Resell rights question

[freeballer16]

Now I have never heard about these "resell rights." Through all the time I hear about, oh just own a business you will do fine, I have never heard of resell rights. Now that I hear it, it makes sense. I just have a few questions.

1. How do you obtain them?
2. Do you have to have one for every single product you want to sell?
3. Are they hard to find?
4. Do they cost, if so how much?
5. Do they hand them out to anyone, or are there requirements?

[Mathew Green]

My gut reactions are:

I've never heard of them either, and I've been on this planet over half a century.

It sounds like a scam to me.

If it sounds even a little bit too easy to be true or too good to be true, it's probably a scam.

People who are in the business of selling things don't need 'resell rights' they just buy the product wholesale and sell it retail. No rights involved.

If you mean buying 'rights' and reselling them at a profit, that's a whole nother kettle of fish, but anyone who's promoting that as a business is probably just trying to put your money in his pocket.

If you mean buying the 'right' to resell a product (ala multi-level marketing programs) keep a tight grip on your wallet and read all the fine print, then don't do it!

(BTW did I mention yet that nothing about this makes any sense to me? I Googled "resell rights" and the sites that popped up made my BS meter read "Caveat Emptor!")

Can you post a link to the specific information you're refering to?

[Jacklad]

Originally Posted by Mathew Green

People who are in the business of selling things don't need 'resell rights' they just buy the product wholesale and sell it retail. No rights involved.

That may be true with regard to physical objects, but resell rights are common in the world of intellectual property.

My husband and I have done some writing, and generally we sell only specific rights to a particular "product" (e.g. article, story, etc.). I would only rarely sell the resale rights to an article (and the buyer would have to compensate me at a good rate) - I want to be able to control publication myself.

But that's in the case of traditional (paper and ink) markets. These days, the internet has changed things, and with items such as e-books, resale rights are commonly sold - basically, some would pay a fee to me for the right to resell (and charge for) my intellectual property. Note that I still retain the copyright - the resale rights don't change that - and that by selling the resale rights I can also put certain stipulations on how those rights are exercised (for example, I may state that my product not be resold on sites that contain pornography). If someone wants complete control of the the property, they would have to buy out the copyright in toto.

Sometimes resale rights are done as an affiliate system - where I might get paid as a percentage of the reseller's sales; sometimes it is a flat fee up front. In any circumstance, it is important for both the creator of the material and the reseller to be absolutely clear with exactly what rights are being sold, how the material may be distributed, and what rights are being retained by the creator. It can get quite complicated.

Jackie

[freeballer16]

Ok now I understand the whole resell thing, I thought in order to sell an item I had to have "resell rights." Now I see it is just buy wholesale and resell.

[sweeps]

I agree with Jackie. You must be licensed to resell certain items, for example, software. If you opened an online store and started reselling, say, Windows software without a license from Microsoft, they're going to shut you down fast.

[Mathew Green]

Originally Posted by Jacklad

That may be true with regard to physical objects, but resell rights are common in the world of intellectual property.

My husband and I have done some writing, and generally we sell only specific rights to a particular "product" (e.g. article, story, etc.). I would only rarely sell the resale rights to an article (and the buyer would have to compensate me at a good rate) - I want to be able to control publication myself.

What you're calling "resale rights", I've always known as "reprint rights". Perhaps it's a change in terminology because e-books aren't physically printed?

Be that as it may, the sites I saw all seemed to be claiming you can make a ton of money quick and easy by just buying the right to resell somebody elses creation and raking a percentage off the top of every sale you make. Like I said, they sounded like "caveat emptor" teritory to me. If it sounds too easy or too good to be true....

[Mathew Green]

Originally Posted by Sweepsplayer

I agree with Jackie. You must be licensed to resell certain items, for example, software. If you opened an online store and started reselling, say, Windows software without a license from Microsoft, they're going to shut you down fast.

But that's intellectual property, which is what Jackllad was talking about and absolutely not what I was talking about.