| "I have been looking for some good quality 'How -To' ebooks to give away or sell. My problem is I am still confused about all the different 'Rights'. I was wondering if you might write an article explaining all the types of resale rights and what they are." Monte |
Well this seemed like a simple request since I figured all the types of resale rights would be defined online. And even though I thought I knew the correct definitions I immediately did some searches on a couple of the "big" search engines just to make sure.
Also since most of us who are in the business of reselling are also affiliates I thought I'd go ahead and include the definition of affiliate marketing.
The following definitions are from http://en.wikipedia.org/.
"Affiliate marketing typically refers to this Electronic commerce version of the traditional agent/referral fee sales channel concept. An e-commerce affiliate is a website which links back to an e-commerce site such as Amazon.com. When the readers of the website click on the link, they are connected to the e-tailer and if they purchase something the affiliate receives a small payment (depending upon the e-commerce site policies), usually a percentage of the money the customer spends."
***** SIDE NOTE *****
There have been a few new twists to affiliate marketing since this definition was written. Affiliates can now sign up for programs where they earn a set amount for click-throughs (AdSense type ads) and sign-ups ("Death of Internet Marketing Report".)
Also, depending on the site you become an affiliate for you may earn anywhere from 1% - 100% of the money spent. However, if you must send traffic to a web page through a link that was given to you then you are doing affiliate marketing and are not a reseller even if you make 100% of the money.
***** END SIDE NOTE *****
Reseller
"A reseller is a company or individual that purchases goods or services with the intention of onselling them rather than consuming or using them."
***** SIDE NOTE *****
Although this is a good definition many of us reselling services and products also use or at least try-out the service or product before we sell it. And sometimes we even buy the product or service with the intention of using it first and then start selling it later because it's a good product that can help others.
***** END NOTE *****
Now before we get to the actual definitions of the different types of resell rights you must know that these are general definitions. Many resale products come with a license that define exactly what rights are included. And when the rights are explained in some file that is included in the resale package those are the rights you have and should follow.
Normal Resell Rights"Normal resell rights mean that after you buy the item you will be allowed to sell it to your customers."Master Resell Rights"On the other hand, when you acquire master resell rights, not only you can sell it to your customers, but your customers also have the rights to sell it and pass on the resell rights."
Branding Rights
I couldn't find a definition for this 1 so I'll include mine.
Branding rights means that you have the right to put your information within the product. This information is usually restricted to your name and website or your affiliate links.
You do not have the right to change the content and to ensure that you won't, you are either given a copy of the product with your information included or you're given a tool that will only allow you to change those things that are allowed to be changed.
Private Label Rights"Private label products or services are typically those manufactured or provided by one company for offer under another company's brand."
...
"The concept has recently been extended to written text. The web is now awash with articles known either as 'Private Label Articles' or 'PLR (private label rights) Articles'. These are bought and sold in large volumes in order to quickly populate websites to attract traffic from search engines. The articles are presented as though created specifically for the site concerned. There is also now software available to automatically generate unique permutations of these articles."
***** SIDE NOTE *****
When you have private label rights for an article, report, e-book, web page, etc. it means you have the right to put your name on it as if you were the one who created it. You also have the right to make changes to it before you put your name on it.
***** END SIDE NOTE *****
Give Away Rights
A product with give away rights means you can give the product away without requiring someone to pay for it. Now some products will come with both give away and resale rights while others may say they must be given away and can not be sold. A product that can not be sold can be used as an gift when someone signs up for your list and as a bonus for another product since you are not requesting payment for that particular product.
Now you'll notice that none of the above definitions except the 1 for give away rights include any information about pricing, bonuses, membership sites or auction sites. That's because those things are pretty much up to the reseller unless a license has been included that defines exactly what the reseller can and can not do. Some licenses will state a recommended price while others may state a minimum price. Some licenses will not mention it being used as a bonus while others will state that it can or can not be used as one and others will state that a minimum price must be paid for the main product before it can be given as a bonus. The same is true about membership sites. Some products can be included, some can't and some say it must be a paid membership site. Most older products don't mention auction sites however because action sites have become a popular place to "advertise" ebooks most newer products with licenses don't allow you to place the product on auction site.
***** SIDE NOTE *****
The primary reasons for not allowing products to be placed on auction sites are:
- It devalues the product because there are no quantity limits on ebooks.
- Auction sites are popular with those who are actually selling bootlegged products. (They either don't have any right to sell the product or they are violating the license agreement.)
***** END SIDE NOTE *****
1 last thing about resale rights products. Many resale rights products now require you to register your product before you start selling it and can revoke your resale license if you don't.
Although there are several types of resale rights understanding the general and most popular definitions of them isn't too difficult:
- Resale Rights - sell product
- Master Resale Rights - sell product and resale rights
- Branding Rights - include some of your information in product before you sell or give away but don't change content
- Private Label Rights - include your information and can change content before you sell or give away
- Give Away Rights - product can or must be given away free of charge
The really important thing is -
If a product comes with information defining your resale rights - no mater which term they've used - then you must use that information as your guide when you sell or give away the product.
To Your Success,
Susan
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