Update April 12, 2015: Selling liquid detergent in five-gallon buckets has proven to be an excellent fundraiser for various organizations, especially high-school sports teams. However, the manufacturers producing detergent for these fundraisers do not claim that they are selling the real thing but are selling alternate products that they are trying to make as good as the real thing. When you read this post, please keep this in mind: Not all liquid detergent in five-gallon buckets is counterfeit.
One of the companies selling detergent for fundraising is Good Clean Fundraising (www.GoodCleanFundraising.com or 800-680-3775). For more information about this company, click on the links or look for more information from Michael A. Fitzgerald near the bottom of the comments (March 13, 2015). I can't directly endorse this company but I haven't seen any negative reports about it, either.
I will check for other companies doing this (if there are any other companies) and post an update for those who want to pursue this as a fundraising opportunity. Full disclosure: Mr. Fitzgerald did not offer to make nor would I accept any payment for adding this update. I do not operate that way.
Update July 16, 2016: Another fundraising company has sent a comment, Profitable Solutions Fundraising. This company, like the others, is selling detergent in five-gallon buckets for fundraising but is not misrepresenting it. You can contact them by filling out a form on their "Contact Us" page.
Update September 27, 2015: There is another company offering liquid detergent in five-gallon buckets for fundraising, Sudz Fundraising. There is a "Contact Us" form on their web site as well as a live chat option. You can also contact them through email or by calling them at 765-598-5521.
Update November 6, 2016: I just received word of another company selling liquid detergent for fundraising, Soapy Joe's Fundraising/GMACK Fundraising. You can reach them by email, with this contact-us form or by calling their office at 765-356-4259.
Update September 27, 2015: Tonight, I received an email from a person who prefers to remain anonymous. She wrote, "I saw a post on fb of a store nearby that claims they sell actual Tide in the five gallon buckets. We did a little research and found your blog. I wanted to send you these screen shots. I also made a post on the page questioning the authenticity of the product. I will try and go back through the blog and send to P&G as well. I don't care they sell detergent but they shouldn't claim it is a product that it isn't. Thank you for your blog!" The first image is a picture which she sent, cropped to remove some identifying information. The second picture is my response to Jake's Place Wholesale on Facebook:
The comment she made on this Facebook post has been deleted but mine remains for now. I'm glad she read this blog post because now, if she decides to buy this detergent, she will know that it is not a genuine Procter & Gamble product. It may be excellent or it may be not so good (see comments for more information). But it won't be genuine.
Update March 3, 2015: A commenter has found Tide (powdered, not liquid) in five-gallon buckets imported from Vietnam being sold in Houston. Look for a link in a comment near the bottom. It's getting interesting!
Update December 25, 2014: Procter & Gamble has done a good job stopping the counterfeits. Don't try selling generic detergent as the real Tide®-brand detergent. It won't work. An alert reader noticed (see a comment from Sept. 12, 2014) that P&G sells industrial powdered Tide in five-gallon buckets but you would be shocked at the price. I will update this post when I get a price from a distributor.
Original post:
Back in April 2013, I overheard some people talking about getting Tide® in five-gallon buckets as part of a school fundraiser. I was skeptical, did some research and notified Procter & Gamble, the manufacturers of Tide, of people selling what was supposed to be Tide this way. Here is their response (emphasis added):
| from: | "P&G Tide" <address omitted> | ||
| to: | "bruce.hobbs@gmail.com" <bruce.hobbs@gmail.com> | ||
| date: | Mon, Apr 15, 2013 at 9:01 AM | ||
| subject: | Thank you for contacting Tide
Thank you for contacting Tide, Bruce.
You are correct that Tide does not offer our detergents in 5 gallon buckets.
I will pass your email on to the proper department within P&G. As a thank you for letting us know of this I will be happy to send you a money saving coupon for a tide product by postal mail. Please allow 2-3 weeks for delivery.
Thanks for writing.
Jim
Tide Team
|
Well, I thought that the brand-marketing whizzes at P&G would put an end to this real fast. They sure did. Here it is six months later and I could only find one half-way decent attempt at selling Tide in five-gallon orange(!) buckets and I bet they're off of Facebook within a day of this being posted.
