Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I was recently watching CNBC`s The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. On this particular night one of the guests was Joe Sugarman the man behind Blublocker Sunglasses. The show was mainly about Sugarman and other guest making money by marketing their product through infomercials.

My question is this, Sugarman and other guest didn`t invent to products which made them rich. They bought the rights to the product from the manufactuers who made them. How do you go about finding and buying product rights from manufacteurs?

Good question! I would think a patent search could be your first start. Google has a patent search now. You have to think about what type of product you are looking for.

As you mentioned, you don`t have to be the inventor of a product to make money with it.  The key, or secret if you will is to have the "exclusive rights" to the product.  Now, that being said, exclusive rights could only be the exclusive mail order rights, etc.  So, here`s how you could make this work without spending any money on the exclusive rights I`ve been talking about - you simply find a product that interests you and provided it`s not being currently offered in mail order catalogs, etc. you contact the manufacturer of the product on your letterhead and simply ask for the exclusive rights for whatever avenue you wish to sell the product in.  It`s that simple and don`t pay anything for these rights either.  Simply put yourself in their shoes by asking yourself, "what would I do if a company approached me and offered to sell my product in an area I`m not even selling in".  I`ll be willing to bet you`d say yes, wouldn`t you?  Now, this may not happen all the time but if you contact enough people with product you`ll find enough to keep you busy and hopefully make some serious money.  Another thought, look for new products being offered in trade magazines.  These are great candidates for this type marketing.  Hope this helps or at least gets you a little closer to your goal.

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Thanks for the response. I never really thought about it that way. Seems like great Advice.

Thanks

Did anyone find information on finding and buying product rights from manufacturers?

The way I`ve heard it told is by simply asking.  I know that sounds too easy but that`s how it works.  To be a little more specific when asking for rights I would ask for certain rights, such as, mail order rights, rights for a country (USA), etc.  Provided a company is not currently marketing their product say for instance in mail order catalogs this would be a perfect opportunity for someone with mail order savvy.  Now, when asking you`d better have your ducks in a row so to speak, meaning you need to convence the manufacturer, importer, etc that you have expertise in this area. 

To kinda imagine how easy this would be to get these rights is put yourself in their shoes.  Say you have a product and are not currently marketing it in the field that is requested, wouldn`t you be interested in listening to someone about helping you?  You bet you would.  So, again my advice to you is to, "get your ducks in a row" and go ahead and ask.

 

Good Luck!

Gary

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"How To" business start-up videos at www.qualityplusco.com

Do you know where to find a list of manufacturers which to approach?  I know I could google it, but didn`t know if there was a known resource.

Thanks for the response!

Sure, you can try The Thomas Register of American Manufacturers. Their website is; www.thomasnet.com   There you can browse by catagory.  Hope this helps.

 

Good Luck!

Gary

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"How To" business start-up videos at www.qualityplusco.com

That`s great input Entrepreneur... most people oversimplify processes especially when talking to a CEO of a company or a manufacturer...

I recall talking to a CEO and i had no idea, next thing you know, a few months later, i have exclusive rights to a new product that they launched just by offering my input... what do you know... Keep in mind, these people are people themselves and respect in the beginning goes a long way... and persistence... don`t take no for an answer in the beginning and don`t get upset just get creative.

IF you want to market a manufacturers product and let`s say... the internet is already being utilized (shops, ect.) well get creative and think of other ways to make a profit for you and the manufacturer while tackling a market area that no one else has...


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