Dealing with manufacturers to get products for my business

[Leo79]

Hi All,

I am considering to open a retail business, but find it hard to get hold of the good quality brands which I wish to sell. The main idea is to export the goods from the UK and US to Scandinavia as the prices are more competative here and the market has more to offer in terms of variaty of products and brands. But when I contact the manufacturers I have been told that 1. There is already a distributor in that given country, or; 2. The Manufacturer is yet to expand to that country. Does this mean that they normally exclusively deal with only one distributor in each country and I then would have to deal with them and their (excessive) prices?

To get around this, is it possible to purchase the products directly from a wholeseller and then go to the Scandinavian market without having to get permission from the manufacturer? I believe that they are not allowed to hinder free movement of goods and competition...

Moreover, does anyone know where I can get an overview of various fairs which will be arranged during this year?

Any advice and feedback is received with thanks!

[website]

just go to the distributor and purchace, as a retailer you WON't get exclucive rights for your shop unless you are ASDA or tesco (big) and they normaly just pass the exclucivity onto a distributor anyway.

[website]

thats the way the cookie crumbles :)

[Leo79]

Hi Website,

It isn't important to get exclusive dealer rights. My main question was perhaps how to get brands into a given country if there are no official distributors. It seems like most brands want to go through a distributor instead of the opportunity of me buying the brand from a manufacturer abroad and transport it into the given country. So, if "Banana" is a Brand sold in the UK but not for sale in, say, Finnland. Does this mean I cannot sell it in Finnland unless the brand have a main distributor? I cannot just buy it from the manufacturer in the UK and transport it myself? :|

[website]

I actualy work for a distributor company (and manufacturing). you need the manufactures permission normaly because they may be planning for a distributor to open there . if you need any help just say.

cheers

[website]

do you want to give me a phone call, i can help

[Leo79]

Well that is very helpful, thank you! This business forum has certainly proved useful:)

I am actually about to get ready for a flight to Scandinavia to celebrate Easter with my parents, but I'll be online. I hope we can continue this conversation.

Cheers!