So Upper Deck called me today....

[rksnascards]

So, bottom line is... THE RETAILER PUT THE PRODUCT ON THE SHELF BEFORE THE RELEASE DATE.

um.. wait... how can UD tell a major retailer, such as Wal-Mart, that you CANNOT put this item on your shelf for another 10 days...

If anyone should be blamed for this debacle it should be the Shipping Department at UD. Seems to me with shipping times and delivery expectations, the product was sent out two weeks in advance?

Now, with that being said, I have to ask... did you get the person's name (from UD)? Do you have caller ID and can verify that the number calling was from UD? Did you ask for a number so that you could call back and verify it was UD you were talking too?

I would put the items back up for sale and let the chips fall where they may. It's NOT like you were the distributor and opened up a case of the product and trying to get a jump on the competition.

[Tripredacus]

So, bottom line is... THE RETAILER PUT THE PRODUCT ON THE SHELF BEFORE THE RELEASE DATE.

um.. wait... how can UD tell a major retailer, such as Wal-Mart, that you CANNOT put this item on your shelf for another 10 days...

Major retailers get the product ahead of time and some items have a "street date." This applies to action figures as well, where the cases come with instructions (sometimes printed on the box) as to what date is the first to be put on the shelf for consumers to purchase. The reason for these dates is due to the manufacturer's schedule for advertisement or "initial exclusive" promotions. The manufacturer may have a deal with a specific retailer or vendor to do a pre-release showcase, sale or other event. The manufacturer may have plans for specific advertisements on television or product placement in an upcoming movie, etc that they want to be public prior to the release. In the end, it doesn't seem like it would be a big deal, at least to us as the consumers.

[RGM81]

So, bottom line is... THE RETAILER PUT THE PRODUCT ON THE SHELF BEFORE THE RELEASE DATE.

um.. wait... how can UD tell a major retailer, such as Wal-Mart, that you CANNOT put this item on your shelf for another 10 days...

If anyone should be blamed for this debacle it should be the Shipping Department at UD. Seems to me with shipping times and delivery expectations, the product was sent out two weeks in advance?

Now, with that being said, I have to ask... did you get the person's name (from UD)? Do you have caller ID and can verify that the number calling was from UD? Did you ask for a number so that you could call back and verify it was UD you were talking too?

I would put the items back up for sale and let the chips fall where they may. It's NOT like you were the distributor and opened up a case of the product and trying to get a jump on the competition.

No. Companies regularly ship out items to retailers in advance of the on-sale/launch date. This is to ensure that there is stock available for the actual launch.

You think that if a store put out the iPhone 6 three days early that Apple wouldn't sue their pants off? Of course the company can tell a retailer that they can't put a product out before the stated on-sale/launch date.

Your suggestion that he should put the items back up for sale is incredibly reckless and frankly just a horrible idea. UD and Panini have both gone after online retailers that have sold products on eBay early. It's an unfair competitive advantage for that individual that flouts the rules. Brick and mortar hobby stores have a contract with the respective company that obliges them to follow the rules and included in those rules is the requirement to not sell products early. You break those rules and you lose your Diamond Dealer status with UD and its comparable with Panini. UD is well within its rights to ask an individual seller to take down those items because that individual should not even have those items. Again, I go back to the iPhone 6 -- if I somehow lucked into a case of them and listed them on eBay a week before the product should be out I'm at a competitive advantage and it also ensures that somewhere someone broke a contract.

Not a smart piece of advice to tell someone to do something that could land him in legal trouble.

[piper1]

Upper Deck and the freEBAYers having a public spat. Who would have thunk it.

[adamslogik]

UD is well within its rights to ask an individual seller to take down those items because that individual should not even have those items.

ACTUALLY.....

Upper deck admitted to me that if I had decided to leave the listings on ebay, there is legally nothing they could have done about it.

[flemingc04]

No. Companies regularly ship out items to retailers in advance of the on-sale/launch date. This is to ensure that there is stock available for the actual launch.

You think that if a store put out the iPhone 6 three days early that Apple wouldn't sue their pants off? Of course the company can tell a retailer that they can't put a product out before the stated on-sale/launch date.

Your suggestion that he should put the items back up for sale is incredibly reckless and frankly just a horrible idea. UD and Panini have both gone after online retailers that have sold products on eBay early. It's an unfair competitive advantage for that individual that flouts the rules. Brick and mortar hobby stores have a contract with the respective company that obliges them to follow the rules and included in those rules is the requirement to not sell products early. You break those rules and you lose your Diamond Dealer status with UD and its comparable with Panini. UD is well within its rights to ask an individual seller to take down those items because that individual should not even have those items. Again, I go back to the iPhone 6 -- if I somehow lucked into a case of them and listed them on eBay a week before the product should be out I'm at a competitive advantage and it also ensures that somewhere someone broke a contract.

Not a smart piece of advice to tell someone to do something that could land him in legal trouble.

I see what you're saying Richard, but would it not be the business putting itself at risk when selling early? The business would have a contract to sell the product but it wouldn't be the consumer's because it would be their understanding that the product is meant to be available for sale at the time of purchase. If a contract is breached, the business agreed to it and not the consumer. Therefore, why couldn't the consumer trade with their friends, throw it on ebay or craigslist, and carry on as usual? I can understand UD and Panini trying to stop online sellers from selling early but I don't think they can do much more against the consumer than just ask them to remove the cards. Especially in the case where someone bought a few blasters like a place from Walmart versus a few hobby cases from a wholesaler.

[Gibby]

Sorry, I forgot to even mention it in the original post.

The release date is Sept 27, Somebody jumped the gun and put them on the shelves early.

Adam

I believe you did the right thing here even if they do not send anything. UD asked you nice and you concurred at the very least you have a contact name at UD and they know yours which can pay off in the long run.

I would rather have that than a couple extra bucks selling 2014-15 MVP come Sept 27 they will be listed

IMHO

[RGM81]

ACTUALLY.....

Upper deck admitted to me that if I had decided to leave the listings on ebay, there is legally nothing they could have done about it.

Since you don't have a Diamond Dealer certification, it's not as though you'd be in breach of contract or anything along those lines. But if you look at how easily they were able to get your contact information through eBay, it's entirely possible that they'd be able to say to eBay that you were illicitly selling their products. Anyone that's ever read Card Sharks knows that UD doesn't play nice with others, so you did the right thing in avoiding a potential headache.

[Camarotuner]

If the listings had remained there is nothing UD could legally do, you didn't violate street date. You purchased from walmart and listed on ebay. HOWEVER ebay has become a large profile target for prior to release sales of video games and other items that "fell off the truck" and ebay would have removed the listings if you didn't, most likely.

What you COULD have done however is state that all the cards you are selling are pre-orders. The cards will ship on X where X is the street date of the product. As long as it's within 30 days (the window ebay allows for pre-orders I think, you'd have to double check that) you'd be fine. Then just ship them out after the product releases. Not sure it's worth the effort, but it'd work.

[capt55]

This seems pretty strange to me, there used to be a show every Tuesday in Thornhill, just outside TO, when all new product came out, we could buy it at the Thornhill show on the Tusday night, and we would open it and listed on ebay that night, we never once got a call from UD and worst of all, how did they get your phone numbers, still would have really bothered me.
Product would come out on Wed.