I tip my hat to you, Procter & Gamble, for preserving your excellent brand of detergent.
I did a Google search today and here's what I found: (Top five relevant results shown and, yes, I broke the links. Do your own search!)
5 gallon bucket tide | eBay
This link did produce eBay listings, but they were for laundry detergent "Comparable Tide" [sic]. No fake, official-looking Tide labels on any of the buckets.Wholesale Laundry Soap | Facebook
This appears to be the real counterfeit deal (in an orange bucket!) complete with a fake label. P&G, time to go after this one. Who would think that Facebook would allow counterfeit merchandise to be sold?Tide liquid laundry detergent 5 gallon buckets - Arizona Classifieds
This has a gray bucket with a Tide label. Arizona Classifieds had a place to complain so I did.
Tide® Professional Closed-Loop Laundry Detergent, 5 gal Bucket ...
This one shows a picture of a box of Gain and the price is $0.00. Doesn't look like it's even in business.
Tide Formula 5 Gallon Pail Liquid Laundry Soap - $25.00 - TradeKey
Wow, they have 1,800 five-gallon buckets for sale of "Tide Formula Laundry Soap." You can deal directly with a counterfeiter. The picture is too fuzzy to see if the label is counterfeit. I bet the formula for Tide is almost as secret as the one for Coca-Cola®.
So, to wrap this up, I'm happy that P&G listened to me* and cleaned this up (pun intended). If anyone offers you a five-gallon bucket of Tide, you now know it's a scam.
* Obviously, there is no way for me to know if my tip was the one that caused these scams to be fixed. I will keep making suggestions anyway.
Update Oct. 11, 2015:
Update Oct. 11, 2015:
They are still all over facebook. :/
ReplyDeleteI just found in bakersfield. Bakersfield barters and trades. 5 gallon buckets of tide liquid soap
ReplyDeleteDid you know that P&G outsources the production of their formula to manufacturing companies. These companies produce large batches per a very specific formula to maintain a brand consistency. Just like any recipe, it will always yield the same amount..So, say the batch produces 10,000 gallons and P&G needs 55,000 gallons for their order, the manufacturing company will make 6 batches (60,000 gallons) and when the order is filled, the manufacturing company is left with 5,000 gallons of left over product. Per their contract with P&G, they don't have to dispose of the leftover soaps, but they cannot sell it as the name brand... This is where private labels come in. Now, I'm sure there are many companies out there selling fakes, but there are a few lucky distributors snatching up those extra 5,000 gallons (or whatever excess from the batches) and then reselling them. These are typically packaged in 5 gallon buckets with no trace of the brand name on them. Of course P&G will not tell you that their product is being sold this way and most certainly anyone selling it as the name brand should be shut down because that's a no no (and shame shame for the ones who are selling pure fakes) but there are defiantly 5 gallon buckets of tide and gain floating around for pennies on the dollar of what you are paying in the stores.
ReplyDeleteWow. So you're saying that the manufacturer would jeopardize their whole relationship with P&G for a few bucks from selling the excess? I don't buy it but it makes a good explanation for those selling counterfeits.
DeleteI got my bucket from an employee of tide they're offered the buckets every so often from the manufacturer for $25
ReplyDeleteI'm skeptical on two counts: First, "an employee of tide" would be an employee of Procter & Gamble or a contractor. Tide per se has no employees. Second, as you can see from the letter, P&G doesn't package Tide in five-gallon buckets. Any "Tide" you purchase in five-gallon buckets is counterfeit.
DeleteThe fact of the matter is that as the person said above P&G outsources this. If you do research you will find that many companies offering products such as laundry detergent, household items, cereal etc have one main manufacturer. Once the other is filled the manufacturer then sell it to other companies/private lables to repackage, rename and sell. There have even been news reports on this.
ReplyDeleteMost third-party products are made by companies that only make third-party products. Procter & Gamble has said in the past that it will not sell its products to third parties for repackaging as this would dilute the brand. If you know P&G at all, you know that they are masters in brand management.
