There are certain companies that do NOT sell to non-salon retailers, meaning you cannot find brand-guaranteed items anywhere but selected salons. Others may have more loose regulations. I know that EVO, the product line we now use at MMQ,can only be purchased from your salon, and in order to purchase from their website, you have to provide the name of the salon you visit. To find out whether or not your products run the risk of being counterfeit, you can call the numbers provided on the bottles to speak with company reps. While Sally’s and Sephora seem more legit to me, as beauty supply stores, you can always call the product companies to verify the authenticity of sale, just to be safe.

Hope that helps!

As for keeping the products in storage, they may have acquired large amounts at a time without a purchaser or shipper lined up. Also, they may not want to get rid of their entire stock all at once, since their sources may not be steady. It’s easier to keep the profit steady if they control the amount of the products they release to retailers. Fast capital doesn’t necessarily mean lasting capital. If they want to keep good relationships with the retailers, they never want to say “oh, I’m out of that. Give me a few weeks!” Like the video said, some diverters alter packaging (helps keep the products from being tracked, especially if they were stolen), and that in itself takes time.

Hope all of that made sense. If you have any other questions, please let me know! I’ll do my best to answer them.