Sell sell sell!!!!

[Paul]

Blimey!!! you must Pay millions for royalties mate! ...or you will do one day...

[smitch6]

funny that i was then thinking the same thing what about all these copyright images????????

i wouldn't be selling things like that in my shop cos the Customs and excise will love you one day

[Jason]

I Hardly think you've cracked it just, whilst you have obviously come up with some good designs we could all get great ebay sales if we decided to print whatever we wanted to on a mug, with no regard to copyright or licence.

[SteveUK]

What are you paying to ebay

[Justin]

I Hardly think you've cracked it just, whilst you have obviously come up with some good designs we could all get great ebay sales if we decided to print whatever we wanted to on a mug, with no regard to copyright or licence.

Please give Joel the opportunity to respond to my question, I haven't stated this he doesn't have the licence, I've merely asked the question. I'd be very surprised if these designs have been sold through eBay for such a long time without the neccesary approval.

[Jason]

I look forward to hearing his response, and if he does have the licence I'll be the first to apologise but having been involved in licenced products working for a global company I very much doubt it.

[DREAMGLASS]

This thread ISN'T about whether items are licensed or not, so give the guy some breathing space. Folks are free to run their own enterprises however they wish and they take the appropriate responsibilities for their actions. I just wish this forum would stop keep turning into 'moral police'. That is the responsibility of license holders and trading standards.

Taking the specific example of mugs, there are three possible revenue streams open to newcomers.

1. Print 'popular' images of celebrities, tv shows, films, trademarked logos, licensed cartoon characters and hope you make your money before someone's legal representative gets in touch and bursts your bubble with a claim.

2. Print people's own photos onto items, but don't be surprised if you get supplied with endless unusable photos that take you far longer to 'Photoshop' into shape than it does to print the item. You will also be prone to competitors undercutting you, as slapping a photo onto a mug needs little artistic skill.

3. Set out with a vision of creating your own original designs and artwork. Unless you have a niche market and a good demand, don't get expecting any sensible sales volumes.

From my own experience, most retail mugs are bought as presents for others, will sellers experiencing peaks at Christmas, Mother's day and Father's day. The whole problem with mugs though, is that postage (especially international), is now getting disproportionate to the cost of the item itself.

[John G]

Some nice mugs there, 12k turnover is bloody fantastic but with good sales you also need good after sales service. Judging by your feedback you definitely have to work on this side of the business and reading through your negs you always have to remember, before posting a reply, "the customer is always right". I too had quite a few items go missing over the xmas period but they did turn up in the end, this was after countless phone calls and emails to the customers to confirm addresses etc.

If you haven't permission to use these images i'd be very careful selling anything to do with Rossi, Toy Story or Harry Potter though! - heard they really go to town for copyright etc.

Still cannot get over your sales though! Amazing - wish I could get similar sales

[Andrew]

I don't think Joel will be back. In fairness to the guy, that is good going on shifting that many mugs in singles. Ebay don't care if they are not official as he makes money for them and there are loads of others selling the same lines and flaunting the copyright laws. Ebay is awash with them so Joel has done something right to get above many of the others. With Ebay constantly turning a blind eye it seems almost okay to do it for many. Problem is now he has found that there is a potential business but turning it into a legal one becomes the problem. As Dreamglass said, no need to jump on the guys back. He is walking a very thin line though and surprised he's been able to sustain such sales. I know someone **cough** from this forum **cough** who would have loved to have got away with sales like that but ebay tags him quite often for copyrights. As mentioned certain brands are worse than others for protection.

Some people roll in sh1t and come up smelling of roses whilst it is vice versa for others.... such as that poor lady on here who got caught with a mug from her son or something and had to cough up when she did nothing wrong. Legal letters can be frightening.

[JSR]

I just wish this forum would stop keep turning into 'moral police'. That is the responsibility of license holders and trading standards.

It'd be a sad day if society turned a blind eye to crime and potential crime by adopting the attitude "it's the responsibility of the victim".