DeleteAgain, if production of Tide is outsourced and the company sells extra Tide on the side, they are jeopardizing their whole relationship with P&G over, maybe, a 10% increase in sales. Further, I'll bet that P&G audits their purchases to insure that the raw materials purchased match the finished product sold to P&G. Any loss over 1%-2% would be investigated. I'm not saying it's not happening, I'm just saying that it's unlikely. I stand by my claim that Tide in five-gallon buckets is not a P&G product and is therefore counterfeit.
The real challenge to Procter & Gamble is not losing sales to competitors or similar detergents. The real concern here is that Tide® could lose its registered trademark status and become generic. This is the battle that P&G should be fighting. If Tide becomes generic, then anyone can package a detergent and sell it as Tide.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.pgpro.com/brands/tide-professional/pg-pro-line-tide-professional-2x-laundry-detergent/
ReplyDeleteI guess this is a fake straight from P&G website, Im sure the outsource is a bunch of hog wash. This just shows they do make it but maybe not just for retail sale. maybe you should get your letter clarified
Anonymous, it looks to me like you're right, this is the real deal. Let me check this out. You can't buy these directly from Procter & Gamble, but you can buy them from numerous distributors.
ReplyDeleteWho cares? I mean, really, who cares? Detergent is detergent. As long as it gets the job done it's good in my book. Tide is way to rich for my blood anyways and I find Arm & Hammer way better to wash with anyways. Just my two cents.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning America did a test in three ways: Plain water, fake Tide, and real Tide, all on a common stain on a onsey. The plain water and fake tide had similar results. The real Tide removed the stain. They noted that the FAKE Tide was much thinner from being watered down from whatever formula was used. The REAL Tide worked fine on the stain, the fake one did not.
DeleteSo I'm confused. I have just seen this on Facebook just now and cine here and read this but am perplexed. So, were you serious when you said it was the real deal or were you being facetious? I'm confused. As for Anonymous, I mean, I care. One old claim it's detergent and it be something harmful. Besides, I don't want to support anything counterfeit.
ReplyDeleteKimmi, the "real deal" is wholesale Tide in five-gallon buckets that is sold to industrial laundries. My guess is that these buckets sell for over $100 each. The markings are completely different than the retail Tide which is not sold in five-gallon buckets. Note that there is a link in the comment that you can follow.
ReplyDeleteI will contact Procter & Gamble and write an update to this post. The comments have been helpful in pointing in the right direction.
Bruce
Thanks to your post, I was able to avoid this! Someone posted in a fb for sale group I am part of...No sales to me :) Thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Bruce. Thanks for your post! The Facebook groups that I'm a member of have quite a few people selling the Tide detergents in all sizes, including the 5 gallon buckets, here in Belleville, IL Am I to assume that all of them are fake? They list for sale and everything is sold within minutes, it seems. I figure they save empty Tide containers and fill them with fake stuff. Could be Walmart bubble liquids LOL
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, yes, you should assume that any detergent sold in five-gallon buckets is fake Tide (with the exception of the commercial version which has a commercial label). It may be perfectly good detergent to you, but it is a counterfeit.
ReplyDeleteIn smaller containers, it may be counterfeit put in used Tide containers (as you suggested) or it may be stolen.
Caveat emptor! That's the point of this post.
Bruce,
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing this out! I work for a small company in Illinois that sells our own brand of laundry detergent. The first question everyone asks is "Is this Tide?" I wish I could point them to your post and let them know. As other commenters have said, it's all about the performance, but people are hesitant to give a new product a try.
Anonymous, feel free to link to this post to show potential customers that they can't buy real Tide in five-gallon buckets.
ReplyDeleteDoes your company sell detergent in five-gallon buckets? Feel free to post a link to your web site (if Blogger will allow links) in a comment.
So glad I found your blog. We just came upon a truck selling these 5 gal buckets of Tide and Gain detergent and my husband asked me to whip out my iPad and do some quick research while he went and talked to the guy... Snapped a picture and will forward to P&G to let them know it's still happening here in FLORIDA! They look so real.
ReplyDeletePhyllis, I'm glad that this post was helpful.
