Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Parallel Import shopping experience:
1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Parallel Import offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Parallel Import at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.
2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about
3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Parallel Import? Wrong! If the Parallel Import is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.
4. Questions - Got a question about Parallel Import then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....
5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Parallel Import? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Parallel Import and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.
6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Parallel Import wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.
7. Feedback - happy with your Parallel Import then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.
8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Parallel Import site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site
9. Contact - got a question about Parallel Import, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.
10. Payment - ready to pay for your Parallel Import, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.
A
parallel import is a non-counterfeit good (accounting) imported from another country without the permission of the intellectual property owner. Parallel imports are often referred to as
grey market, and are implicated in issues of international trade, HIV/AIDS management, and intellectual property.
The practice of parallel importing occurs because companies, either the manufacturer or the distributor, set different price points for their products in different markets. Parallel importers ordinarily purchase products in one country at a price (P1) which is cheaper than the price at which they are sold in a second country (P2), import the products into the second country, and sell the products in that country at a price which is usually between P1 and P2. See arbitrage.
Examples
Hong Kong
Importation of Colgate
toothpaste from Thailand into Hong Kong. The goods are bought in markets where the price is lower, and sold in markets where the price of the same goods is, for a variety of reasons, higher.
New Zealand
The practice of luxury automobile dealers in
New Zealand buying Mercedes-Benz vehicles in Malaysia at a low price, and importing the cars into New Zealand to sell at a price the same as or lower than the price offered by Mercedes Benz to New Zealand consumers. There are also many parallel import dealers of electronics hardware. Parallel importing is not illegal in New Zealand and has resulted in a significant lowering of margins on many products.
United States
The United States has unique automobile
NHTSA. Certain car makers find the required modifications too expensive. This creates demand for
grey import vehicles, where certain models are modified for individual customers to meet these requirements, at a higher expense than if this were done by the original manufacturer on an
assembly line. This procedure interferes with the marketing scheme of the manufacturer, who might plan to import a less powerful car and force consumers to accept it. This happened in 1981 with the
Mercedes-Benz W126.
United Kingdom
The importation of Sony PSP video game consoles in to the
European Economic Area from Japan up to twelve months prior to the European launch. The unusual component of this example is that some importers were selling the console for a higher price than the intended EU price.
International approach
Parallel importing is regulated differently in different jurisdictions; there is no consistency in laws dealing with parallel imports between countries. Neither the
Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works nor the
Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property explicitly prohibit parallel importation.
Germany
In
Germany, the Bundesgerichtshof has held that the
exhaustion of rights governs parallel importation. The European Union allows the doctrine of international exhaustion to exist between member states, but not outside the EU.
Hong Kong
In
Hong Kong, parallel importation is permitted under both, the Trade Mark and (amended) Copyright Ordinance.
Japan
Japan's intellectual property rights law prohibits audiovisual articles marketed for export from being sold domestically, and such sale of "re-imported" CDs are illegal.
United States
In the
United States, parallel importation is prohibited, and the United States Trade Representative lobbies other governments to prevent parallel importation in their respective jurisdictions.
Parallel imported foodstuff, etc.
Markets for parallel-imports and locally made products sometimes exist alongside each other even though the parallel-imports are markedly more expensive. This may be for various reasons, but is mostly observed in foodstuff and toiletry.
Due to the nature of hotels, travellers often have little information on where to shop except in the immediate vicinity. Grocery shops opened to serve brand-name hotels often feature parallel-imported foodstuff and toiletry to cater to travellers so that they can easily recognise the product they have been using at home.
Foodstuff and toiletry made from different plants may vary in quality because different plants may use materials or reagents (such as water used for washing, food additives) from different sources, although they are usually subject to the same standards by internal QC or public health authorities. A person may be allergic to the foodstuff or toiletry made by some plants but not others.
To sum up, the major reasons for such a market are:
- Lack of information
- Recognisability
- Avoidance of risk due to products by different plants
Issues
A manifestation of the philosophical divide between those who support intellectual property and :Category:Movement against intellectual property, is the divide over the legitimacy of parallel importation. Some believe that it benefits consumers by lowering prices and widening the selection and consumption of products available in the
market, while others believe that it discourages intellectual property owners from investing in new and innovation products. Some also believe that parallel imports tend to facilitate copyright infringement and
copyright infringement of software.
This tension essentially concerns the
rights and
duty of a protected monopoly. Intellectual property rights allow the holder to sell at a price that is higher than the price one would pay in a
competition, but by doing so the holder relinquishes sales to those who would be prepared to buy at a price between the monopoly price and the competitive price. The presence of parallel imports in the marketplace prevents the holder from exploiting the monopoly further by market segmentation, ie. by applying different prices to different consumers.
Consumer organisations tend to support parallel importation as it offers consumers more
choice and lower prices, provided that consumers retain equivalent legal protection to locally sourced products (eg. in the form of warranty with international effect), and competition is not diminished.
