Episode #103: What You Need to Do Today To Protect Your Toy Brand From Counterfeits
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Are you sure that toy you got is the real deal? The holiday shopping season brings lots of people to look for the trendy “it” toy their kids are begging for, as well as fun games and collectibles for adults. However, counterfeit toys are on the rise. Counterfeit toys are a multi-billion dollar industry. Some people who purchase counterfeit toys do so purposely to save money, but others just see a good deal and assume it is the real thing.
Luckily, there are all sorts of things you can do to protect your intellectual property if you’re a toy inventor. There are also ways you can avoid buying fake toys, which could be dangerous, especially when it comes to baby toys. Listen to today’s podcast episode to find out how you can spot a counterfeit and how you can protect your toy ideas from counterfeiting. With online shopping growing during the COVID-19 pandemic, this is an issue that is not going away any time soon!
EPISODE CLIFF NOTES
Find out why some people buy counterfeit toys instead of the real thing
Learn the most common toy categories for counterfeits
Learn how counterfeiters sneak into online marketplaces
Find out how fake toy sellers make websites that can fool consumers
Learn why fake toys can be dangerous for kids
Find out how having counterfeits can negatively affect your brand
Learn what to do if you see a counterfeit of your intellectual property on the market
How much the value of a collectible lego set dropped when counterfeits appeared on the market
Where to register your products to have the best chance at legal success in case of counterfeits
Tips for how to make your products and packaging so unique it can’t be copied
How to spot a counterfeit while shopping online and in stores
Where you can report counterfeit toys to the government
How to get fake toy sellers to stop using your online media
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Sources:
www.oberlo.com/statistics/how-many-people-shop-online
stairslide.com/pages/scam-alert-an-open-letter
www.redpoints.com/blog/counterfeit-toys/
www.stopfakes.gov/business-guide-to-intellectual-property-rights
www.theguardian.com/society/2019/dec/07/christmas-shoppers-warned-of-danger-of-fake-toys
www.mcclabel.com/en/wine-spirits/innovations/security-labels/security-graphics
www.legalteamusa.net/how-to-keep-your-product-from-being-counterfeited/
www.ptslaw.com/blog/2020/05/4-ways-to-protect-your-product-from-counterfeiters/
www.realsimple.com/work-life/technology/safety-family/counterfeit-toys-survey
copyrightalliance.org/faqs/what-is-dmca-takedown-notice-process/
www.npr.org/2020/09/18/914281529/lego-fans-tricked-by-counterfeit-kits
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[00:00:00] Azhelle Wade: You are listening to making it in the toy industry episode number 103.
[00:00:04] Hey there toy people, Azhelle Wade here and welcome back to another episode of the toy coach, making it in the toy industry. This is a weekly podcast brought to you by thetoycoach.com. As we are nearing the heart of the holiday season, you may have noticed that some of the top toys at major retailers have already gone out of stock. Publications like daily mail, moms.com, npd.com and even Fox News have been encouraging parents to shop early for months now. They've been warning that top consumer favorites are in danger of going out of stock this year, due to a lot of things like increased shipping container prices, shortages on containers and then major delays at clogged ports, making it impossible for even Santa to get his hands on some of the top toys this year.
[00:01:13] So what happens when top toys go out of stock before holidays? And what happens when parents are desperate to find them? Well, that's what we're going to talk about today. And the answer is counterfeits. So today I'm going to talk to you about a growing problem in the toy industry. One that is very likely to be exacerbated by limited inventory supply and that is counterfeit toys. Counterfeit toys also saw an upswing with marketplaces like Amazon, where it's really difficult to discern if you're getting an official version of a product or something else. So this is how our conversation's going to break down today.
[00:01:54] First, we're going to talk about the number one thing that aspiring toy entrepreneurs worry about when launching their ideas. And the number one thing that they actually should be worrying about instead, which is counterfeit products. And I'm going to share a story about a scam alert that I discovered from a really awesome toy product served to me via a Facebook app. Then we're going to dive into what causes counterfeit toys. Then we will cover the dangers of counterfeit toys for consumers and toy brands. We will also get into how you can prevent your toys from being knocked off.
[00:02:30] The reasons why people buy fake toys in the first place, and we'll even touch on what toy categories are most at risk and what to do if you find a counterfeit toy on the market. Now I know this topic today might sound stressful, but awareness will help you prevent it from happening to you. And we'll give you the resources to know what to do if does. Okay. We've got a lot to cover and this episode is filled to the brim with resources. So I'm really going to encourage you to head over to thetoycoach.com/103, because I've got a full source list where all the data and information for this episode came from. So make sure to grab all of the links to the show notes by heading over to thetoycoach.com/103. Ready? Let's dive in.