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple of ways to contact Procter & Gamble about counterfeit Tide products that you see being sold. To "email" them, go to this page (United States, English)
http://www.pg.com/en_US/send_an_email.shtml
and fill out the form.
You can also call them about Tide at 800-879-8433.
We recently bought this as a fundraiser item for a softball team. We had no clue we weren't getting the "real" thing, until we got it. It seems very watered down and the lower the bucket gets, there's a smell like something spoiled!! (Really don't want to wash clothes in something that smells spoiled!!) Also, it came in a plain white bucket, not mention of Tide anywhere on the bucket. We've joked and said, it must be Tyde!!! Won't be buying this again!
ReplyDeleteWe recently bought a couple of these buckets of "Tide" (we joked that we think it's "Tyde", not "Tide"!!)It was part of a softball fundraiser and we had no idea it wasn't real. It seems really watered down and the lower the liquid gets in the bucket, there's a bad smell almost like something spoiled. No one wants to wash clothes in a smell like that. The bucket is plain white, no Tide label anywhere. Live and learn I guess. Never again!!
ReplyDeleteDaisyMae, sorry you had a bad experience. That's what this post is trying to prevent. You might want to contact the softball team and alert them to this situation.
ReplyDeleteDear Bruce,Please check this Link. http://www.click2houston.com/news/is-discount-tide-as-effective-as-regular-tide/31390026 this link shows a real Investigation made by a consumer reporter in Houston Texas. as you will see there is nothing wrong with the Detergent and finally Procter & Gamble USA confirmed that they make this Product Overseas. and if it works or not as the American made... well customers who use it will decide. I personally used and it works for me. and I found that I saved money because its about 20 Pounds of detergents per buckets.
ReplyDeleteDear Bruce Thanks for post my comment about the Tide Detergent buckets sold In Houston. Just I notice that you didn't say anything about that Link or what is your comment now. As I read before. YOU TIP YOUR HAT!!! that these product was fake. And even you post the Picture of the Orange Bucket of Tide. So I would like to Hear you what you think now, or what are your researches found. Don't give me wrong I'M only a Consumer that have been using this product since they are in the Market. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteMy husband was approached by a co-worker to purchase detergent (and other items) in 5-gallon buckets for a baseball fundraiser . Tide, Gain, Pantene, Downey, Palmolive. I agreed to order and just got the detergent. I still had some Tide that I previously purchased and the 5-gallon bucket is NOT Tide. It smells different and is extremely watery. So disappointed!!
ReplyDeleteMy company Good Clean Fundraising sells laundry detergent and fabric softeners in 5 gallon buckets. Although we have contracted with our chemical lab to produce a product that resembles the name brand products like Tide / Gain / Downy in look, smell and performance. Our primary customer base is schools & athletic groups using the product as a fundraiser. They also should NOT be representing the product as the name brand counterparts. The reason for my post is just to inform that not all companies selling detergent in 5 gallon buckets are trying to deceive or misrepresent. I have deliberately maintained good communication with Proctor & Gamble legal team regarding this matter to ensure we remain in compliance with their standards.
ReplyDeleteAnyone interested in more information about our company, our products, or the fundraiser should feel free to contact me directly.
Michael A Fitzgerald
Good Clean Fundraising
500 N 56th St Suite 6
Chandler AZ 85226
800-680-3775
www.GoodCleanFundraising.com
Michael,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your information and contact information. Unfortunately, Blogger/Blogspot is not kind to links so I will try to include it here:
www.GoodCleanFundraising.com
I will review my original post to insure that it doesn't confuse your potential customers.
I just bought some Tide, Downy, Dawn , and Cascade(which doesn't smell like the cascade I normally use) from Show Me Suds in MO and they do have a facebook page. I'm not sure if it's the real thing but I sure would like to know before I use it. My daughter and I have sensitive skin and can only use Tide. Is there any way to really find out before I open it?
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the Show Me Suds Facebook page, they do not sell Tide, Downy, etc. The labels say "Tide Type." So you didn't buy the genuine article but that's not to say that it's not good detergent. You could have a good experience with it or not. There is really no way to tell in advance.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your reply Bruce but I'm kind of scared to use it now so I will most likely resale it and I will continue to buy Tide from the store!
