[funkboy]

What does "not for individual sale" (or similar words to that) mean when printed on little Fun Size candy bars?

Specifically, I'm wondering if it's okay to buy a bag of Fun Size candy, open it up, and then sell each item inside. Each item is marked something like "not for individual retail sale," and no item has a bar code on it.

Anyone know the U.S. law for this? Is it illegal to sell these things at, say, a gas station, or is it just a way for the company to mark a product internally to say, "Hey, we're dumping these candy bars into a value pack."

[OptimusG4]

It means you can't buy a bag of candy in bulk and resell each item inside individually (if they are marked that way).

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by OptimusG4:
It means you can't buy a bag of candy in bulk and resell each item inside individually (if they are marked that way).

duh.

but is it legally binding?

to whom?

[Ghoser777]

It's against the law.

[TETENAL]

Originally posted by Ghoser777:
It's against the law.

Against which law?

If you purchase a bag of candy, that is a purchase contract. It's not a license or something nonsensical where you can be bound to arbitrary conditions. A purchase means that the commodity becomes your property. With your property you can do whatever you want, including selling it in parts.

The "not for resale" imprint is as legally binding as a "dance in circles before eating" one.

[SeSawaya]

it's mainly because they are not individually bar coded and therefore cant be tracked in sales. But since you own it, why can you not do anything you want with it? Which if your not a business, I dont see why you couldnt.

[chabig]

You can certainly sell them.

There are laws about product labeling which manufacturers must comply with. Printing "Not for Resale" on the product gets them off the hook from complying with the legal requirements for product labeling. In other words, they label the bulk package, but don't have to print everything on each piece when it would be inconvenient.

Those words don't mean anything to you.

Chris

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

I can hardly believe anyone is mystified by this.
This is one of those things along the lines of consumers who think the “do not remove under penalty of law” pillow and mattress tags refer to them also. They of course don’t.

Marking such items has nothing to do with consumers 're-selling' their own items. Everything marked on a product isn’t necessarily legislatively-backed at the consumer level, nor is meant to be.

The purpose is to keep shady businesses (not consumers) from buying (consumer) bulk packaged items, and then turning around and selling the contents individually- rather than stock actual individual items directly from distributors. Virtually anything packaged by a distributor into mutli-pack units that could be conceivably illicitly broken up into individual units against the best interests of the manufacturer can be marked to prevent such.

It’s a simple and effective deterrent. Obviously, if you're in a store anywhere, and see individual items on sale marked 'not for resale' then you -the consumer- will know instantly what the store owner is up to.

[funkboy]

Originally posted by CRASH HARDDRIVE:

Marking such items has nothing to do with consumers 're-selling' their own items.
...
The purpose is to keep shady businesses (not consumers) from buying (consumer) bulk packaged items, and then turning around and selling the contents individually- rather than stock actual individual items directly from distributors. Virtually anything packaged by a distributor into mutli-pack units that could be conceivably illicitly broken up into individual units against the best interests of the manufacturer can be marked to prevent such.

This is exactly what I witnessed yesterday in a small, locally-owned shop. In front of the till, instead of full-size candy bars, there were "Fun Size" bars with the "Not for retail sale" printed clearly on them.

Here's the ironic part:
The store is owned by the county commissioner. (he sometimes works there, too, so he knows about it)

It’s a simple and effective deterrent. Obviously, if you're in a store anywhere, and see individual items on sale marked 'not for resale' then you -the consumer- will know instantly what the store owner is up to.

So, according to you, this county commissioner is being very shady, correct?

The manufacturer is the person losing the most here, correct? Should I report this guy?

...

Thanks for the input everyone. Anyone have a law degree, or know someone who does?

[PacHead]

It is indeed illegal, and you can get busted. I don't know about chocolate bars, but look at cigarettes.

A carton in NYC is about $65.00, if bought in a store.

Any fool can order a carton on the net for about $15.00. These are labelled "not for resale", because any store or bodega can just buy these cheaper ones and sell it. By selling these, they would not have to pay a bunch of taxes and fees if they went through the proper channels.

[funkboy]

Originally posted by PacHead:
It is indeed illegal, and you can get busted. I don't know about chocolate bars, but look at cigarettes.

A carton in NYC is about $65.00, if bought in a store.

Any fool can order a carton on the net for about $15.00. These are labelled "not for resale", because any store or bodega can just buy these cheaper ones and sell it. By selling these, they would not have to pay a bunch of taxes and fees if they went through the proper channels.

Aha, I'm getting a clearer picture now. I always thought it was illegal, but some other people disagreed with me and thought it was fine, since he had already purchased it and could sell whatever he pleased in his store.

So he's illegal... the real question now:

Should I report this to someone? If so, who? I'd mostly just want to do this because of the ludicrousness of the County Commissioner getting busted for illegal practices in his store.

[mrtew]

You can't sell them! All food products have to contain the nutritional information on the back to be sold in the U.S. It doesn't matter if you are a grocery store or a gas station or a drug dealer on the street... the FDA laws apply to everyone! That's what they mean by not 'marked' for individual sale. It's not the bar codes that are missing... it's the calories/vitamins/fat/etc info.