[00:03:17] Okay, let's start off with a number, one thing that aspiring toy entrepreneurs worry about the absolute most when they have an incredible new idea for a toy, they come to me with one big concern before they've even built a prototype and that's, Azhelle, how can I stop someone from stealing my idea? And more extensively, how can I stop someone from stealing my idea and beating me to market with it? But the number one thing they actually should worry about is what will happen to their toy brands after they've ordered inventory, spent resources, building up brand authority, increased sales, and actually attracted those who want to profit off of all of their hard brand-building work.
[00:04:02] And I say this not to scare you, but instead to make you aware of the possibilities that someone could profit from, or in some cases steal the toy brand, you've created. Now, did you know that according to a survey by realsimple.com over half of shoppers have purchased a counterfeit toy, at least once. It's true. And according to oberlo.com in 2021, there were 900 million more digital buyers than there were in 2020. So with more people having turned to online marketplaces like Amazon to buy everything, including toys, we have a more of an opportunity for counterfeit toys to flood the market.
[00:04:46] For listings and misspelled company names and websites to trick consumers, to steal sales and ultimately negatively a pack effect, toy brands who have created curated and careful customer experiences. And that is one of the worst effects of these counterfeit products. Now at the top of this episode, I told you I was going to share a little story with you about a scam alert I found on an incredible item. And that items called the stair slide. I remember a few months back, I was scrolling on Facebook and I was served an ad for this product called the stair slide.
[00:05:24] So I was actually really curious about the safety of this product, because essentially it allows your kids to create a slide on your stairs in your house. So that's why I clicked over to the website, but in doing so I happened to cross a scam alert on the footer of their site, which I will link to in the show notes. If you want to read it. In this scam alert, the stair slide company is informing their customers that there have been reports of some websites using their photos and other content copied from their Kickstarter campaign to scam potential customers. So, yeah, this is a Kickstarter company, small company they're having this major issue.
[00:06:09] So these fake companies were selling product. I say that loosely quote, unquote, selling product on fake sites and then shipping customers completely unrelated, low cost goods, like foam, letters and puzzles and things like that. So now the customer's frustrated, feeling scammed, seeing the same images that they see on stairslide.com and on the Kickstarter. Later started to complain on public forums that the company stair slide was a fraudulent company, which couldn't have been further from the truth.
[00:06:44] Now I want to read you this quote from their scam alert page, because they've gone through this experience and you're going to learn some things that you might not have even considered, could potentially happen with you and your toy brand and maybe hearing it will help you prepare and protect yourself a little bit more. So a quick quote from their scam alert page, which you can grab the link at thetoycoach.com/103. So the quote from stairslide.com about their scam alert starts like this.
[00:07:18] Quote, unfortunately some who were scammed have since found our Facebook page or ads and have been posting and ironically posted accusations that we scammed them. Nothing could be further from the truth. And we have to delete these comments. We've tried engaging with victims, but some are so angry, they refuse to be reasoned with and continue to mistakenly believe that we took advantage of them. Even cursory due diligence will verify true play LLC, which is stair slide is a legitimate company. And currently the only way to get the official stair slide is by pre-ordering here at the stairslide.com. We respectfully request that if you were victimized by one of these scam websites, Do not accuse us of scamming you or tell our customers that we are a scam. This does not help. Again, we may simply delete these comments to protect our brand. And quote.
[00:08:26] I mean, that's just a portion of their whole report. They go into much detail on the site and I know that so many of you out there are starting these companies and there are a lot of people gaining traction on Kickstarter with everyone and everything being virtual these days. But now we really have to take into consideration how global the world is, how every company's rules on trademark infringement and patent infringement are all different. Most of you have to register your trademark in the multiple countries you want to protect it in. Same with patents.
[00:09:02] So as your planning to launch your future products, you might also want to think about contingency plans. If someone does start to accuse your company of something that you didn't do, or you might want to consider marketing that informs your customers. If you don't get this product from this website, then you're not getting a real product because we don't sell it anywhere else. Additionally, this might be a flag to you to say, Hey, I want to make sure my company name and my product name are perfectly aligned. So nobody could think that another company called something similar to my company name could potentially be selling my product.