ReplyDeleteHello so I have a question at my local grocery store here in Sacramento, California Food Maxx they are selling a 5 gallon bucket of tide with downy for $25. Are these fake???
ReplyDeleteAs one of the companies that sell detergent in 5 gallon buckets, I can assure you that these products ARE NOT the name brand products manufactured by Proctor & Gamble. Bruce makes a great point to say that you don't really know the quality before purchasing however, I can tell you that my company GOOD CLEAN FUNDRAISING offers a 100% money back guarantee if you were to purchase through one of the fundraisers and you were not completely happy. Its a great product and half the price of buying the name brand in the stores.
ReplyDeletewww.GoodCleanFundraising.com
Mommyoffour, Michael Fitzgerald accurately answered your question. I'm sorry I'm slow in responding; I was on vacation last week.
ReplyDeleteMichael's company makes liquid detergents. If Food Maxx is selling powder detergent, it could be real Tide imported from Vietnam (see earlier comments) or other foreign markets. If it is imported, it will be formulated for those markets and may not give you the results you expect.
Wish I could post a pic... There is an auction house we go to that "orders" skids of powdered Tide in 5 gallon buckets. Now I'm skeptical and not sure I wanna spend the money and buy it! :(
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, there are basically two possibilities: It's counterfeit or it's genuine but imported from a place like Vietnam where five-gallon buckets of powdered Tide are sold. However, Vietnamese Tide is formulated for that market and you may not like the results. Likely, your money would be wasted at this auction house.
ReplyDeleteP.S. If you have a picture, email it to me at bruce.hobbs@gmail.com and I will add it to the original post. You will still be anonymous.
ReplyDeleteHi Bruce, Can Proctor and Gamble investigate theres this site on Offerup.com i must say they are problably more than 10 sellers.. and dont know if people selling them are meeting any of this standards or compliance by selling . They manufacturing or not but they are selling this 5 gallons HE Tide Downy Gain liquid detergents they are high on price demand from $30 to as much to $100.. is it ok to know what is real?or not real? Or not to buy from offerup.com
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, Any liquid detergent you buy in five-gallon buckets at Offerup.com will be counterfeit and not real Tide®. I'm not saying to not buy it; I'm just saying that you may or may not have a good experience with that detergent. Your experience may even vary from bucket to bucket, depending on the seller's source and their quality control. Caveat emptor!
ReplyDeleteIt is still going. See this post on facebook just yesterday. https://www.facebook.com/LiquidationStation/photos/a.582177815177613.1073741828.250470221681709/986611301400927/?type=3&theater
ReplyDeleteHi Angela,
ReplyDeleteThis appears to be real Tide imported from Vietnam. Notice the "CHUYÊN DUNG" in the middle of the label. It is likely powder instead of liquid. If they say it's liquid, it's counterfeit. It will be formulated differently than U.S. Tide. There isn't a good way to stop this but I'll comment on their post.
Here's my comment on their Facebook post: "If this is powdered, it's likely real Tide imported from Vietnam (note the CHUYÊN DUNG in the middle of the label). If it's liquid detergent, it's likely counterfeit (not Tide at all). I wrote a blog post about this." I'll add a picture of my comment to the original post above; they can't delete that.
Thanks for letting me know about this.
Bruce
Hello Bruce,
ReplyDeleteRoyel Corp WET is a leading manufacture of cleaning chemicals and laundry detergents. Most of the detergents sold for fundraising come from us besides anyone claiming they are offering Tide Detergents. It has been stated very clear these are not.
I know your listing a few fundraising distributors on your blog, we are the manufacture of these products.
Most fundraiser distributors buy from us.
If you can please post our contact details for anyone interested in buying detergent for there fundraisers or new fundraiser account that would like to be set up. We will be sure to clarify to them what these products are and what they cannot do in regards to selling products under trade marks they do not own.
Royel Corp Wet
our contact number is 773-590-0722 for customer contact
our websites and brand names are
Alondra Detergent, Rhea Detergent, Soffia Fabric Softener, Alondra Pillows
alondra-pillows.com
rhea-detergent.com
alondra-detergent.com
royeldealtime.com
laundry-detergent-fundraiser.com
The main goal is to get everyone on the correct track and its our job here to explain in detail how to operate a fundraiser, how to offer these and how not to offer these. Inform them of what can happen if they cross any lines with any other companies trade marks.
