So, I've started selling some of my own juices and at the cost of not wanting to be "that guy" how does one go about giving credit or paying someone for a recipe that they're making money off of? I don't have a big, commercial business and it's mostly just a bit of side money. Like $100/mo at best. But word travels fast and I'm quickly starting to build a moderately sized clientele. Something I didn't set out to do but the extra income is pretty enticing. I'm currently going through the proper legal channels to get a small business started and I do not want to be one of those vendors that sells juices that aren't original recipes.
As a former A&R, I know that in music it's as simple as buying the rights to sample certain lyrics and rhythm patterns, but I want to avoid selling something that I didn't create on my own. On my own, I have about 11 original recipes ready to be sold. But there are some recipes out there that simply cannot be replicated that I want to add to have a total of about 15-20 juices.
I'm not trying to blow up or go global. Hell I don't even wanna go bigger than local. The extra income is just hard to pass up. Please, don't crucify me for asking this as I'm not sure if this is looked down on. I know recipe stealing is and I'm just trying to avoid it and pay these people and/or get their full permission.
If your only profiting like 100/mo.. hell even if it was 1000, and your selling 15 recipes. What are you really netting off a single recipe?
What are you going to offer someone where it still makes sense to be profitable still? 20 bucks?
It doesn't seem worth even bothering and I don't see someone caring that you sold a couple bottles of their recipe.
I also work in music so the way you compared it. I don't care if someone used my music and tossed it on his mixtape because he's barely making anything. I can't be bothered with some kid selling 200 of his homemade CDs and going after him. It's only to be worried about handling business on a realistic level when they're moving real units.
At most when ( and a big IF) you get established as an actual business and you have 1000s of bottles a month you could contact the recipe creators and offer them a small royalty. Create a contract, offer 10-15c per unit and pay them quarterly. There is no point in trying to buy out recipes that have been listed online that all of us are already mixing that's the only thing that makes sense to me.
I completely agree. I've just learned to do things in advance so they don't come back to haunt you. I'd hate to sell an unoriginal juice that's someone's ADV and then have to tell them I can't sell it to them anymore if the business takes off 3 years later.
And it was $100/mo for the first few months. I have at least $300 worth of orders that I need to have ready by Friday and more people emailing me daily since I sell more than just ejuice (PC repairs, PC building, home theater installation with my best friend who is a contractor). The only reason I'm here is because I'm already filing for a business license, manufacturing license, and will be paying taxes for my services starting in May. I just really like to have everything covered. I look at everything like insurance. It's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
I would say you could reach out to them and offer a small royalty. I work for a lab that manufactures wholesale eliquid and some of the vendors will provide a small royalty per bottle to the creator of the recipe so that everybody is straight.
Are you US based? Because I really wouldn't suggest a paper trail (including contracts) involved with anything that's off-the-books income. Like between Taxes and FDA regs, I'd just reach out to them, thank them, and maybe kick some cash their way. If you ever actually launch a legit llc or whatever, then you'd probably want to contact them about licensing.
Yes, I am in the US. Soooo, there's no legal way for me to do this without coughing up a load of cash huh? That's a bummer. If I run the risk of having to pay hundreds of thousands dollars to sell juice from my home then I'll just stick to selling to people I know personally. From the looks of things, I may just be a "drug dealer" w/o going through the proper channels. Screw the FDA...
>drug dealer
Well, at that point you kinda are. No judgement though, I sell my own juice and I'd be willing to bet a lot of people here do too.
Prob best thing you could do legally speaking is open up a "mix shop" where you're not actually selling any liquid but people are free to come and use your supplies to make liquid, get tutorials, etc. then whatever you do on the side can kind of remain gray. Does that make sense at all?
And of course, small royalties to the creator.
Reach out to those people. Outside of that, I don't know if there's any official way to do it.
Cool. I guess I could write up a contract that we both agree and adhere to. Like X dollars and if I begin to market nationally or go national/global, an additional payment must be made or that person can sue me for breaching the contract. And that person can prohibit me going national/global with their recipe. I just wanna have my basis covered and get people the recognition/money they deserve.
You're about 3 years late to the party, bud. If you try to advertise you might start running into the FDA who probably won't like what you're doing. Most of the juice manufacturers out there are scrambling right now to figure out if it's worth paying out the wazoo to get the required testing done on their existing lines.
Stay small, stay local, stay off the radar. Oh and kick a few bucks back to the guys whose recipes you are using when you start to feel guilty.
Ouch. I appreciate the info, though. I knew the deeming regs were a real bitch, but I thought that it really only applied to large-scale vendors. I'm basically a guy selling loose cigs, but then again...Cops killed a man over that, soooo...bummer...I'll definitely pay it forward to the people who have recipes that I use, though.
Has anyone ever been prosecuted.....like at all. It seems like the FDA just doesn't care.....even to put anything into the regulation.
There's literally nothing to prosecute yet. Right now you can do whatever you want, except for the age restriction, which anyone with scruples was doing anyway.
However, we will soon begin running into the 12, 18, and 24 month walls, where you will have to be in compliance. Most people have 24 months (or possibly 30 with extensions) to complete that overbearing testing requirement for "new" products that aren't substantially equivalent to something existing before the predicate date.
Regardless, if you're not already in the game, you have to pay big to play, assuming they don't move the predicate date (which that one bill was supposed to ask for) or get the court to strike down the whole reg, or maybe our Cheeto in Chief kills it unilaterally himself.
The vaping scene in my town has mostly resorted to a few people who put out juice to friends and keep it on the DL.
I've been trying to get ahold of some of these people and put together a bit of a "Our Cities Local Juice Group" facebook group (not actual name) so different sellers can put out their menu and create a little competition between sellers and boost sales/quality/consistency for everyone.
I wasn't sure of the legality as of right now. Also most of the local diy'ers seem to be a bit........unreliable from what I've understood. The stories I hear is always that they don't text back for a couple of weeks on ordering, creation/delivery takes longer.
I always reply back within a few hours at most and I always try to do either next day or next next day. Although I've been working on my workflows and trying to have liters of juice premade prenic'd and ready to go. Plus good stylish/more importantly economical branding and labeling.