[Scifience]

What about non-food items? Is it illegal to sell, for instance, a video game preorder promo disc marked Not for Resale on eBay?

In this case, it wouldn't violate any laws that require certain information on the package.

[ajprice]

It is against the law, and the law is the law, 'cause it says so. See you later, 'cause I'm goin' home!

[mrtew]

Originally posted by Scifience:
What about non-food items? Is it illegal to sell, for instance, a video game preorder promo disc marked Not for Resale on eBay?
In this case, it wouldn't violate any laws that require certain information on the package.

No you can't sell stolen property on eBay. Promo discs are property of the manufacturer and weren't sold or given to anyone else.... just loaned out for promotional use. If you have one you either stole it from the person who the maker loaned it to or got it from someone who did, right?

[Scifience]

Originally posted by mrtew:
No you can't sell stolen property on eBay. Promo discs are property of the manufacturer and weren't sold or given to anyone else.... just loaned out for promotional use. If you have one you either stole it from the person who the maker loaned it to or got it from someone who did, right?

You misread my question.

Everyone who pre-ordered the game got one (and is allowed to keep it). For example, people who preordered Zelda: Wind Waker got a GameCube version of Ocarina of Time and Ocarina of Time: Master Quest free. The disc was marked Not for Resale. People who preordered DDR Extreme got a music CD with selected tracks from the game. Again, marked Not for Resale.

[PacHead]

Originally posted by mrtew:
No you can't sell stolen property on eBay. Promo discs are property of the manufacturer and weren't sold or given to anyone else.... just loaned out for promotional use. If you have one you either stole it from the person who the maker loaned it to or got it from someone who did, right?

Even though one may not technically be able to sell "promo" stuff, it is no big deal, and Ebay allows it.

4206 items found for promo cd

[Link]

I don't see why you couldn't resale it if you placed the nutrition/ingridients info on the bin the candy was in, or whatnot. To take it further, if you're making price tags, stamp "Nutritional information on container" or something... on them.

Then as long as you're charging a fair price (half the price of the regular size, give or take) -- there's no reason why it'd be unfair or illegal, except informal.

[Sherwin]

Originally posted by funkboy:
So he's illegal... the real question now:

Should I report this to someone?

Leave him be - he ain't breaking in and raping your puppies.

[TheJoshu]

Originally posted by Sherwin:
Leave him be - he ain't breaking in and raping your puppies.

Yup. Why don't you keep some good karma stored up for when you need it? This guy didn't do anything to you. Anyway, 'tis the season to avoid pointless whistle-blowing.

[mrtew]

In LosAngeles they sell individual cigarettes at various places! You can just get one for a quarter! Makes it really hard to quit when you can just get what you really need without having to commit to a whole pack. They do it all over even though that must REALLY be illegal since there's no cancer warning on the side of it! :-]

[Cubeoid]

Hust eat the candy man!

[funkboy]

Originally posted by TheJoshu:
Yup. Why don't you keep some good karma stored up for when you need it? This guy didn't do anything to you. Anyway, 'tis the season to avoid pointless whistle-blowing.

Don't worry, I don't really plan on doing anything.

But I do think it is worrying that an individual is selling items illegally who is also the county commissioner.

[mrtew]

Originally posted by funkboy:
Don't worry, I don't really plan on doing anything.

But I do think it is worrying that an individual is selling items illegally who is also the county commissioner.

You DO know that everyone that goes into politics is a crook don't you. Selling mini candybars is probably the least illegal thing that a politician has ever been busted doing. Why don't you sniff around a little more and see what else you can get on him!

[funkboy]

Originally posted by mrtew:
You DO know that everyone that goes into politics is a crook don't you. Selling mini candybars is probably the least illegal thing that a politician has ever been busted doing. Why don't you sniff around a little more and see what else you can get on him!

Hahaha, and a very Merry Christmas to you, too

[ASIMO]

So sell them only in twos or more.

[The Godfather]

Originally posted by funkboy:
Should I report this to someone? If so, who? I'd mostly just want to do this because of the ludicrousness of the County Commissioner getting busted for illegal practices in his store.

So, you want to screw someone else's life just for the fun of it? Bad, bad

Maybe "Not labeled for individual resale" removes the liability of the candy manufacturer for any food poisonings that occur with individually sold candies.

Famer markets don't post the nutrition every tomato they sell either.

[mrtew]

Originally posted by The Godfather:
So, you want to screw someone else's life just for the fun of it?

I think if Bu$h can get re-elected four years after taking us into a thousand-year religiou$ war which has already cost the taxpayer$ untold billion$ with no hope of any return except for Bu$h's partners$ in crime, I'm betting that a county commissioner can get away with selling mini candies to the kiddies even if FunkBoy does turn him in which he's already said he's not doing.

[funkboy]

Originally posted by The Godfather:
So, you want to screw someone else's life just for the fun of it? Bad, bad

Maybe "Not labeled for individual resale" removes the liability of the candy manufacturer for any food poisonings that occur with individually sold candies.