Thank you Bruce again. This post we have been doing this one on one since the year of 2000
Robert Soto - Royel Corp WET 773-590-0722
This information of contact is ok to share.
Robert,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry it took me so long to post your comment. Unfortunately, Blogger doesn't allow links in messages. When I have time, I'll research your company and put you information in the original post with the others.
Bruce
Hi i just came across this. Do you think its legit?
ReplyDeletehttps://offerupnow.com/item/detail/57910099/likidos-de-limpiar
Unknown,
ReplyDeleteIt's likely real Tide imported from Vietnam (note the CHUYÊN DUNG in the middle of the label). This is also five gallons of powered Tide and not liquid. The Vietnamese Tide is formulated differently than the American Tide and you might not like it. Let the buyer be informed. As far as the Cascade is concerned, I don't know about it.
Here's your link in clickable format.
As an owner of a company that packages laundry products in 5 gallon pails (among several other formats), I can explain to your readers the various ways these products end up on the market in most cases.
ReplyDelete1. First and foremost, anyone advertising 'Tide' or 'Gain' or any other P&G brand liquid in a 5 gallon pail is playing with fire. Most likely, the liquid contained in these buckets is not manufactured by or for P&G at all. P&G is very sensitive when it comes to brand protection, and who could blame them? They spend millions each year promoting their brands. This is also why everyone wants 'ride the coat tails' of these brands. Everyone knows them, and they are good products. That is not to say that products from other companies are not as good or better. But, these are trusted brands. You know what you are getting when you buy them.
This all being said, anyone claiming that their product is real 'Tide' or 'Gain', or any other national brand is violating the trademarks associated with those products, if not committing outright fraud. In most cases, even mentioning these brands in advertising is a potential lawsuit in waiting.
2. The dirty secret of many suppliers of 5 gallon laundry detergent is this - they water down the product, then thicken it back up to save money. I'll not dive deep into the chemical process they use, but I would venture to say that at least 80% of the suppliers do this. Plus, most (not all) who claim to formulate their own product from scratch fall into this category. Others use something called 'line wash', which is the watered down leftovers, flushed from packaging lines during a line change. In the end, many suppliers will cite 'solids percentages' as proof their product is good. Using a refractometer and the Brix scale, the percentage of dissolved solids vs water can easily be quantified. But, this test is unreliable when it comes to cleaning power. As part of the re-thickening process, salt is used. This increases the level of dissolved solids, but does little to aid in cleaning. Also, different surfactants in the detergent are effective at different percentages. Basically, these numbers are a bunch of voodoo.
A select few do produce product that is exactly what you should expect - full strength (including our company).
3. The thickness of liquid laundry detergent does not equate to product quality. Most consumers believe that the thicker the liquid, the better it is. Truthfully, viscosity means very little when comparing one detergent to another. This is an area which opens the door to deception. Companies who water down virgin laundry liquid and subsequently thicken it back up use this area of lack of education of the consumer to pass off inferior cleaning power through the 'thicker is better' mentality. I have seen many competitor products and have lab tested them for actual surfactant levels (the important ingredient that enables cleaning), and have seen very thick liquid detergents with some of the lowest levels of surfactants. Also, when the watering down and thickening process takes place, often certain surfactants are added in small amounts, along with saltwater. These particular surfactants tend to cause a lot of sudsing, which creates issues for HE washers. (continued)
4. You are probably asking yourself 'OK, so if most suppliers do not formulate their own product, where does it come from?'. There are a few possible sources. The liquid may be excess from a batch that was made in a major plant, but was not used due to the end of a packaging run, i.e. the plant mixed 10,000 gallons, filled 8500 gallons into normal containers, then was ready to switch to another product, but still had 1500 gallons left. The remainder, which is exactly the same as the liquid that went into the jugs packaged, is pumped into bulk containers and shipped to smaller companies. This is very common.