However, such organisations also warn consumers of certain risks in using parallel-imported products. Although the products may have been made to comply with the laws and customs of their place of origin, these products or their use may not comply with those in places where they are used, or some of their functions may be rendered unusable or meaningless (which may needlessly drive up prices). Electronic devices, however, suffer less from this type of risk because newer models support more than one user language.
See also
References
A
parallel import is a non-
counterfeit good (accounting) imported from another country without the permission of the
intellectual property owner. Parallel imports are often referred to as
grey market, and are implicated in issues of
international trade,
HIV/AIDS management, and
intellectual property.
The practice of parallel importing occurs because companies, either the manufacturer or the distributor, set different price points for their products in different markets. Parallel importers ordinarily purchase products in one country at a price (P1) which is cheaper than the price at which they are sold in a second country (P2), import the products into the second country, and sell the products in that country at a price which is usually between P1 and P2. See arbitrage.
Examples
Hong Kong
Importation of Colgate
toothpaste from
Thailand into
Hong Kong. The goods are bought in markets where the price is lower, and sold in markets where the price of the same goods is, for a variety of reasons, higher.
New Zealand
The practice of luxury automobile dealers in New Zealand buying Mercedes-Benz vehicles in Malaysia at a low price, and importing the cars into New Zealand to sell at a price the same as or lower than the price offered by Mercedes Benz to New Zealand consumers. There are also many parallel import dealers of electronics hardware. Parallel importing is not illegal in New Zealand and has resulted in a significant lowering of margins on many products.
United States
The United States has unique automobile
NHTSA. Certain car makers find the required modifications too expensive. This creates demand for grey import vehicles, where certain models are modified for individual customers to meet these requirements, at a higher expense than if this were done by the original manufacturer on an
assembly line. This procedure interferes with the marketing
scheme of the manufacturer, who might plan to import a less powerful car and force consumers to accept it. This happened in 1981 with the Mercedes-Benz W126.
United Kingdom
The importation of
Sony PSP video game consoles in to the
European Economic Area from Japan up to twelve months prior to the European launch. The unusual component of this example is that some importers were selling the console for a higher price than the intended EU price.
International approach
Parallel importing is regulated differently in different jurisdictions; there is no consistency in laws dealing with parallel imports between countries. Neither the
Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works nor the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property explicitly prohibit parallel importation.
Germany
In
Germany, the Bundesgerichtshof has held that the exhaustion of rights governs parallel importation. The European Union allows the doctrine of international exhaustion to exist between member states, but not outside the EU.
Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, parallel importation is permitted under both, the Trade Mark and (amended)
Copyright Ordinance.
Japan
Japan's intellectual property rights law prohibits audiovisual articles marketed for export from being sold domestically, and such sale of "re-imported" CDs are illegal.
United States
In the United States, parallel importation is prohibited, and the United States Trade Representative lobbies other governments to prevent parallel importation in their respective jurisdictions.
Parallel imported foodstuff, etc.
Markets for parallel-imports and locally made products sometimes exist alongside each other even though the parallel-imports are markedly more expensive. This may be for various reasons, but is mostly observed in foodstuff and toiletry.
Due to the nature of
hotels, travellers often have little information on where to shop except in the immediate vicinity. Grocery shops opened to serve brand-name hotels often feature parallel-imported foodstuff and toiletry to cater to travellers so that they can easily recognise the product they have been using at home.
Foodstuff and toiletry made from different plants may vary in quality because different plants may use materials or reagents (such as water used for washing, food additives) from different sources, although they are usually subject to the same standards by internal QC or public health authorities. A person may be allergic to the foodstuff or toiletry made by some plants but not others.
To sum up, the major reasons for such a market are:
- Lack of information
- Recognisability
- Avoidance of risk due to products by different plants
Issues
A manifestation of the philosophical divide between those who support intellectual property and
:Category:Movement against intellectual property, is the divide over the legitimacy of parallel importation. Some believe that it benefits consumers by lowering prices and widening the selection and consumption of products available in the market, while others believe that it discourages intellectual property owners from investing in new and innovation products. Some also believe that parallel imports tend to facilitate copyright infringement and
copyright infringement of software.
This tension essentially concerns the
rights and
duty of a protected
monopoly. Intellectual property rights allow the holder to sell at a price that is higher than the price one would pay in a
competition, but by doing so the holder relinquishes sales to those who would be prepared to buy at a price between the monopoly price and the competitive price. The presence of parallel imports in the marketplace prevents the holder from exploiting the monopoly further by
market segmentation, ie. by applying different prices to different consumers.
Consumer organisations tend to support parallel importation as it offers consumers more choice and lower prices, provided that consumers retain equivalent legal protection to locally sourced products (eg. in the form of warranty with international effect), and competition is not diminished.
However, such organisations also warn consumers of certain risks in using parallel-imported products. Although the products may have been made to comply with the laws and customs of their place of origin, these products or their use may not comply with those in places where they are used, or some of their functions may be rendered unusable or meaningless (which may needlessly drive up prices). Electronic devices, however, suffer less from this type of risk because newer models support more than one user language.
See also
References
