Rules and tips for selling MOC instructions?

[General Magma]

Hey all,

I have recently, after hours of work on it, completed the instruction manual (+ parts list) for my Triceratops dinosaur MOC that was requested by a group of people,
but I'm looking for extra places to offer it to people who may be interested and I am now wondering what the rules on Eurobricks are for the sale of MOC instructions.
Does this have to go into the Marketplace, or can they be offered in their respective forum, AKA the same subforum I post my dinosaur MOCs in, generally?
It would be nice to know exactly what I can and can't do just to make sure the rules are still adhered to.

For those interested, this is the Triceratops dino MOC in question:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43303352@N02/32241819684/in/dateposted/

On top of that, any tips you may have for the sale of such instructions would be more than welcome.
With this, I'm hoping to give some of my designs to people in the community while also enabling them to support me
at the same time so I can continue funding my art ventures, which includes the Dino Project.

~ GM

Edited July 6, 2017 by General Magma

[MAB]

I've bought instructions for other people's MOCs before, from BL, ebay and then more professional ones such as the Arvo Bros. One thing I really like is if you can get the parts list (especially as a file that can be imported into BL) before purchase, since this can give you an idea about the cost of the parts necessary to build the model. Also seeing one page of the instructions can give an idea about quality.

 

I also quite like the "donate-ware" approach, where people give them away free, and ask for donations. That way you can pay what you feel once you have actually built it.

Or where you have a pair of models that go together, and you sell the instructions for one, but give away the other. Again it gives the buyer an idea about quality before purchase.

[General Magma]

5 minutes ago, MAB said:

I've bought instructions for other people's MOCs before, from BL, ebay and then more professional ones such as the Arvo Bros. One thing I really like is if you can get the parts list (especially as a file that can be imported into BL) before purchase, since this can give you an idea about the cost of the parts necessary to build the model. Also seeing one page of the instructions can give an idea about quality.

 

I also quite like the "donate-ware" approach, where people give them away free, and ask for donations. That way you can pay what you feel once you have actually built it.

Or where you have a pair of models that go together, and you sell the instructions for one, but give away the other. Again it gives the buyer an idea about quality before purchase.

Fair ideas, I'll look into it in any case.

I've never really used LDD before, so I made the instructions by taking pictures (using my DSLR camera) of the build step by step, showing the actual pieces
and I felt that was an appropriate way of clearly showing what goes where, etc. - a little sample chunk out of a page:

https://gyazo.com/63d4c5d2a678816d01014a389464ed08

Edited July 6, 2017 by General Magma

[MAB]

Some of the ones I bought were photographed rather than LDD, I don't think that matters. But exactly as the page you have shown, it gives buyers the idea about what the instructions are going to be like.

PS, is the cheese slope on the right cracked?

 

[General Magma]

3 minutes ago, MAB said:

Some of the ones I bought were photographed rather than LDD, I don't think that matters. But exactly as the page you have shown, it gives buyers the idea about what the instructions are going to be like.

PS, is the cheese slope on the right cracked?

 

Mhm, fair enough. And I don't think it's cracked, upon feeling it it just seems to be some kind of mark that I had't noticed up until now.

[IstakaCiti]

I have seen people frequently selling MOC instructions on rebrickable.com (I have no affiliation with this site, neither have I bought any yet).

As said by @MAB part list really helps to decide whether to buy or not.

BTW great model :) My son would love it.

Edited July 6, 2017 by IstakaCiti

[General Magma]

2 hours ago, IstakaCiti said:

I have seen people frequently selling MOC instructions on rebrickable.com (I have no affiliation with this site, neither have I bought any yet).

As said by @MAB part list really helps to decide whether to buy or not.

BTW great model :) My son would love it.

Thank you, I shall try it there.

Also, you (and anyone else (is/)) are free to purchase a manual off of me, or to first have a peek at the list of parts, if you wish.

[mocbuild101]

I think Bricklink and Ebay are great places to sell instructions, while Rebrickable, Eurobricks, and MocPages are great places to show your creation and link to the place to buy the instructions.

I do also agree with @MAB, a free parts list is essential.

[peedeejay]

I sell my modular instructions via Ebay. I have them also on rebrickable, but it points people to my Ebay pages.

Some things I do provide and I think that are important:

- High quality instructions in PDF format (model built within LDD, ported to MLCad, instruction sone with LPub). You can find example images in my auctions (that I also advise to do)

- Bricklink Wanted List XML upload file (an absolute must have)

- Parts list as XLS with images (this is exportes from LDD and for people who dont use Bricklink)

- A short bricklink guide on how to use an XML and how to buy parts

- A description on parts that may miss in the instructions (some printed parts are not available in MLCad and can therefore not be displayed in instructions

 

Also when selling via Ebay, make sure to javr a very clear and big note that the auction is only an instruction and does not include any bricks. It will still happen that people think they bought 5000 parts for 10€...