Private Labeling Products

My daughter worked at a small boutique coffee shop and deli. One day the topic of fish dip came up; she told me that her boss has been purchasing fish dip from the grocery store and repackaging it to sell as her own under her own label. I have conflicting thoughts about the practice. On one hand, the manufacturer and the grocery store are happy to make the sale; and how the product is used after it is paid for isn't really any of their business. Does the retailer have an obligation to disclose the origin of the product?

Is this practice any different than ABC marketing Modified Bitumen under the Mule Hide label that's made by Polyglass? The only difference is the packaging. Does anyone object to it? I don't care.

The next question . . . . If I purchase a pallet of shingles, can I repackage them and sell them under my own label? Can I take a roll of Modified Bitumen and slap a new label on it and sell it as my own exclusive brand?

"So the printing would be just for the ego of the roofer rolling it out."

Woody can't be beat.

I've got a lot of ego and i have been beating it into submission for forty decades. By now you would think it would have been beaten into a bloody pulp and looking like an emaciated sorry slip of a being. You remember the video you and your kids all loved called "The Little Mermaid?" Ursula exacted the ultimate sacrifice of King Triton, Disney's version of Poseidon, the sea equivalent of the sky-God, Zeus. But it's not. The ego doesn't function that way. Ego never dies. I have often acknowledged its credibility and likened it to an engine that drives us forward. But that is all the freedom it should ever be allowed in my opinion. If even that.

What are you doing for your clients and how much is it worth? That is the only question that needs answering. Reality will always eventually overtake the ego. Better to make sure you're on solid ground. A couple of days of visible underlayment ain't worth much.

Give them a deal. Stand by your product. Give credit where credit is due. Acknowledge the manufacturers. Acknowledge the suppliers. Make it the real deal. If we're not in it together, it's a free-for-all and a free-for-all doesn't really have much lasting appeal. At least, not for me.

Long a proponent of single source responsibility, and avoiding as much potential for finger-pointing as possible, I do everything possible to avoid private labeled products in my business.

I know of no reason you cannot purchase a roofing product and label it your own, as long as you understand who's liable when there's a problem.... it ain't the manufacturer, unless you have a written agreement to such.

Yrs ago, when we did a lot of production/tract work, a felt co. offered to label the felt we purchased with our name/logo.....Much the same as production home builders sometime get their house wrap labeled w/their name.....Doesn't do anything for an attempted humble guy like me.

jjshaggy: Generally speaking, I agree. However, I do a lot of repair work that almost always requires a building permit; most of the time, the manufacturers specifications are not sufficient for the bureaucrats . . . . for example, a flashing detail at a wall where the manufacturer's specifications say to extend the flashing materials up the wall 8" . . . . but there's a problem . . . . . the parapet wall is only 6" higher then the roof. The bureaucrats want a letter from the manufacturer saying it's okay. It would be easier on these small repair to simply be the manufacturer.

Centimark does their own private labeling of products, and Im not sure who the actual manufacturer is but I think they then have to provide their own warranty. In my opinion if i were a customer id want to buy material from an established manufacturer like Firestone or GAF for example.