Hi. This is an example of a question I get asked quite a lot, so I figured it was time to address it in an Ebook Times Q&A.

If you have comments, questions or suggestions of your own, don’t hesitate to use the comment box at the bottom of the page. (If nothing else, at least you’ll get a nice backlink to your website.)

Okay, here we go…

Q. With MRR can the item be given away and can the item be changed? (For example, can I change the graphics?)

It’s all down to the individual product in question.

Nine times out of ten, a product with resale rights or master resale rights will include a licence explaining what you can or can’t do with it. The document is usually a text or PDF file which you’ll find inside the product ZIP file.

In some cases, you’ll find the details within the product itself. If you can’t find any licence details, try contacting the author/developer for clarification. If that doesn’t work, it’s best to forget about it rather than risk getting into trouble for doing the wrong thing.

The licence usually explains details like whether it can be bundled together with other products, whether it can be given away for free or whether you can sell it on auctions or add it to membership sites.

That will answer the first part of your question — whether the product can be given away for free or not.

The second part of your question — whether, for example, the graphic header can be changed or not — is rarely addressed in standard MRR licences.

Essentially, there should be no problem in doing this. Personally, I would encourage you to do everything in your power to set your version of a reseller product apart from others who are selling the same thing.

I’d encourage editing the sales page to some extent. Certainly, you should tweak the page title, description and keywords. This will give you an instant advantage over other resellers with regards to the search engines.

A case in point… if you run a search on Google for eWriter Pro, you’ll see my website ( http://www.create-pdf-files.com ) tops the results even though that same software is being sold by a LOT of people. You could argue that I have a Google Page Rank 3 on that site (which certainly helps). However, as another example search Google for Resell Rights Videos. Again, my site tops the list ( http://www.resellrightsvideos.net ) even though it’s only been online since October 15th and it has only one inbound link — from the Ebook Times blog. (I’m not showing you this to boast, just to illustrate the importance of making some changes.)

I’d also recommend tweaking the sales page itself a little. Again, with regards to the search engines, this will help set you apart from the others who are all using the same sales page. (You can quickly change a sales page by, for example, changing the order of bullet points, shifting a few paragraphs around (making sure that the logical order remains intact) and, perhaps changing some key words down along the page.)

The Resell Rights Videos site is an example of one that I tweaked quite a bit.

Changing the graphics can be a good idea if (A) the existing graphics are pretty poor and (B) you can get quality graphics produced to replace them.

The eWriter Pro site is one where I did change the graphics. There was nothing wrong with the existing ones, but I DID want to set it apart from all the others.

Before you go changing the graphics, however, you should clear it with the author/developer first if you’re in any doubt.

(Sometimes a licence will include a line like “basically, you can do ANYTHING you want with this product…” In that case, go ahead and change the graphics if you want.)

One last thing that you should aim to do on your reseller sites is add some RELEVANT bonuses. No matter what type of product you’re planning to resell, you most likely have one or two related products on your PC that you could add in as a bonus. (Mak sure that the licence agreement for THOSE products allows for them to be included as a bonus).

If you really want more freedom in terms of what you can do with a product, then private label rights (PLR) is the way to go.

Withy PLR you can change just about anything — the product title, the actual content, the graphics etc. You can, for example, add links to promote your own products or affiliate products. Essentially, you’re free to do what you want. (Having said that, always check the accompanying licence agreement just to be absolutely sure.)

(One great source for PLR content is PLR Wholesaler which you can join for free.)

To sum up… basically, the short answer to your question is… “it depends”. Check the licence and, if still in doubt contact the original author/developer. That way, you’re sure you won’t go wrong.
Did you find this helpful? Do you have any questions — or something to add. If so, please use the comments box below.

All the best,

Michael

Posted October 31st, 2008 by Michael Hopkins in All Topics, Private Label Rights, Questions & Answers, Resale Rights 5 Comments »