I know this is sort of like asking :"How long is a piece of string?"

What's the kind of money one can expect to make from selling a trick?
Let's say something that would have a selling price of somewhere between $15. and $20. a nice packet trick ...

Right now I have absolutely no idea.

Also, do you sell to just one distributor, or do you have one for the U.S. and another one for Europe?

Steve

I would be more than happy to take on the distribution for you. Please email me and we can discuss this matter in private. Illusions1@earthlink.net

Wolfgang,

I've sent you a mail. Please have a look and let me know what you think.

Steve

Several reputable dealers are very happy to fairly discuss these kinds of details with new creators.

Speaking to Tim Trono, who uses this forum, would be a good start.

Steve: jobbers usually want a 60% to 70% discount from the retail price for buying large quantities (e.g., 50+) of an item; dealers expect a 40% discount (minimum purchase for dealers often is a dozen items; depends on price).
The terms you can negotiate will depend obviously on the product and how eager someone is to carry it.

There's no way to accurately give numbers or even a close estimate. It varies greatly depending on the type of effect/book/video, the price you sell it at, your profit margin, how you distribute it, the current economy, whether people like the effect, how much they like it, etc., etc. etc.

Some effects make next to nothing, even though they seem incredible; others that seem really silly sell obscene amounts. You can never tell.

After comparing your trick to others on the market you can take the advice that Jeffery Cowan gave you.

You can use that as a measuring rule for selling any magic effect.

Beware of pirates! They are out there. They will steal from you and you won't know it.
Especially being from overseas.

If you want to know how to help protect yourself from pirates, email me personally.


Steve Hart
Cape Canaveral, FL USA

Some pretty simple math will generally give you an idea of the best method to distribute your product. Let's say you sell an item for $20.00 that costs you $5.00 to manufacture.

If you sell it directly, that's a profit of $15.00 per sale; to make $5,000.00 you'd need to sell 333 of them.

If you sell it through dealers (who will want about 40%), your profit is 12-5=$7.00; to make the same $5,000.00, you'll need to sell 714 of them, a bit more than twice as many.

If you sell it through distributors (who will want about 60%), your profit is 8-5=$3.00; to make $5,000.00, you'll need to sell 1667 of the product, about five times as many.

You need to sell a lot of products to make much money, and they should have a significant markup. But of course any product meeting those two criteria will be ripe for knock-offs. So it's challenging.

You also need to be realistic about your manufacturing costs, and not include your own labour for free (which will really hurt you if you decide to sell through distributors, and find yourself working for $1.00 an hour).

Me, I sell a couple of (self-published) books strictly as a sideline. I actually don't want them widely circulated among magicians, so I don't sell them through dealers. I've been fortunate enough to receive terrific reviews, so they sell well, but only to those who seek them out... not the guys who wander down to their local Magic Emporium asking, "What's new?".

... Doug