I thought it was from you. ;-(
Anyway, nothing happened so far for decanters. But I'm quite sure we' re going to have storm. Who's going to be first to punch ? Chanel ? Estée Lauder ? LVMH ? Let's wait & see..
Part of what irritated me so much about US eBay kicking the decanters off (a teeny part of their business) was they looked the other way and whistled while all those tons of counterfeit crap got sold on there. Will be interesting to see if this affects US policies. I saw a quote that LVMH determined 95% of their stuff on eBay was counterfeit.
Anything indented like that is a quote — sorry, I know it isn't always clear.
On the decanters — will be interesting. I think there is no legal basis for decanting, on the other hand, there are so few people doing it now that you have to wonder why they'd bother. Won't be good PR, you know?
M, there is a Tiffany case in the US winding its way through the courts. I think that will tell us how the winds will blow…
I think ebay is just one part of the big house trying to restict to just a few outlets. I've noticed for instance that a store I buy most of my mainstream scents from now has to sticker your product with an authorised reseller sticker (that you can't get off the wrapper) before you're allowed out of the shop. They only started that a couple of months ago.
I can see why from a business exclusivity point of view it makes sense, but if they extend it past ebay and follow up with discount sellers too I think they'll lose a lot of low level residual income. Whilst I agree that prevention of counterfeit goods is not only important to their image, but health and safety too (especially beauty products like fragrance) I would think there are more long term efficient ways to combat it. Ways that would target the counterfeitting market at source.
What are all those poor sods who get a Christmas gift that smells like cat pee on their skin going to do with it now I wonder?
as if the SAs at most authorized retailers are skilled! only rarely do i find an SA who really really knows whats going on w/ a line and only once that stands out in my memory. that was Alfonso, the FM rep at Barney's in san francisco
Oh dear, if they extend to discounters in the US, I'll need to find a new hobby.
The FM reps in NY are always wonderful — they really do know their stuff. The rest, you're right: rarely.
Not to mention that a lot of us would hardly buy any full bottles if we hadn't experienced some kind of sample (unofficial) or decant. I'm sure some sellers cater to the impulse buyer but with money as tight as it is, how many people can really afford to do that?
Alfonso is great!