[00:09:44] So these are just really great lessons. And I think we should take whenever we can from these public forums. And I hope that if you are planning to launch a business, this lesson that stair slide dealt with is one that you too can learn from. Okay. Let's dive in to the next topic I want to touch on, which is what causes counterfeit toys in the first place. Well, counterfeit toys. It may have happened to you. You may have ordered something from Amazon or another large public online marketplace, or even at a flea market or something. Or maybe you saw someone on Facebook marketplace who is selling that toy that your child wanted so badly that is completely sold out elsewhere.
[00:10:31] And when the product arrives, you notice something is off. The packaging doesn't look like you expected. Maybe something's misspelled, maybe the colors aren't right and you realize you may have received a counterfeit. Now, this could happen with almost any product, but with toys is of particular concern, of course, because of safety of children's product. And it's actually a huge problem in the toy industry. Fake toys generate billions of dollars in revenue for counterfeiters each year, that money directly comes out of a brand's pocket right off the bat. And when you also consider the potential damage to a brand's reputation that can come from counterfeit toys, I mean, that's a hefty price tag to pay.
[00:11:17] Now even big toy companies, aren't immune to counterfeits. For example, Lego has lots of counterfeiters. Some of them even have their own websites that clearly parrot the Lego brand and copy products that Lego makes. According to one survey about the 2020 holiday shopping season, the majority of people surveyed plan to do more online choice shopping than they had in previous years. As I said earlier, in this episode in 2021, there were 900 million more digital buyers then in 2020. And we all know that due to COVID we saw a lift in toy industry sales. And consumers that were surveyed express that price is the most important factor to them when choosing what to buy closely, followed by a brand's reputation and reviews.
[00:12:08] Now over half of these shoppers do their online shopping on a large marketplace site. You know, sites like Amazon. So we could conclude that if a shopper sees their favorite toy brands product at a low price, they may purchase it over the product listing from the actual brand without even realizing that's what they're doing. I have to say, whenever I go to buy a big ticket item, as much as I want the convenience and flexibility of ordering on Amazon, sometimes I find myself going direct to the manufacturer's website, simply because I don't want to deal with the potential that I could get not only a fake or counterfeit product, but that I could get a used and repackaged one.
[00:12:52] Now over half of shopper surveyed knew that they had purchased a counterfeit toy at some point, fewer than half knew for sure that they had bought a counterfeit. And about the same number of people had a suspicion. So about 40% of all shoppers surveyed had knowingly or potentially had an idea that they were getting a counterfeit toy. And again, when I'm mentioning these surveys check thetoycoach.com/103 to grab the links to the full articles. Now, counterfeits are found in every single toy category. However, the most common toy categories where consumers found counterfeits were electronic toys, board games, and sadly baby toys.
[00:13:37] More about that later. Now, how does this happen? Well, counterfeiters are trying to make money. They're trying to not reinvent the wheel, so they simply see what's popular and they recreate it. And digital marketing coupled with the data readily available from online marketplaces like Amazon makes it really easy for them to see exactly what's popular right now and how much it's selling each month. Then they can use what seems like official channels to get people, to buy the product, which at best is simply different and at worse is dangerous for the consumer. So you might be wondering how do they get into online marketplaces or how do they make customers believe that their products are real.
[00:14:23] Well for online marketplaces, there's usually a low barrier to entry for certain platforms. Amazon has gotten way stricter over the years. It's really difficult to get an account now, but it can be somewhat easy to set up an account on other shop sites that looks convincing. Plus there is now a trend of not only fake products, but fake reviews on these platforms. You should also know that people will intentionally misspell a website just enough. So a consumer won't notice and purchase a product through a fake website. Now a significant percentage of people who bought counterfeits said that they bought them on social media or from a brand's own website.
[00:15:05] Now social media provides a good cover for counterfeiters, right? They can post listings on marketplaces or just post in groups. They can use encrypted chat apps like WhatsApp or peer to peer payment apps, like Venmo to avoid attracting much attention. But how can counterfeiters sell on the company's own website? Like, how is that even possible? Well, they can actually create fake sites that look legitimate. So I said before they might use a URL that is very similar to the company's official URL or something else that sounds legitimate. They design that site with similar branding, taking the logos, taking the pictures, taking the copy from the real company's website or Kickstarter to trick users, into buying the products.
