I have an order from outside US. The order is to send 1000 unit of an
electronic device. They want a good price, and they do not care if the
items are refurbished or used. They want that the price less than a
certain price, and of course I can not find new items with that price
limitation even they order 1000 unit. They know that they can get only
used/refurbish items, but they want all of devices come (ship to their
country) with new boxes and new package. I can not give any waranty on
the item, what I can give is warranty against DOA only. They agree
with that. So, my qestion is:

Is it legal in US to repack used/refurbish items, make new boxes (buy
blank boxes and print just like the new original boxes), buy new
additional cables if needed, buy new power supplies if needed, put
them in sealed bag, and send them out.



regards



loways

loways-ga:

Within the United States (and at least every other developed nation),
it is illegal to represent used goods as new for the purposes of
selling them. Depending on the country that you are shipping them to,
and depending on where you are handing the goods over to the custody
of your buyer (ie., if the terms of sale are F.O.B. from a US port),
then the Federal Trade Commission could lay charges against you for
fraud. If you create new packaging for the products to replicate the
original packaging, then you may also be liable for copyright
infringement and/or trademark infringement (this latter part depends
on what the original packaging incorporated). Since the advice
provided through the Google Answers service does not substitute for
the professional advice of a lawyer, you will want to consult with a
real lawyer prior to embarking on this venture.

Thank you for your quick first comment aht-ga,

I am not trying to argue, but want to make bold of:

They (buyer) know that the items are used and refurbish, but they want
in the complete packages, and everything are sealed. "Original" boxes
are a must.

Let me make crazy analogies:

Legal or ilegal in the US ?

1. I wanted to sell a used book (I am not the author). One page had
been missing, so I copied from my friend's book, and put it on my
book. I "sell" on Amazon as a used book.

2. I was a cover girl. One day I got an accident, and my eye got
burned bad. I renewed my eye with plastic surgery. The result was
good, my eye just like before. Now, I can "sell" my face again.

3. I wanted to be a Playboy mate. I never had good body before. I did
extreme plastic surgery. I did not renew anything because I never had
sexy body before. The result of surgery was good. Now, I can "sell" my
body to Playboy magazine.

The issue here is not one of whether or not refurbished goods are "as
good as" new goods. The issue is one of representing goods that are
NOT new (which means never before used by an end-user) as being new.
If you package the refurbished goods in new packaging, without any
labeling or other indication that the contents are used goods, then
you are misrepresenting the goods as new. This is illegal in the US,
and pretty much every country in the world that the US conducts open
trade with. This subject is called intellectual property rights; only
the owner of the brand, or their authorized representative, is allowed
to sell an item under that brand name. Further, only truly new
products can be sold as new; this applies even to "factory
refurbished" goods, which in many cases are actually better than new.
Even so, they must be marked as "refurbished" to avoid
misrepresentation (which is a fancy word for fraud).

The analogies you mentioned in your last comment are not applicable to
this situation. In the first, you would still be selling the book as a
used book. If you were to try to sell the book as a brand-new book,
would you not agree that you are misrepresenting the true status of
the book?

In the second and third examples, you are talking about something
completely different from goods. You are talking about a human being,
which in all civilized nations of the world is not considered a trade
good. The models you reference, are providing a service. Services, by
their very nature, are considered new every time they are provided, it
is not possible to store and distribute a service. The model's face or
body is simply part of their toolset in delivering the service, and
they are free to do whatever they wish with their face/body to sustain
or improve their ability to deliver the service.

Let me put this to you another way, loways-ga. You've just made your
first million dollars, and it's time to reward yourself by buying a
new car (let's say it's a Ferrari). You go to the dealership, lay down
the cash, and take delivery on what you think is a brand-new car. In
fact, the odometer only says seven miles on it, hardly any mileage at
all!

Only problem is, one month later the engine won't start. You have the
car towed to a mechanic, who discovers that the car wasn't actually
new, it had been used for over 150,000 miles, then the odometer was
"refurbished" to show only seven miles before it was sold to you.
What's worse, because the car wasn't actually brand-new when you
bought it, it is already out of warranty and the manufacturer won't
give you any support. Guess what? You've just become the victim of
misrepresentation and fraud.

Can you see the parallel to what you are describing in your question?

There is a significant probability that your customer intends to
defraud one or more persons with the used items. Knowing this you
become a co-conspiritor, which is unethical, likely a crime in many
locations. You can likely avoid prosecution for copy write
infringement by designing significantly different brandnames logos,
etc for the packaging. You must however indicate that these are not
new units by a means not easily removed by your customer.  Neil