Comments on: OPI Update

By: Ruthless

Ruthless — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 06:51:35 +0000

I know it’ s a year later BUT I think OPI has bogus practices. What they’re doing is trying to limit the amount of “diversion” from in salon purchases by trying to stop etailers from selling. BUT if an etailer purchases bulk amounts from a distributor of OPI do they not have the right to sell the product? They got it from somewhere-I am assuming Mr Tran didn’t back a semi up to the OPI factory production warehouse and steal it. OPI has made their money by selling to distributors-now they want to control the flow of product so you have to pay full retail. Here’s a news flash-they’re selling WAY less OPI in salons-all the shatter and american touring collections are ending up in discount stores because the salons can’t move the product. But OPI doesn’t care, they have made their money-so why should they dictate who can sell their product if their own distributors are selling it?

By: Rachel

Rachel — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 19:14:10 +0000

Thank you SO much for this ultra informative post! I was wondering what actually happened with the whole OPI suing etailers thing, and I’m glad you have all of this information put together for other nail fanatics Thank you!!

By: Cristin

Cristin — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 10:23:52 +0000

I agree with O.P.I but they are very quicly becoming very unaccessible to their most important consumer… The genral public!

By: Jazmyne616

Jazmyne616 — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 03:51:40 +0000

I think the health issue could be a legitimate angle, if the polishes were fakes – but as has been stated here numerous times TD did not sell fakes. As for how to recover damages if a fake polish made someone sick — there are numerous ways to recover from distributors. Also, OPI clearly states that they only guarantee their products if purchased through licensed distributors, they wouldn’t be on the hook in the first place.* It is a ‘chance’ we take when buying from ANYPLACE that isn’t officially sanctioned. That leads me to my biggest problem with this issue. In my area you can buy contraband (filed bottle) OPI at Walgreens and Target anytime – and occasionally I see them at CVS, K-Mart, Rite-Aid and Meijer. If this was about copyright and consumer safety then OPI would be coming down on all those sources as well – the fact that they are are not leads me to believe that the issue is price. These other retailers are charging no less than $7.50 (US) and therefore are not the diversion that TD was at $3.50-4. As an attorney I can appreciate OPI’s concern over the legitimate aspects to their position, but cannot abide the hypocrisy they exhibit in practice.

Also, OPI, where do these bottles come from in the first place? According to a friend of mine that works in a salon, if you see the salon lines in a non-salon retailer, they get the product from less than honest reps and/or distributors of the corporation itself. I don’t know if this is entirely accurate, so if someone knows how it all works, I’d be very interested!

* To counter the argument that it is still a damage to their name and reputation in the event of ‘tainted’ polish: Heaven forbid this ever happens, but IF it did, it could be argued that it would be better for OPI than this mess they have created for themselves: they could really push the ‘can’t trust an etailer’ angle — and watch the consumers abandon those sites in droves.

By: carinaeletoile

carinaeletoile — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 08:01:41 +0000

Places like TD and VNS don’t sell fakes. If they did, they wouldn’t get the volume of business they currently have and I think that they’d get a massive smack down from Orly/OPI/ChGlaze, et al. You can rely on places like them to sell you the real deal, just not at the prices we are used to.

By: Dolly

Dolly — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 01:09:28 +0000

I think the health angle is a legitimate concern. I hadn’t worn nailpolish for many years (kids, work = no time), but have recently started to & I am loving the great colors now available. When I looked at the websites that offered dirt cheap prices, I had to wonder how they were able to sell OPI so cheaply. My first thought was that it’s not really OPI (have no idea, just my thought). Are they putting old polishes that they purchased at a discount into new bottles? Is the polish really OPI? I don’t know. I personally purchase mine from a local beauty supply place for $8.00 a bottle. The person usually in the store is very knowledgeable. Always happy to show me real color swatches, and help me find great colors. I appreciate the customer service & know that I am getting the real thing. Buying online at such a significant discount, while tempting, just doesn’t inspire my confidence as to what I am actually receivning. I was actually surprised to see that several “drugstore” brands in my area have polish in the $6 -$7 dollar range, so I am happy to pay the $8 for OPI. I have to agree with OPI’s decision, they are a large company that has worked hard on there product image, and have the right to distribute their product as they see fit, in order to maintain the integrity of their product. I may not be able to purchase as many polishes at the higher price tag, but at least I know for sure what I’m getting.

By: riss

riss — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 19:23:08 +0000

I still find the whole situtation frustrating. I live in a very rural area and there are only a few salons that sell them at all. I have managed to pick up a few on clearance before and even got some for under $2!! However, my collection greatly expanded once I discovered etailers. The reality is that OPI is making a profit on it regardless of what the etailers are selling it for b/c there is a huge markup on cosmetics altogether. It would probably make us all sick if we knew the cost for OPI to produce a bottle. Will this stop me from buying OPI altogether ? – probably not, but I will have to be more selective about the ones I do get. If I want the ones from a new collection I woud have to drive over an hour away to check out Ulta and chances are they’ll be gone before I get there just like the Xmas exclusives were It means that the overall percentage of OPI in my collection will decrease and other vendors will get my $ instead. I think several ladies will also purchase other brands and I would wonder if OPI won’t see a sales decline??

By: OPIs stämning av Trans Design : Lackoholic.com

OPIs stämning av Trans Design : Lackoholic.com — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 10:32:59 +0000

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By: carine

carine — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 09:21:28 +0000

Well said Carina. I find it completely ludacris that these OPI polishes retail for $20+AUD. I was in David Jones Perth store yesterday and wasn’t suprised that at least another 3 girls were looking at their polishes as were I. I think that what TD has done is not great but they did it for a reason. There is a huge market for it as OPI is way over priced. I was looking to purchase myself some polishes just last week from TD and didn’t because their shipping is outrageous. I could buy what I wanted from eBay and still have some change left over. Unfortunately we get heavily ripped off here for high end beauty products that seem relatively ‘cheap’ in the US compared to here.

I have been on TD today and have seen the recently released ‘shrek’ collection is on there, so this hasn’t seemed to stop them from selling OPI at all. It will be interesting to see in the coming months whether this will change.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 21:25:58 +0000

I can’t even begin to get over the fact that these polishes are manufactured in the city I am going to work in tomorrow, and I can’t buy them for the price for which they are retailed in the States.

I pay 13 euro’s here for a bottle of nailpolish that’s being manufactured not a hundred kilometres from here, then is shipped to the States and imported back. And OPI wonders why we bought so readily from places like TD? I will never spend another 13 euro’s on OPI again.

I do understand how they want to protect their intellectual property and retailing system. But as long as the prices keep bordering on the absurd in Europe, they will see a steady decline in sales. In the end that’s probably going to cost them more than what they gain from stopping TD and their likes.