ReplyDeleteAnother source is 'depackaged' product. Quite often, packaging mistakes take place. For example, there may be a malfunction of a labeling machine, and labels were applied crooked. Or, a retailer put in an initial order for 50,000 jugs, but when time came to ship the product, they lowered their order to 40,000. The retailer often will not accept the remaining 10,000 jugs later as they likely have a provision in their purchase agreement that says the product they receive can have been produced no more than 30 day earlier (or whatever number of days they dictate). These jugs then have to go through a depackaging operation. The contents are drained and reclaimed and put into bulk containers for transport, and the jugs are recycled. Nothing is wrong with the liquid at all. It just fell outside the date parameters the retailer specified. These products have shelf lives of years when stored properly.
Keep in mind that this point is not specific to P&G, but many other manufacturers.
In both of these scenarios, the liquid is grade A perfect. What the company who fills these 5 gallon buckets does with the grade A liquid is up to them, but, again, many do not supply you with what you should expect. Choose only companies that will stand behind their product as full strength, and unmodified!
5. Someone in this thread mentioned that the liquid they received in a 5 gallon bucket had a rancid scent to it. The most common reason this can happen is improper handling or modification to the liquid. For instance, the supplier may have watered down the product and thickened it back up. The water or tanks used for this process could have contained bacteria. Laundry liquid often contains enzymes (similar to those in products like Rid-X, for those of you with septic systems at your home), which act as a catalyst. The enzymes in the detergent can kick these bacteria into overdrive, and basically you have a smell similar to raw sewage because the jug has turned into a mini sewer system.
6. Should you buy these 5 gallon pails of laundry products? It depends. Some are excellent and save you a lot of money. Others are so poor that they can cost you more than the major brands because the amount you will need to use per load could actually be 3-5x the brands you find on the shelves. The bottom line is - KNOW YOUR SUPPLIER. Make sure they will stand behind their products. Sure, all of them will tell you their product is 'the best', but can they back it up?
Our companies, Brilliance Fundraising www.brilliancefundraising.com for those looking for fundraising opportunities and www.laundrywholesale.com for wholesale customers , make no claims we cannot back up. Our philosophy is to provide a quality product at a reasonable price. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions. We would be happy to help!
Thank you!
Jason Kuhl
Director of Operations
KS Distribution, LLC
I think it is great that you are educating people on buying counterfeits but not all fundraising companies are misrepresenting their products as name brand products. Profitable Solutions Fundraising is a great company with quality products that are sold around the USA to non profit groups. We sell quality detergent and softener products that are made to compare to national brands but are clearly advertised in this manner. Our industry is hurt when others misrepresent products that are packaged similar to ours and generally this happens with unlabeled containers. Please visit www.profitablesolutionsfundraising for your detergent and softener needs.
ReplyDeleteHey Jason what about 5 gallon orange buckets that don't say proctor & gamble or P&G. They say Tide w/ febreze. Looks extremely name brand to me. You sure Tide doesn't supply their dry cleaning stores with anything of the such? We mixed this bucket we picked up to make sure the viscosity and everything seemed to be in order. If this is a fake, it seems to be a very similar fake. We can't tell the difference
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, P&G does sell powdered Tide in orange five-gallon buckets overseas. Some distributors are importing it to the U.S. It is legitimate but not formulated for the U.S. market. You can see pictures of powdered Tide from Vietnam on this page.
ReplyDeleteThey do sell powdered Tide in five-gallon buckets to their industrial customers, including dry cleaning stores. But I believe these are shipped in white buckets.
If you can't tell the difference between the real and the counterfeit, you still may be at risk. There is no guarantee of consistency from bucket to bucket.
We are a high volume supplier of 5 gallon laundry products and we do not misrepresent the products that we sell. We do manufacture products that we believe offer comparable performance and scent but we are very clear on all of our marketing materials what is being sold. It hurts our industry when there are individuals that are out selling products that they are mislabeling or misrepresenting intentionally to defraud buyers. We take the matter very seriously if we find any misrepresentation of our products by fundraising groups that are selling them. I encourage buyers to recognize the value in companies that are offering these quality products for fundraising purposes that are not misrepresenting them because we are offering an ongoing financial solution to thousands of non profit groups that are using these products to reach fundraising goals they would not otherwise be able to reach. All companies in this industry are not selling counterfeits or out to defraud buyers. For a reputable company with thousands of happy customers please visit our website at www.profitablesolutionsfundraising.com
ReplyDeleteIt's actually ironic that this post is confusing and contradicting.
