FYI Memo on Unauthorized Internet Selling of Athearn Products

[AntonioFP45]

Wow! I've bought a couple of "New In The Box" Athearns off of Ebay. Prices were low. Hopefully the vendors I won the units from were legal.

10-4!

[Anonymous]

I don't think Horizon can control what ANYBODY does with existing stock from orders prior to their takeover of Athearn. After the takeover may be a different story.

[darth9x9]

The Hard Rock Cafe had a similar policy and they tried to hunt and destroy people who resold HRC pins on eBay and other auction sites (as they were not authorized/licensed to resell pins). It lasted less than a month as eBay said it wasn't eBay's responsibility to police the resale of merchandise - that is the manufacturer's responsibility. I doubt this will last long.

[Anonymous]

I just checked the Horizon website, and all it says about internet sales is:
"Internet Sale Policies
Horizon Hobby, Inc. distributes its products through a network of authorized retailers. Horizon Hobby, Inc. will grant its authorized retailers use of its intellectual property for the promotion of Horizon products on these retailers’ websites or online auctions. Horizon Hobby, Inc. reserves the right to only provide warranty coverage for products purchased from authorized retailers and to refuse warranty coverage on products purchased from unauthorized retailers."

So that letter may just be the next step.

[Javern]

i would think most manufacturors have a rule similar to this, as far as selling on ebay they are reffering to those who sell in volume, not a dude selling off some of his stuff

[Anonymous]

The following letter was on Trainorders., and I have copied it and passed it on for informational purposes only. I hope this is not true.
This might be someone's idea if a joke, but it does not look like it.

> IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
> Unauthorized Internet Selling
> Action Required
>
> Dear Dealer,
>
> We are pleased to announce that Horizon has contracted with Net
Enforcers, Inc., to assist us in the identification and elimination of
unauthorized distribution of our proprietary brands. Net Enforcers,
based in Coral Springs, Florida, will utilize a combination of automated
search tools and personnel to identify unauthorized resellers of Horizon
products both on the popular auction sites and third-party sites. Net
Enforcers will seek to shut down the auctions of these unauthorized
resellers thereby enforcing Horizon's trademark rights and copyrights as
appropriate.
>
> This program is designed to protect you, an authorized dealer and your
respective online sales from unauthorized resellers. To assist Net
Enforcers in distinguishing authorized from unauthorized dealers, we are
providing them under a confidentiality agreement the Web site addresses,
and Ebay, Yahoo!, and Froogle dealer selling IDs.
>
> Please assist us in identifying these unauthorized sellers by sending
us the ID numbers that you list your auction under for each site by
September 1st, (please, no passwords). You may provide this information
to your Sales Rep, or send via email to [e-mail]
<mailto:[e-mail]> The deadline to get this information to
us is September 1, 2004.
>
> Additionally, please note that any authorized retailer who distributes
Horizon brands to an unauthorized reseller is in violation of our
Retailer Agreement, and we will take action. We've posted our Internet
Sales Policies on our Web Site (below).
>
> Horizon is dedicated to shutting down unauthorized selling of our
branded products and to protecting our legitimate, authorized retailers.
We appreciate your help in this important matter.
>
> Sincerely,
> Mike Feeney
> Director of Sales