[Question] Selling MOC Instructions

[General Magma]

With one of my recent MOCs, people have been asking for instructions and since I generally don't have a lot of time, it's been a doubtful case.
However, I've considered making them and then selling them for this MOC (and other MOCs with hundreds of pieces that involve complex techniques) to justify the time taken (which will also help me fund such creations in the future).
Now that someone has mentioned being willing to pay for them, I decided to do some research. As this is something I haven't done before, I was wondering if there are any guidelines to take into mind to start doing this.
What people are generally willing to pay, the best way to distribute the instructions and any other things to potentially take in mind, such as the unwanted spreading of copies and all other things that may be involved.
Knowing that there might be some people here who also deal in such trades and some who may just know a thing or two about it, I figured I'd just ask to help get me started in the best way possible.

~ GM

Edited March 5, 2017 by General Magma

[peedeejay]

I am selling instructions for my modular building for about 10$ per piece (or 7,50$ if someone wants to buy a single building from a 16wide double pack). I don't know which kind of MOCs you are talking about, but my experience is that 10$ works quite well for my kind of instructions, since the buildings have quite a hight amount of pieces (usually almost double than what original modulars have) and therefore detail.

I only sell my instructions via Ebay at the moment. You need to keep in mind that you can not name your instructions "LEGO instruction" but "Instruction for LEGO pieces" instead since the first implies that you are selling original LEGO instructions. Regarding a copy protection: There simply isn't any and you have to deal with the danger. I do think however that most people who buy MOC instructions are people who wouldn't copy the files to someone else, also because usually an AFOL does not have that many other AFOLs around him which may also be interested in the same instruction. ;-) It also may happen that people mistake your auction for real bricks and want their money back afterwards, but that's also something you have to deal with.

[dr_spock]

You could secretly mark each copy sold with a unique identifier so you have the ability to trace to which buyer an illegal copy may have originated from.  Your ability to take legal action against a buyer and illegal seller for damages might be limited depending on where they are in the world.

 

 

[anothergol]

On 05/03/2017 at 6:31 PM, dr_spock said:

You could secretly mark each copy sold with a unique identifier so you have the ability to trace to which buyer an illegal copy may have originated from.  Your ability to take legal action against a buyer and illegal seller for damages might be limited depending on where they are in the world.

 

 

But are you guys really selling above the 100's of instructions for a model? I mean, the market doesn't seem to be huge(?)

[peedeejay]

5 hours ago, anothergol said:

But are you guys really selling above the 100's of instructions for a model? I mean, the market doesn't seem to be huge(?)

That depends on what you are selling. I sold almost 1000 instructions (of different models) within the last two years. There is a market, but of course it is not that huge and I definitely profit from the high popularity of modulars.

[Richaldo]

MOCPlans.com allows sellers to sell instructions. It has copy protection in that buyers don't get a downloadable pdf or anything like that. Purchased instructions are instead only viewable via the website (which keeps a record of purchases).

I think BrickLink also have a way of listing custom instructions, which may also reach your target market quite well.

[dulsi]

56 minutes ago, Richaldo said:

MOCPlans.com allows sellers to sell instructions. It has copy protection in that buyers don't get a downloadable pdf or anything like that. Purchased instructions are instead only viewable via the website (which keeps a record of purchases).

I think BrickLink also have a way of listing custom instructions, which may also reach your target market quite well.

Personally I wouldn't buy from a site that did that. I want to be able to download it. That way if the site goes under, I don't lose access. Copy protection is a tradeoff. It's makes it more annoying for the customer to prevent copying. Given the small market we are talking about I would rather trust customers than force them to jump through hoops. Also keep in mind, copied files does not mean lost sale. CD/DVD industry loves to equate the two but that is not true. Many people would take a copy of a song/movie if available for free. If forced to pay, they might decide it is not worth the price or they can only afford some so others would be delayed.

Going by peedeejay's comments, selling instructions is more of a supplemental income than a living wage to most people.

[kibosh]

56 minutes ago, dulsi said:

Personally I wouldn't buy from a site that did that. I want to be able to download it.

Agreed.  I don't want to be tied to internet connectivity to build.  And I'd probably rather print them anyway.

I wouldn't worry about theft so much.  Just clearly mark it as your design with your URL and contact info.  If it gets around, maybe people will look for more of your stuff and some of those people will surely buy it.  If your stuff is good enough for people to want to steal, it's good enough for other people to be willing to pay for it.

[anothergol]

I thought I'd give this a shot, making instructions available for like one or two bucks (as it still take an hour or two to build proper ones).

Well...

-MOCPlans: seems to be dead before even being born? You can't even upload anything, and a website can't be "in beta" since 2012.

-Rebrickable: nice, I've put instructions there in the past. But they don't handle payments (they suggest.. MOCPlans...)

-Bricklink MOC store: half-cool idea in theory. Probably didn't get any success either. It doesn't even recognize parts that are over one year old, I guess it has been abandonned.

-MOC Nation: I love the idea of selling the whole thing, because let's face it, hunting for parts sucks. But they're too expensive, and it's probably dying as well.
I guess only the chinese will be able to do this properly. Can't imagine buying real Lego parts and release MOCs that aren't 2x or 3x more expensive than Lego sets (which are already too expensive).

Well, I'll try Ebay, maybe.

[BrickMonkeyMOCs]

Your best option for distributing instructions is to make your own website (which is what I've done after giving instructions away free for several years through Flickr Mail). There are plenty of services available online for doing this either at no cost, or at a reasonable yearly subscription that gives you a bit more functionality. There's a bit of work involved initially with designing and creating a website, but once it is up and running it makes things a whole lot easier. Pricing is something you have to judge for yourself, based on the size of your models and the level of interest from buyers. There's not much you can do to prevent illicit distribution of downloaded files, but on the whole the AFOL community is pretty good in this respect and I've not had any problems yet. The system I use is to sell the access code(s) to a download page for each model, and I change these access codes on a regular basis. I've also found commissioned work to be more lucrative than instructions, though this kind of work involves much more time and effort and can be harder to come by.