Famer markets don't post the nutrition every tomato they sell either.

As stated already, I am not going to report this, no.

The entire problem I had was not for some silliness, but because this person was breaking the law. Not breaking some silly law, but I always thought that products labeled "not for individual resale" were marked this way because, if sold individually, it would be ripping off someone along the way.

My concern is that this supposed upstanding man is very knowingly breaking the rules, and hurting someone in the process. That is my concern, and I am still concerned by it.

[mrtew]

Originally posted by The Godfather:
Famrer markets don't post the nutrition every tomato they sell either.

Good point... not only farmers markets but all grocery stores. I think the nutritional labeling only applies to manufactured foods. I guess the consumers are responible for knowing the nutritional info on natural foods themselves.

Originally posted by funkboy:
My concern is that this supposed upstanding man is very knowingly breaking the rules, and hurting someone in the process. That is my concern, and I am still concerned by it.

You keep repeating this silliness without answering my questions. Where did you get the idea that politicians are upstanding citizens? And how did you hold onto this naive notion all this time? How old are you? Politicians are the scum of the earth. And how can you think that selling candybars is worth a second thought? This guy is probably skimming city funds, cheating on his taxes, taking a mistress, accepting kickbacks for gov't favors, etc. and you're obsessed with candybars. Just who do you think he is hurting in anyway with his candybar scheme? The kids that will never have any way of knowing that Milkyways are pure sugar since the labels aren't there? The multi billion dollar candy company that is only making 500% profit on sugar instead of the 600% that they planned on, or the customers that will only get a little obese from tiny snickers instead of grossly obese from the full bag??? ANSWER ME!

[dreilly1]

Originally posted by funkboy:
As stated already, I am not going to report this, no.

The entire problem I had was not for some silliness, but because this person was breaking the law. Not breaking some silly law, but I always thought that products labeled "not for individual resale" were marked this way because, if sold individually, it would be ripping off someone along the way.

My concern is that this supposed upstanding man is very knowingly breaking the rules, and hurting someone in the process. That is my concern, and I am still concerned by it.

Consider that marking a suggestion from the manufacturer -- these items were meant to be sold in bulk, and don't have the same marking and packaging as items intended to be sold individually. But retailers don't have to go along with what the manufacturer intends, and in fact, I think where there are laws that deal with this, they protect the retailers' right to do whatever they want with the physical items they sell, no matter what the manufacturer may want them to do. Most of the time, however, there interests are aligned so that what the manufacturers and the retailers want are the same.

You can't compare this situation to Alcohol and Tobacco sales, though, since that market is so heavily regulated, and the law protects that regulation above the interests of manufacturers and retailers.

[ambush]

I would be a leak in the GDP, I presume.

[funkboy]

Originally posted by mrtew:
Good point... not only farmers markets but all grocery stores. I think the nutritional labeling only applies to manufactured foods. I guess the consumers are responible for knowing the nutritional info on natural foods themselves.



You keep repeating this silliness without answering my questions. Where did you get the idea that politicians are upstanding citizens? And how did you hold onto this naive notion all this time? How old are you? Politicians are the scum of the earth. And how can you think that selling candybars is worth a second thought? This guy is probably skimming city funds, cheating on his taxes, taking a mistress, accepting kickbacks for gov't favors, etc. and you're obsessed with candybars. Just who do you think he is hurting in anyway with his candybar scheme? The kids that will never have any way of knowing that Milkyways are pure sugar since the labels aren't there? The multi billion dollar candy company that is only making 500% profit on sugar instead of the 600% that they planned on, or the customers that will only get a little obese from tiny snickers instead of grossly obese from the full bag??? ANSWER ME!

This wasn't my original topic of conversation, I was just wondering about the printing on the package. Sorry I hadn't addressed your question directly, I thought it was just sort of hypothetical, because of course you're right, many politicians are obviously very corrupt. I'd love to call this attitude cynical - which it is - but it is also correct.

Sounds like you're a little angry with someone and have some frustration you're not releasing properly...

All your points are valid. Just relax and have a drink or two

[funkboy]

Originally posted by dreilly1:
Consider that marking a suggestion from the manufacturer -- these items were meant to be sold in bulk, and don't have the same marking and packaging as items intended to be sold individually. But retailers don't have to go along with what the manufacturer intends, and in fact, I think where there are laws that deal with this, they protect the retailers' right to do whatever they want with the physical items they sell, no matter what the manufacturer may want them to do. Most of the time, however, there interests are aligned so that what the manufacturers and the retailers want are the same.

You can't compare this situation to Alcohol and Tobacco sales, though, since that market is so heavily regulated, and the law protects that regulation above the interests of manufacturers and retailers.

This is much more what I'm looking for.

But, unfortunately, *my* question is still unanswered by someone who can cite some former case law or something.

But Dreilly, what you posted here is the closest to what I've been looking for. Thanks for the information - if anyone has any more info, please let me know!