[00:15:55] Even so industry experts agree that buying from a brand website is the best way to avoid counterfeits. Buyers just need to make sure it's the actual website. So if you are a toy entrepreneur and you're getting freaked out by this and you're like, oh my gosh, I don't want that to happen to my customers. You can put that information in your marketing. All we need to do is make our customers aware. We have to let them know, Hey, there are a lot of scams that go on in the toy industry and I care about you as my customer and I want to make sure that if you want to purchase my product, you are getting the true official version of whatever product I create. That being said, I want to let you know, my product is only sold on this website or this website, and maybe a list of retailers.
[00:16:45] Essentially, what you want to do is teach your consumers through marketing, where and how they should buy your product and what they should look out for. Let them know that if they purchase a counterfeit product, there is nothing you can do to help them. So why do people intentionally buy counterfeit toys? Well, every case is unique but with increasing financial strain. And at the time I'm recording this podcast episode. The U S stock market just had a crash because of a new potential COVID variant. So with the up and down of the market, just increasing financial strain on families due to the global pandemic, saving money is a big factor.
[00:17:29] It's always going to be a big factor and counterfeits are usually cheaper than the real deal. And some people . Might not think that there's a big difference between the real thing and the fake thing. Additionally, there is a small percentage of people who simply have no idea that they are purchasing a fake. Now I do want to say this. I know that some of you might be looking at sites like wish, which are essentially offshoot more consumer friendly facing site versions of Alibaba. And other factory focused websites like that, and consumers have had conversations in Facebook groups that even I'm a part of about potentially purchasing direct from factory products or purchasing products from wish.
[00:18:16] And what consumers don't know is how much work you as a toy company puts in to making sure their product is safe, making sure that it functions, making sure that it meets their quality expectations and that is again, why I think it's so important that we communicate the care that we put into our products in marketing, because it is so easy to put up a product on a marketplace and make it look like it's the same thing only to find that when it comes in the mail, not only do you wait weeks, maybe a month or two to get it, but it looks nothing like what you thought you were purchasing.
[00:18:59] Okay, let's get into why fakes are so dangerous. Now. Counterfeit toys are harmful for both consumers and brands. One of the reasons is because these counterfeit toys might be made from harmful materials. They might even contain lead or falsehoods and exposure to these chemicals can have dire health consequences for children. Okay. So let me give you an example of this. Let's say a toy manufacturer wants to create a fun makeup kit for girls. And they go to the factory that makes all their makeup and they say, Hey, I need a pink, I need a blue and need an orange. And the factory has a pink and has a blue that meets safety requirement testing for the region that this toy company is planning to sell to.
[00:19:44] But they don't have the orange. So the company says, oh, this item is going to be just gangbusters. You know what? We're going to pay the money to be able to create our own color orange, we're going to pay for all the testing. It's going to be our exclusive color. And we're going to make exactly the right amount of batch that we need to produce. Let's say 10,000 of these makeup kits. Right? Okay. Now, let's say that makeup kit is just flying off the shelves and this manufacturer says, Ooh, I want a piece of this business. I want to create a knockoff of this product and I'll sell it directly on Amazon. Now, what you don't know is the extra costs that toy company put in to create a custom, a makeup blend that could pass safety testing in the UK is not something that the factory is going to need to, or want to take on.
[00:20:39] Right. And that is not something that a counterfeiter is going to need to, or want to take on. Right? So these fly by night toy businesses, counterfeiters that are coming in to make a quick buck. They are picking whatever colors they need to pick to make it look like the real thing. And they don't care what region safety requirements that product is or isn't passing. So the product that you're giving your child may look like it's the same thing, but you have no idea the level of chemicals that could be within it. It could look like the same orange. It could come from the same factory that doesn't even mean that it goes through the same rigorous safety testings that it was stored correctly. It doesn't mean a thing.
[00:21:22] Okay. This entire safety conversation is especially important with baby toys. Fake baby toys might be made of materials that can shatter or with pieces that can come off too easily and lead to choking hazards. This can pose a lot of harm to babies who put everything in their mouth. There's also safety risks when it comes to larger counterfeit toys that require assembly. There are limits to how much weight your toy has to be able to hold. If it is, let's say considered a furniture piece. I should say if it's a furniture it's not technically a toy, it has to meet all additional safety standards beyond toy safety standards, but let's say your product is considered furniture.