ReplyDeleteA) You state somewhere in your post that Tide does INDEED sell 5gal industrial buckets, the price is irrelevant. This contradicts anything said about Tide not being available in 5 gal buckets.
B) You and some others say that genuine Tide is indeed sold in 5gal buckets, eg. in Vietnam. I came to this blog post because I read something about fake Tide sold on ebay etc, this was all this "CHUYÊN DUNG" branded stuff, and those ebay sellers sell it in powder form. Some claimed its "fake" since Tide "doesn't sell Tide in 5gal buckets", and now it looks like "oh, it's genuine, it's the Tide which is imported from Vietnam".
My husband purchased a 9 gallon bucket of powdered detergent 2 days ago. The writing on it is all in Vietnamese. I tried looking up retail price but found nothing. Is it fake? I used it yesterday but it didnt seem to work very well. I think he paid 20 bucks for it at a garage sell
ReplyDeleteProfitable Solutions Fundraising: I approved your comment and put an update at the top to let people know of your web site.
ReplyDeleteGeorg, I'm sorry that this blog post is confusing. It has been more popular than I expected and many of the comments have been informative. The original post needs to be archived and rewritten. Let's see if I can cut through the confusion.
ReplyDeleteProcter & Gamble does not sell Tide® laundry detergent in five-gallon buckets. If you see it sold this way, it is likely counterfeit.
However, there are two exceptions:
P&G is selling powdered Tide in five-gallon buckets overseas, specifically in Vietnam. Someone in Vietnam is legally exporting that to the United States for resale. There are two caveats with this: It is powdered, not liquid, and it is formulated for the Vietnamese market and people have complained that it doesn't work as well for them as powdered Tide in the U.S. These buckets have the "CHUYÊN DUNG" branding and there is an image above about this.
P&G sells Tide in five-gallon buckets in the U.S. for industrial users. I'm not seeing these show up for resale likely because they're too expensive. My guess is that they sell for over $100 per bucket.
When I wrote the original post, I did not know about these two exceptions and I have tried to update it. I hope this comment helps.
Stevie Malm,
ReplyDeleteThe Vietnamese writing indicates that it is genuine Tide exported from Vietnam. It is formulated for the Vietnamese market and not the U.S. market. So I'm not surprised that you are disappointed in it.
Thanks for all who posted comments. I think we have covered this situation completely and so I'm going to close comments for this post. Feel free to email me directly at bruce.hobbs@gmail.com. Please put "Tide" somewhere in the subject so that I can respond to you.
ReplyDeletehello bruce thanks for your great work and information. just curious why you think the tide powder pail from Vietnam might not also be fake?
ReplyDeleteIt is certainly possible that the powdered Tide supposedly imported from Vietnam is fake as well. But all the counterfeit Tide discussed in this post are liquids, not powders. So I suspect that someone is importing real Tide in five-gallon buckets from Vietnam. This is formulated differently than powdered Tide in the U.S. and many U.S. consumers won't like it.
ReplyDeleteWhy Procter & Gamble hasn't traced this in Vietnam and stopped it there is beyond me. They can't stop it in the United States as the Supreme Court has ruled that imports like this are completely legal.
Mike's Merchandise in Pelham, Alabama is selling 5 gallon buckets with no name on the bucket as Tide but is orange with a blue lid. you can go to there face book page to see the advertisement. I posted on there site saying it was not real, they sent me back a private message that they bought the buckets straight from the manufacture of the detergent that makes if for Tide and asked me to delete my post.
ReplyDeleteI looked up P&G Proline Laundry and there are a couple of companies that advertise Tide Professional, one company called Nasco sells 5 gal. buckets of Tide for $190.78 another company called S. Freedman advertises the 5 gal. buckets also but does not give a price
ReplyDelete