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Legal Issue of starting an online store to sell books and education supplies


bingd

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Hi!

 

I'm working for an education company. We're going to launch an online store at our company's website.

 

The online store will sell the books related to Children education like the mandarin textbooks purchased from China bookstores and also the education supplies purchased from China's ebay.

 

We're concerning about the legal issues about starting this online store.

 

Here're some questions:

 

1. Is there any legal problem to sell books and education supplies that we purchased from China? (All the books and education supplies are purchased from legal stores or online websites.)

 

2. Our company locates in NYC. To open the online store, what certificates should we have or prepare for?

 

3. Is there anything else we should be care of?

 

Thank you so much for reading my post and I look forward to hearing back from you!

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I can't imagine that Chinese-language textbooks and such would come under any import restrictions, so long as they are properly declared to Customs and any required duties are paid. Check with the State Department or Department of Commerce website to see if they have anything to say on this. I trust that someone has vetted the materials to make sure they're not out and out communist propaganda, but that's probably not even illegal any more.

 

Now, if these materials were originally produced in the U.S., exported to China, and then re-imported, you might find that you are operating in the "gray market", and the producers of the material might take action against you. Even if not, you should check with the producers whether they have any existing sales channel agreements in the U.S. that you and/or they might be violating. Since you are purchasing through retail channels rather than directly from the producers, it is possible that they could come after you for alleged trademark or copyright infringement as an unauthorized dealer operating in the gray market. Just a "heads up".

 

As an online store, you'll of course need some sort of proper business setup in NY state. It sounds like there is already some sort of business entity. If you want to operate this bookselling under a different name, you would have to file a d/b/a at the county level. That might require a separate sales tax license than if the parent company is doing the selling. I'm not aware of any separate licensing or certificates needed for selling educational materials, but it might not hurt to check with the State Department of Education, and possibly the Federal too (if selling across state lines).

 

In the end, it might be good to consult with a business/trade-oriented lawyer on whatever paperwork is needed for setting up a semi-new business and how to properly import materials. A few dollars spent now could save a lot of headaches and dollars later.

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