[00:22:09] It has to be able to withstand a certain amount of weight. Now, if that product is counterfeiting, It may not be sturdy enough to stay up or hold up to a kid's weight. And the counterfeiter is still going to tell you and your child in the knocked off instructions to play with the toy in the same way, even if it's not safe to do so. Now electrical toys are where we can have some serious problems and some serious damage. If they are not manufactured correctly, they could shock kids, they could start a fire. Counterfeit toys that make noise could cause hearing damage. If they cause sounds above a certain decibel level. All of these safety risks is why one, if you're a consumer, just stay away from anything that seems like it could be a counterfeit toy.
[00:23:01] If it is a deal that appears to be too good to be true, it likely is. And if you are a toy manufacturer, Put it in your marketing plan to educate your consumers, let them know, Hey, if you are ever looking to buy our products, make sure you tap a link from one of our emails or make sure you save our true website, do what you can to make sure that your consumers are know when they're buying from you and when they might be on a false site. All right. Let's get into how fakes could be dangerous for brands be on how they're so dangerous for consumers. Now, according to the survey that I researched link in the show notes, over 40% of people who bought a fake toy, said they would stop buying from that brand all together.
[00:23:49] That negative experience can completely erase your customer lifetime value. If you don't know what a customer lifetime value is, that is how much you think you can sell product to how much money you think you can make from an individual customer who comes into your product ecosystem. Now, 30% of the people surveyed said that, because of the counterfeit, they lost trust in the brand. Even though about half the shoppers who had received a fake toy, felt the quality exceeded their expectation. The majority of them felt that the brands needed to do more, to protect the customers from fakes.
[00:24:26] Now a lot of people believe it is the brand's responsibility to remove fakes from the market to increase customer safety. And I do think that there is an opportunity here. I mean, there is an opportunity for brands to create markings in molded details to let the customer know that a product is truly legitimate or as I said before, make sure they're sending out email notifications and social media links and posting and letting people know there are scams out there and they can look very convincing. So make sure you are buying from are reputable sellers. Here is an exact list of who they are. Now, the thing to note here is that even when your potential consumer has a great experience with getting a counterfeit product, they will still trust your brand less overall.
[00:25:17] And that's just because of the negative experience. Consumers are more likely to go with brands that they perceive as having fewer counterfeit toys on line. Now fakes also affect the resale market for collectible toys. For example, when fake millennium Falcon Lego sets came to the market, the price for that collectible item dropped by about 30%. So the fakes are not only potentially hurting kids, damaging brand reputation, but actually devaluing a product that was manufactured. Okay. So now that I've scared the living daylights out of you, what can brands and consumers really do about it? Right. Well, into order to deal with counterfeit toys, you've got to be on your intellectual property game.
[00:26:06] Intellectual property or IP if you've been with us for a while on the podcast is a field of law that helps protect inventors, creators and entrepreneurs. Basically it is the law about who owns the rights to your ideas and mental work. I mentioned earlier that these laws or country specific. So you need to make sure that any patents, trademarks, copyrights are registered in the country where you live, where you plan to sell your products, but also in the countries where you're manufacturing your products and exporting them. So likely you're going to want to start with China.
[00:26:44] Now, this will give you some legal leverage if you do find counterfeits, or if you have problems exporting your product because someone else has obtained your trade. Now, what else you can do is you can provide detailed product descriptions everywhere your product is listed. That should include custom written content describing what the product is, the colors, dimensions, and materials, providing solid product descriptions, help people identify when something's not quite right about the product they actually received. And additionally, at the end of these descriptions or on the checkout area, you can let your customers know.
[00:27:21] When your product starts to soar and popularity, you're going to need to start monitoring the web for counterfeits. You may want to focus on individual sellers, but they often work in networks. So it may be worth it to work on the bigger picture. When you're just starting out, you might be doing this, or you might dedicate someone on your team to do this a few hours every week. But as your brand grows, you can work with specialists who know exactly where to look and how to get counterfeit listings taken down ASAP. There are actually toy people that do this for a living. Now, if you are really bootstrapped, one of the things you can try to do is to set a Google alert for your brand name or for your brand terms.
[00:28:03] You can see if anything pops up that might be trying to knock off your brand and keep your eye out on customer comments. If you see someone complaining about quality, when you know, your product is top quality, send them a message and ask them where they purchase their products. So you can try to suss out the problem. Now make sure it's easy for your consumers to tell you when they find fakes, you can have a specific page on your website for reporting counter. You could even make it easy for them to report the businesses. At the very least, you should have an easy to use contact form on your brand's website that lets customers give you any feedback, including news about fakes.
