Buying Master Resale Rights

Mark Apr 18 2007

This is the first of two entries on "Master Resale Rights". This article will focus on the perspective of the buyer. What should be considered when contemplating buying master resale rights? Is it a good idea?

You may have seen information products (eBooks, reports, videos, etc.) that off an option to buy master resale rights (MRR) for the product. The general defintiion of master resale rights is that they enable you to resell the product and resell the master resale rights to others. In practice, however, "master resale rights" can mean different things, so it makes good sense to delve into the details, if provided. Some "rights" questions to consider:

Can you resell the product directly?
Can you re-brand the product?
Can you modify the contents of the product?
Do the MRR include the salesletter, images, and other marketing materials?
Can you give away the product for free?
Can you resell the MRR as well as the product itself?

In most cases, master resale rights include the sales materials, and enable you to resell or giveaway the product, and resell the MRR -- but do not allow re-branding or modifying the product itself.

Is it a good idea to buy Master Resale Rights?

The answer to this question is: maybe. It depends on a number of factors. You first need to decide what your goal will be in promoting the product. In most cases, you will have the option to promote the product via an affiliate program, by sending people to the vendor's web site. So one consideration, or goal, may be to earn the most money. Another common goal is to use the MRR to help build your own mailing list (either by selling it or giving it away).

If your goal is to maximize your earnings, you need weigh the expected sales revenue against the cost of the master resale rights. For example, suppose the MRR will cost you $47 and you will earn $7 on each sale of the product. That means you would need to sell at least 7 copies of the product in order to recoup your cost. If you don't think you can sell that many, then you are probably better promoting the product via the affiliate program (which you can usually join for no cost). Another consideration, is the potential for "one-time-offer" or back-end sales. In many cases, you would offer each buyer an offer in which they can buy the MRR themselves. Not everyone will take this offer, but some will. This can dramatically increase your earns potential. For example if 7 people buy product for $7, and two of them buy the MRR as well for $47, you have now earned $143, which is three times as much as you would have earned using the affiliate program (assuming it pays 100% commissions of $7 each). So you need to think about how many people you think will take the offer and buy the master resale rights from you. It depends on the product and prices involved, but if you think you can sell a substantial number, doing so via the MRR might earn you a lot more money. And you can build your own email list in the process, and you can earn future sales and commissions from mailing to your list.

Another thing to consider is your time and effort. If the buy the master resale rights, you have to do some work to setup a site to sell the product and MRR. Even if you can use the vendor's salesletter, you still need to integrate into your own payment methods, insert your mailing list subscription form, etc. This takes time and effort. Make sure that you can make enough sales to make the effort worth your while.

If your primary goal is list building, then buying the master resale rights is the way to go. There are two options here. You can sell the product and have buyers opt-in to your mailing list in the process, OR, you can give the product away for free if they subscribe to your list. The latter will have a higher conversion rate, as more people will go for a free offer. As such, you will build your list faster, but you won't earn any money from direct sales of the product. I chose this last option a few days ago. I bought the Master Resale Rights for List Blueprint, an eBook about list building, and I give it away for free to people who confirm their subscription to my new mailing list. Get your free copy of List Blueprint here.

In summary, buying Master Resale Rights (MRR) can be a good idea if you think you can sell a significant number of products and if you have the time and knowledge to setup a site and integrate payment methods to do so. On the other hand, if you think you can only sell a few items, then sign up for the affiliate program, it is fast an easy to get started, and usually free.