yep, holeyrail. Sears pulled it within days at my request. I sell online for $20-25 and have google alerts to keep me somewhat aware of what is happening on the web. Online Super Seller was charging almost twice that amount. It hadn’t been listed long enough to generate any sales to my knowledge. I get repeat orders from customers, but none in that time frame that would hint someone was repackaging (at least replacing the packing slip) before going to the final customer.

Hope it starts to show up on other websites this year. But in the future it will be me being the dropshipper. Profit margins are getting to where I think I can do this. Very fortunate that i’ve been blessed to be able to operate out of a garage up to this point.

Holey Rail, huh?

What is this mystery item that was for sale?

The link is not active anymore

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM589...

i don’t have any issue about that forum.

Good luck, Scott! (with both Sears and the potential deal)

Scott-

Hope it all pans out for you! Sounds like something good may be on the horizon. : )

You guys are correct, although I have not recieved any formal resolution from Sears, it appears that they did pull the ad. Busy day and haven’t had time to even check until now. I hope that I worded my email cordially enough that they respond back and have a chance to discuss formal distribution through Sears. I’m meeting my first potential private investor tomorrow. Since licensing out continues to meet dead ends and business is booming, this alliance might prove to be a viable solution for national distribution.

Take care, and if anything exciting happens (it usually is for me) I’ll post updates on my little venture.

I just went to Pensters link while trying to go back and follow this thread…and it is not linking, so someone got to someone to begin the dissection.

Interesting. Hey Scott, you may have hit on something there with the “big Company” seeing the interest and noting its value. One might think about that as a strategy in the future. Hmmmm. Of course you have to be awfully confident in your product and be willing to wreck your reputation potentially.

I would bet that Greg hit on it above, that Online Super Seller is a webcrawler that lists almost everything from Amazon with a certain markup logic. My bet is that when they receive an order, they then place an order with you for a lower price. In any event a quick Google search reveals at least a few complaints/criticisms noting Online Super Seller’s high prices across the board.

Note that if someone is re-selling your product – even if you have a patent they will usually have every right to do so (trademark laws are separate, but that doesn’t mean they can’t use your brand name they simply can’t infer an association with the brand). Once they purchase a unit from you, it is basically assumed that they have entered into a license with you to do what they want with the product they purchased. To prevent resale you need to force your customers to sign an agreement, or you can use a shrinkwrap agreement (i.e. labeling your packaging with “Not For Resale”). The enforceability of shrinkwrap agreements is debated.

But that is largely all besides the point, most likely. Not only do you have the right to refuse sale to someone, but I am sure that Online Super Seller may be violating one of Sears’ policies or what not.

The person/company who is selling Scott’s product through Sears’ website has their contact info on the right side of that page (in case Scott wanted to call them directly)

Thanks but that just takes me to the page with 1000 products: don’t have time to search so can’t pretend to order.

Right under the price..It says sold by “OnlineSuperSeller” and I clicked onto that name to take me to their storefront.

Thanks, Penster. I went to the site and it shows that the HoleyRail was added on Sept. 14th: wonder how it got added? Also, on that page, you can click on “Sell Your Products on Sears” – Scott, are you positive that someone in your organization didn’t sign up? If not, there must be a way to find out who did.

Sherri, where did you find Online Super Shopper on that page?

If you click on Penny’s link and then click right onto “OnlineSuperSeller” it will take you to that seller’s storefront page and in the right-hand column is the contact info/address/phone number of “OnlineSuperSeller”

Try this:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM589...

Scott, I can’t find it – can you give a better link? Or anyone else? I also used Sherri’s link but don’t have time to go through 1000 products to find it – especially since they probably call it something else. I would try to order one if you can direct me to it (other than YOUR site). ;-)

I know of another EN-er who saw that their patented product was being offered for sale by Loew’s or Home Depot (I forget which one): not only had the idea been stolen but also the text, etc. Very scary but how do you fight the big boys?

I just got an email back from Sears (online), they are passing my concerns on to Corporate headquarted. Perhaps, fingers crossed, Sears sees value in my products and is willing to discuss distribution. That ain’t a bad thing to hope for, huh?

Either way, Sears probably won’t like the idea that they are selling IP protected property without the IP holder knowing about it. I’d be concerned if I were them.

Hummmm very interesting… i have heard of people buying from places like overstock.com and then re selling them on E bay. BUT SEARS ??? OHHHHHHh boy do i have allot to learn….. my goodness…….

When I clicked on “online super seller”, their storefront comes up and there is contact/address info down on the right side for “Online SuperSeller” with a phone number too:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/search_10153_12605?k...=FBM

Scott…have you placed an order for the product through their website?

I saw this thread and the first thing that came to mind unfortunately was counterfeits. Have seen it before whereby unscrupulous company uses your product image and taglines, etc and ends up selling an ultra cheap, made in china knockoff or fake. They sell luxury Coach and Louis Vuitton handbags (which cost a lot BTW) Rolex Submariner watches, you name it. Those are all well known established companies with lots of money and legal muscle. What makes us think we are immune to the vultures? Don’t fool yourselves…anything that is worth buying by a consumer is worth copying by a lowlife company. I basically plan on it happening from the get go. I hope in this instance I’m wrong Scott for your sake, but if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and it’s hunting season… shoot it down.

Good luck, Scott: keep us posted because, as you know, we are great supporters of one another when it comes to our products.

How is anyone making any money if they are paying full-price and then re-selling? If they are selling it for more than you sell it for, that might be to your advantage – but, I could be wrong. It will be interesting to see what shakes out.

That’s my concern Julie. I’ve sent an Email to Sears alerting them of the situation and to remove the ad. If they have sold product and linked it through Amazon, they are getting reciepts from me for a much lower amount. I plot out all sales on Google earth (part of my marketing strategy to show sales trends), I have my repeat customers, businesses, and first time buyers. There has not been any hint that someone is reselling until this ad showed up. If they are using another source, then that’s infringement, misrepresentation, etc. Roger, I’ve got google alerts, have not gotten a report from them in sometime. I know the term “holey rail” and “holeyrail” get used around the web, but seldom am I made aware by google alerts.

But where are they getting the product to sell?

Scott, I have the same issues with articles I have written showing up in various blogs and my products getting resold to other stores. One way to see what is out there is to use http://www.google.com/alerts I put in acouple of key words and every day it sends me links to any info that shows up with those words in it. Just put holeyrail in and those places adding your product should start showing up.

WOW… i just checked that out !!! CRAZY… i would think you would know about it…. i also saw that they will Match a price if you can find it cheaper…

How exciting is that ??? Pretty AWSOME !!! to say the least :))))

Not sure Greg. I come across stuff like this on occasion. The fact that they are selling a product, and it is advertised as mine… well, they ought to tell me about it, ya think? I am pretty excited though, might be my foot in their store if they just didn’t overprice it so badly. They can pull my marketing material from anywhere, I guess that they are somehow channelling it through Amazon, but I don’t know.

Today, I am the only distributor.

“Online Super Seller” has 885k objects listed at Sears. I wonder if it is a webcrawler that lists almost everything from Amazon with a certain markup logic.

Scott,
Do you use a distributor?
I had a product on the market for about ten years through a distributor and never knew where I was going to see them…
Is Sears price so much higher because they include the mounting hardware?
Still, it does seem pretty exciting!!