How to Obtain eBook Resale Rights Inexpensively

Co-authored by Clinton M. Sandvick, JD, PhD

Last Updated: January 27, 2024 Approved

People search the Internet constantly for ebooks on a wide variety of topics, from health and fitness to cooking to business management. Many of these ebooks are available with resell rights. If you buy an ebook with resell rights, you can then make money from selling the ebook to customers of your own, without ever having to do the research and writing. You need to understand the field of ebook rights, finding and buying ebooks, and marketing them to make money.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Learning About Resell Rights

Download Article

1
Understand regular resell rights. When someone creates a product or writes some material, they have the right to control what happens to their creation. One of their options is to give or sell “resell rights.” (The words “resell” and “resale” are used interchangeably, but “resell” is the more commonly used word.) In this case, we are talking about ebooks. If you buy regular resell rights to an ebook, you then own the right to sell that ebook to someone else and receive money for it. In a sense, you are becoming like a publisher. You will offer the ebook for sale on your website, people will buy it from you, and you make money.
- With regular resell rights, you have the right to sell the ebook to a consumer, and that consumer may enjoy it for personal use. The person who buys from you cannot resell the ebook or its contents.
If you purchase master resell rights (MRR), then you are buying the legal right to sell the book, just as with regular resell rights. In addition, you can sell resell rights to your customers. In this way, you can presumably charge more, and the customers who buy from you can, in turn, sell the ebook to additional customers and make money for themselves.

Advertisement
3
Advance to private label rights. With both regular resell rights and master resell rights, you may sell the ebook just as a regular publisher or bookstore might sell any book. But if you purchase private label rights (PLR), you then own the right to revise the ebook to suit your own needs before you resell it. You can edit the work, make revisions to the content in any way, and even claim authorship before reselling it.
- When you purchase PLR, you may receive them with or without limitations. The person selling the PLR to you may limit what you can do with the work. In this case, you would have “restricted PLR.” If you buy PLR without any limitations, then you have “unrestricted PLR.”
Rebranding rights go beyond PLR. If you purchase rebranding rights, you will have the right to insert your own online links into the ebook, to redirect readers to your website, to encourage them to buy additional products from you.^{[1]
X
Research source}
5
Recognize material in the public domain. All forms of resell rights apply only to material that is protected by current copyright law. However, certain works are in the public domain, which means that they are not controlled by copyright law. If a book is in the public domain, that means that it is available for anyone to use, revise, control or even sell.
- For a better understanding of public domain law and whether a particular work is in the public domain, visit the official site of the U.S. Copyright Office at www.copyright.gov.^{[2]
  X
  Trustworthy Source
  
  United States Copyright Office
  Part of the Library of Congress, responsible for maintaining copyright records
  
  Go to source}

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Finding eBook Material to Resell

Download Article

1
Search for direct purchase content. You should begin by selecting a topic that interests you. Then conduct an online search for that topic, using the phrase “resell rights.” You will receive a list of links to sites that offer ebook material for sale. You can review those links and the items they are offering. As you review those listings, pay attention to the type of rights that you are purchasing along with the ebooks.
- For example, you may be purchasing access to the ebook, the right to resell it and to sell resell rights to your own customers (MRR), the right to change the graphics, and the right to add it to paid membership sites.
- Check to see what you may not do as well. For example, you may not be able to edit the content of a book or add it to free membership sites.
If you search for resell packs or packets, you will find offers for groups of ebooks on a common theme. Basically, someone else has done the research of finding a group of ebooks on one topic, with similar resell rights, and is now offering them as a collection. Buying an ebook pack will generally cost more than buying an individual ebook, but you will have more materials to choose from, and the work of finding them has been done for you.
With a quick Internet search, you can find links to a variety of groups, clubs or companies that offer memberships. For a flat fee payment, you can join the club. In exchange, you gain access to a library of ebook material that the membership has resell rights to, and then you obtain the rights to those materials as well. These clubs often also offer to provide you with training or other information to start your reselling business.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Making Money with Ebook Resell Rights

Download Article

Most of the ebook resellers offer some level of support or training. This is particularly true if you join one of the membership clubs. You should take advantage of these offers and use the training that they provide. The training will explain how to advertise and market your products and reach the most potential customers.^{[3]
X
Research source}
2
Market your products. To make the most of reselling ebooks, you will need to be adept at creating websites and marketing your products. You need to generate the most visibility possible, and find ways to catch the eye of possible consumers. With rebranding rights and PLR, you can insert your own links into the content of the product, which can help draw even more customers to your site.^{[4]
X
Research source}
- For example, you may be able to build a mailing list, create a blog, or initiate a newsletter that you can regularly send out to your prospective customers.
3
Create a consistent brand for yourself. Branding is important with any product. You can increase the attention that your ebooks receive if you create your own brand or style. Be consistent and use this on your website. If you have rebranding rights or PLR, you should revise the ebooks themselves so they all have the same look or style. This will create a consistency that will draw more customers to additional products that you offer.^{[5]
X
Research source}
- You should adopt a logo and type style and then use them consistently to build customer confidence.
- Develop a consistent theme for any slides or webinar materials you may put out.
- Use document templates consistently.
- Select a consistent topic or theme in the products you offer. When you are just starting out, work with one consistent topic, such as fitness or business growth. Then, after building some customer loyalty, branch out to other fields.

Expert Q&A

Search

Add New Question

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Warnings

Recognize that resell rights are going to have a limited lifespan. You need to understand that if you buy a particular ebook on, for example, fitness and health, there are many other people buying and trying to resell the same book. Make sure that the ebook you invest in is something that you believe you can resell often enough to earn back your investment.

Thanks
Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
Be very thorough in researching any ebook membership sites. Know what you are buying or receiving for your membership. Reach the site carefully and understand if you are making a one-time purchase or if you are signing up for ongoing monthly payments.

Thanks
Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

Tips

Note the Ebook packs. Buying the resell rights to a pack of Ebooks can be a better deal, when you divide the cost by the number of Ebooks received, making it one of the easiest methods of inexpensively obtaining Ebook resale rights.

Thanks
Helpful 2 Not Helpful 1
If you haven't already, buy your own domain name with a private WhoIs. This will look more professional, and nobody will be able to find out where you live by looking up the domain name. Don't, however, search for the domain name you want before you're ready to buy one. Otherwise, someone else will see that it is a wanted domain name and could buy it before you can.

Thanks
Helpful 2 Not Helpful 1
Web hosts can set limitations on what can be done with the websites they host. Make sure the web host you want has no rules that forbid your business model.

Thanks
Helpful 1 Not Helpful 1