Resellers make killing on Kanye Ja merchandise
Published:Friday | November 1, 2019 | 12:24 AMSteven Jackson/Senior Business Reporter
Resellers are populating sites with Jamaican coat of arms merchandise that rapper Kanye West has pulled from his website.
They mostly want ‘double or nothing’ for the merchandise, selling items for several hundred US dollars. It signals the latest instance of unauthorised profiting from Jamaica’s trademarks on international markets by resellers. The items are up for grabs by resellers on StockX, eBay, and Grailed, according to screenshots taken by The Gleaner up to Tuesday. It is not known how those sellers secured the merchandise, which West removed from the official market at the request of the Jamaican Government.
“It was wrong to sell the merchandise,” said marketer Beverly Hirst, managing director of Prism Communications, in a Gleaner interview on the matter. “And Kanye West should discourage others from reselling these goods,” she added
Prism operates a marketing agency with large and medium-size clients in its portfolio.
The merchandise pulled includes navy caps with the coat of arms and ‘Sunday Service’ stitched in the fabric; long-sleeve shirts with the coat of arms; and T-shirts with the City of Kingston coat of arms.
West, known for mega hits including I Am a God, performed for 10 minutes at a 90-minute free gospel choir concert at Emancipation Park in Kingston two weeks ago. The performance in Jamaica formed part of a promotional component of his new gospel album released this month.
Long-sleeve crew-neck shirts that originally cost US$100 are selling on average for US$285, inclusive of shipping on eBay. But one reseller wants US$500, inclusive of shipping. The caps, originally for US$40, are selling for US$118, including shipping on Grailed. The T-shirts, originally at US$60, are now reselling on StockX for a recommended price of US$165.
Hirst said that overall, the resale represents the latest instance of unauthorised profiting from Brand Jamaica. She referred to other instances where Jamaica rum cake made in Germany, for example, or counterfeit Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee were being offered for sale as authentic Jamaican products.
SUNDAY SERVICE
The items originally went on sale after West held the Emancipation Park concert called ‘Sunday Service’. The concert featured West and scores of choir members wearing shirts with City of Kingston emblems. Those shirts, however, were specific to the performers and are separate in design from the merchandise on sale.
In response to the merchandise listed for sale on West’s website, Jamaica’s Culture and Entertainment Minister Olivia Grange had requested the removal of the items with the national symbols. She stated at the time that the Government had neither received a request nor given permission for the use of the national symbols and emblems for commercial use.
Hirst called the events a series of missed opportunities. She said that approved Jamaica-branded merchandise would have resulted in a win-win for West and the Government.
“But I am a firm believer in protocol, and he should have had dialogue before selling the merchandise with our coat of arms,” Hirst said.
Grange did not respond to Gleaner queries for comment about the reselling of the items up to press time.