[00:28:44] Now, another way to deter counterfeiting is to make your product or packaging hard to copy with security graphics. You don't have to make it as hard to copy as a hundred dollar bill, but adding a difficult to copy hologram is a popular idea. I mean, it is higher price and likely will only happen with more collectible products, but it is something that you can do. There are also more complicated ideas, like images that only show up under UV light. Images that only show when the product is tilted a certain angle. And images that can only be revealed using a specific device. These are the types of tactics that make it harder for counterfeiters who are looking for a quick buck to pass off their delivered goods as real.
[00:29:29] Now, if there are consumers listening to today's episode, you might be wondering what can you do to avoid fakes? How can you avoid being tricked and purchasing something that isn't what you really wanted and isn't safe for your kid? Read reviews, scour listings, double check that URL, watch out for misspellings, watch out for bad grammar and watch out for poor quality images. Those are all signs that a deal is likely too good to be true. Now, if you have found a fake either as a product owner or as a consumer, if you are in the U S you can report it to the U S government to start an investigation. The U S government website stopfakes.org has so much information about how to prevent counterfeiting and what you can do when you find one.
[00:30:17] So I definitely recommend checking out that website. To get really detailed information about this topic you can grab the link to that in the show notes, thetoycoach.com/103. Now they offer options to different bureaus to report depending on the product. And those include the FBI, which deals with counterfeiting and piracy. The office of intellectual property rights which deals with your IP internationally. The FDA, which would be good for counterfeit food and drug products. The U S consumer USC PSC, the us consumer product safety commission which deals with obviously toy safety, the products that could cause injury. You can also report fake products on most marketplaces.
[00:31:01] So for example, if you find someone knocks off artwork on red bubble, you can report them. If you find someone on the Facebook marketplace who is selling counterfeit goods there, you can report them to Facebook or to Amazon. Most of these websites have ways to report bad sellers. Now, what if you are a toy entrepreneur and you find a counterfeit seller who's using your videos, your images, your marketing materials. Now a pretty easy thing you can do is to send a take-down request to the website you founded on. This is a request that you send that is about uploadable content showing that you are the copyright owner and that they need to take down the content that is one waiver to make it a little bit harder for them to sell fake items. But unfortunately DMCA take-down requests are only available for websites hosted in the US.
[00:31:55] Okay. Before we get into the conclusion of today's episode, I've got to give a listener shout out. So today's listener shout out goes to Nicole Hawthorne, co-founder of Jayla’s Heirlooms. Nicole has won micro grants and been featured on so many news articles. Being interviewed for starting her heirloom black doll line. And I love the product, it's beautiful, her story is fantastic. She partnered with makers on Etsy from across the world to create this brand and has a highly engaged following on Instagram. So, Nicole, congratulations on your work, welcome also to toy creators academy. And I'm so happy to have you as a member of toy creators academy. I'm sure you are going to continue to do great things.
[00:32:44] Okay, let's get into our conclusion today. We talked all about counterfeit toys. I'm either your least favorite podcast today or your most favorite. Now people tend to buy a counterfeit toys because they are less expensive than the real thing. However we learned today, they can be dangerous for kids and they can definitely hurt your brand. They can also affect resell prices of collectible toys. Then I gave you some ideas on how to prevent that counterfeiting. You can create unique packaging, always give detailed product descriptions, monitor the web with Google alerts and make it easy for your customers to report fakes to you. You can also hire professionals in the toy industry, and I'm going to do my best to see if we can get one on the podcast here someday. So you can meet them.
[00:33:30] I also gave you some resources for where to report counterfeit sellers to start an investigation and to get the counterfeit products taken down. If you are a toy entrepreneur, I have an action item for you to do next week. Being prepared for counterfeits before they even happen will only help your business. So I challenge you to come up with one action item you can plan for your product to help prevent or deal with potential counterfeits. It could be planning an hour a week to search the web, adding something new to your packaging, setting a Google alert, or creating a new counterfeit reporting form on your own website. Whatever it is send me a message on Instagram or tag me @thetoycoach in your story and tell me all about it I'll respond and cheer you on.
[00:34:17] Now, if you love this podcast and you haven't left a review yet, what are you waiting for? My phone lights up every time I get a review and it puts a huge smile on my face. So if you have a moment and you love this podcast, please leave us a written review. As always, thank you so much for spending this time with me today. I know your time is valuable and that there are a ton of podcasts out there. So it means the world to me that you tune into this one. Until next week, I'll see you later toy people.
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