I’m going to be talking here about branded versus unbranded goods, but want to make it clear from the start I am not talking about counterfeits or fakes as unbranded goods. Nor am I speaking about products designed down to a low price, simply to be the lowest in a field.
I will be comparing name brands and well made, comparable products without a designer label or brand. There are many such products. In fact, with so many products produced in factories which do contract work for the name brands, those same factories have the techniques and worker skills to produce similar products for themselves and others.
They will have signed confidentiality and possibly non-compete contracts. But they will still have the capabilities to produce similar products for themselves or others that will meet the legal requirements they agreed to. Or, they may make significantly different goods, using the same basic materials and work skills required when working for a brand holder.
From thread counts on fabrics to the quality of memory and chips in electronics to the structural integrity of metals and plastics to any number of quality factors in any number of products, there are many manufacturers using the best or the nearly best when making products for themselves or private label or no-name suppliers.
Unbranded does not mean junk, it means good, well made products which have a good value and can offer the sellers a better margin than they will get selling branded products. Yes, there is junk. But in many cases the true junk is being made and sold as counterfeit brand names.
I’ve never been to China or Thailand, but I’ve been to a number of factories in the US and I’ve seen the assortments of boxes and labels at the end of the production lines. Often exactly the same products, identical in every way, simply a different package at the end of the line.
Of course, to the seller the unbranded goods offer great profit potential, compared to knocking heads with others selling name brands. Buy low, sell high. Sweet music to retailers everywhere. Why else would even the worlds largest retailers, offering name brands recognized by everyone, bother to have their own brands, and often promote their own products rather than the world famous brands?
Profit, of course. If they can acquire the goods for half or less the cost of the name brands and sell for 10 to 25% less, they are still making a much greater percentage of profit on a similar item. Plus, they also have more margin to play with should they decide to place an item on sale. They can have a sale with a very meaningful discount off the name brand product and still have a nice product. To them it’s a win-win situation.
You can do the same. There are literally thousands on unbranded products available from countless sources. Walk in a dollar or pound shop and see how many names you’ve never heard of they offer. And they sell them every day. Frankly, some are “watered down” for just that market. Next walk through some of the major retailers, from electronics to groceries to non-prescription drugs, to house wares and hardware, you’ll find a variety of “no name” or “house brand” items out there with the brands.
There are companies devoted to nothing but producing private label products for others. I have beside me now a magazine with a full page color ad on the back page – “With your own brand of Exclusive Products you can own the market!” They go on to say – “Many of the largest Internet affiliate programs routinely market our $1.50 products for $59.95, $69.95, $79.95 and even $99,95 per bottle – and sell thousands of bottles a day.”
Do the math. I’m not saying you need to come out with your own line of breast enhancement pills. Or weight loss pills. But it gives you an idea of what can be done if you hook up with the right supplier.
As I mentioned in another article, I was routinely selling no-name products for 70% profits. Figurines – dragons, lions, tigers, eagles, elephants. Buy for 3 sell for 10. Could I walk around with my head high because I was selling Apple or Sony? No, But I could walk around with my head high because I was making a good living selling stuff no one had ever heard of.
Would I buy my own stuff? Not really. Neither I nor anyone in my family used the no-name perfumes and colognes I sold. My wife does have a turkey figurine and a couple of damaged birdhouses we patched up sitting on the porch out back. But was I my own best customer, not a chance. I was selling what sold, and made me money, not selling what made me feel good, or something I would buy for myself.
So, get out of the name brand fashions, shoes, electronics, etc. mindset that only makes money for the people who make and distribute them and get into something no one ever heard of, but something that you can make a good profit selling. Investigate unbranded goods.
I will be comparing name brands and well made, comparable products without a designer label or brand. There are many such products. In fact, with so many products produced in factories which do contract work for the name brands, those same factories have the techniques and worker skills to produce similar products for themselves and others.
They will have signed confidentiality and possibly non-compete contracts. But they will still have the capabilities to produce similar products for themselves or others that will meet the legal requirements they agreed to. Or, they may make significantly different goods, using the same basic materials and work skills required when working for a brand holder.
Unbranded does not mean junk, it means good, well made products which have a good value and can offer the sellers a better margin than they will get selling branded products. Yes, there is junk. But in many cases the true junk is being made and sold as counterfeit brand names.
I’ve never been to China or Thailand, but I’ve been to a number of factories in the US and I’ve seen the assortments of boxes and labels at the end of the production lines. Often exactly the same products, identical in every way, simply a different package at the end of the line.
Of course, to the seller the unbranded goods offer great profit potential, compared to knocking heads with others selling name brands. Buy low, sell high. Sweet music to retailers everywhere. Why else would even the worlds largest retailers, offering name brands recognized by everyone, bother to have their own brands, and often promote their own products rather than the world famous brands?
Profit, of course. If they can acquire the goods for half or less the cost of the name brands and sell for 10 to 25% less, they are still making a much greater percentage of profit on a similar item. Plus, they also have more margin to play with should they decide to place an item on sale. They can have a sale with a very meaningful discount off the name brand product and still have a nice product. To them it’s a win-win situation.
You can do the same. There are literally thousands on unbranded products available from countless sources. Walk in a dollar or pound shop and see how many names you’ve never heard of they offer. And they sell them every day. Frankly, some are “watered down” for just that market. Next walk through some of the major retailers, from electronics to groceries to non-prescription drugs, to house wares and hardware, you’ll find a variety of “no name” or “house brand” items out there with the brands.
Do the math. I’m not saying you need to come out with your own line of breast enhancement pills. Or weight loss pills. But it gives you an idea of what can be done if you hook up with the right supplier.
As I mentioned in another article, I was routinely selling no-name products for 70% profits. Figurines – dragons, lions, tigers, eagles, elephants. Buy for 3 sell for 10. Could I walk around with my head high because I was selling Apple or Sony? No, But I could walk around with my head high because I was making a good living selling stuff no one had ever heard of.
Would I buy my own stuff? Not really. Neither I nor anyone in my family used the no-name perfumes and colognes I sold. My wife does have a turkey figurine and a couple of damaged birdhouses we patched up sitting on the porch out back. But was I my own best customer, not a chance. I was selling what sold, and made me money, not selling what made me feel good, or something I would buy for myself.
So, get out of the name brand fashions, shoes, electronics, etc. mindset that only makes money for the people who make and distribute them and get into something no one ever heard of, but something that you can make a good profit selling. Investigate unbranded goods.
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