Repackaging/Resale of Fish Food

[kribensis12]

Hey everyone, I'm going out on a limb here wondering if anyone has experience/advice on this question.

I am a seller on Aquabid for live fish; it's been a great experience so far. I am hoping to diversify what I am selling in order to create a more stable form of income from this side-gig. I have noticed that a lot of sellers (eBay too) have their own fish food (predominantly flake or granule) to sell. I'll see different people list is as things such as: Extreme Veggie Flake, Fry "Crack" etc. etc.

Unless I am mistaken, these are repackaged products. The infrastructure and capital needed in order to source and create your own dry fish food is beyond the scope of most people. Which leads me to my question: Is it legal to repackage and resell fish food? (USA)

Thoughts I have had:
1. If it is indeed legal, it would not be advisable to sell it under its former name. That would position me as a direct competitor to the manufacturer and would gain "marketability" by the notoriety of their name. If I were the manufacturer, I would issue a cease and desist.
2. If it is indeed legal, do I need to disclose that it was manufactured by another company/elsewhere?
3. If it is not legal, should I presume that others are skirting the law due to lax (and hard to deploy) regulations?

My brother is a lawyer (does not handle this kind of law - what are the odds haha) and he said is biggest concern would be the FDA or another governing body, but for better or for worse, there is little to no regulation in the aquarium industry so that is not a concern for me.


EDITED: Updated information is below:
I work for a Ministry and our CEO is a former executive of a large pet food company. I asked him (which was an odd sounding conversation!) about this topic and he said:

"The Manufacturer would not be happy it was being done if under their name and if it was big enough, could pursue legal action. If it's a small sale and they are unaware of the problem, then I would say it's not a big deal. The biggest concern is that if you sold petfood using their brand name and the pet dies, they would be blamed for it even though it was your improper handling".

Sounds to me like repackaging/branding would not be problematic. Or am I hearing what I want to hear?

 

[Back in the fold]

When you mentioned Fry Crack I knew right away who you were talking about. This man makes his own food. It is not repackaged. Fry Crack is so named because of how small fry go nuts over it. I use this guys food because he is a fellow AKA member.

Fishguy's Place Home Page

 

[kribensis12]

When you mentioned Fry Crack I knew right away who you were talking about. This man makes his own food. It is not repackaged. Fry Crack is so named because of how small fry go nuts over it. I use this guys food because he is a fellow AKA member.

That's really cool. I had no idea he made his own. I've used Fry Crack before, but my favorite fry food beyond BBS is called "Golden Pearls".

Again, to me, it seems unlikely that the large portion of available "specialized" dry fish food is all homemade. Then again, I could be wrong. Just ask my wife lol.

 

[Back in the fold]

That's really cool. I had no idea he made his own. I've used Fry Crack before, but my favorite fry food beyond BBS is called "Golden Pearls".

Again, to me, it seems unlikely that the large portion of available "specialized" dry fish food is all homemade. Then again, I could be wrong. Just ask my wife lol.

Yes , Paul makes his own. He has decades of experience in the hobby and is an accomplished breeder. I’ve gotten many things from him and have never been dissatisfied. I suppose there are a lot of dubious individuals on Aquabid but you can trust this guy completely.

Fishguy's Place Home Page

 

[kribensis12]

That is really great to know! I ordered live food from him this time last year.

 

[Back in the fold]

That is really great to know! I ordered live food from him this time last year.

I got my Grindal Worm starter culture from him in 2020 and they are still going strong. I followed his instructions to the letter. I also got a paramecium starter culture from him and that’s doing great. Nice to have a well populated infusoria culture.

 

[emeraldking]

I'm not familiar with the US rules concerning this all. But overhere, they do it. But not selling under the same brand name, of course.

 

[Alice B]

Hey everyone, I'm going out on a limb here wondering if anyone has experience/advice on this question.

I am a seller on Aquabid for live fish; it's been a great experience so far. I am hoping to diversify what I am selling in order to create a more stable form of income from this side-gig. I have noticed that a lot of sellers (eBay too) have their own fish food (predominantly flake or granule) to sell. I'll see different people list is as things such as: Extreme Veggie Flake, Fry "Crack" etc. etc.

since you are interested in selling fish food, have you ever heard of Ginger Inc? They private label fish food in various sizes for small pet stores, they aren't just Ginger anymore, they are Ameripet. I think. run a search. Except for Bug Bites and MicroPellets, all my fish eat Ginger. Tropical flakes and gold fish koi pellets. I used to have an online store so I sold a little fish food too

 

[kribensis12]

since you are interested in selling fish food, have you ever heard of Ginger Inc? They private label fish food in various sizes for small pet stores, they aren't just Ginger anymore, they are Ameripet. I think. run a search. Except for Bug Bites and MicroPellets, all my fish eat Ginger. Tropical flakes and gold fish koi pellets. I used to have an online store so I sold a little fish food too

I checked their website out and I am intrigued.

I don't see pricing anywhere. Do you know if I can find that without calling?

 

[Alice B]

you will have to call, they do not sell to the public, they are business to business. (and now everyone knows I have a business, lol)