Selling clone ethics

[Ned Flanger]

Are there any type of ethics selling home built clones?  I have a few home mad pedals that I do not really want anymore.  I would like to sell them on eBay to support my pedal building habit.  However, even thought I built them, the PCB design and design of the pedal are not mine.  Is this a case of selling hand-built effect pedals or just a blatant ripoff of someone else's idea for their own profit?  I am interested to hear other's thoughts.

[zeeman]

In MY OPINION, I do not see any issues since this appears to be a one time sale.

If you were continuously building clones and continuously selling them on EBAY, that would be a completely different story.

Why not post what you are selling on here to give some of us first crack at buying them. Not all of us have the time to build stuff (hint, hint).

Good luck with the sales.

zeeman

PS: By the way, this topic would probably best served if posted in the "For Sale/Trade" forum or maybe the "Lounge - OT" forum.

[01370022]

This topic comes up in various flavors every now and then. Go put 'Cloning ethics' into the search function and set aside an hour or two  .

What Zeeman said is a fair point. If you're going into production using someone elses circuit and PCB design, then that's a bit dodge, but if it's selling a few to make room on the pedal board and you clearly state CLONE!!! then personally I think that that's ok. Someone might say differently tho.

[Mark Hammer]

As 01370022  said, this comes up regularly, largely because so many do it.  The dividing line is fuzzy, but generally revolves around whether someone is making a couple of one-offs and selling them for modest prices, or making things in quantity and flogging them at inflated boo-teek prices.  Personally, I think one is better off using local kijiji or Craigslist or similar services (here, we have an Ottawa Musicians website to sell gear) to sell than e-bay.  Set a price you think is fair return for parts and labour, and be ready to bargain.  Selling locally means you don't have to worry about shipping, purchaser's rep, your rep, etc.  You just hand them the pedal as they hand you the money.  I think people are also a little more confident buying something "home-made" if they have spoken with the builder, you've apprised them of the characteristics of what they're buying, and offer to tweak anything that isn't working quite right.

I also make it a point to not label things with the name of the original, unless it is not originally a commercial product.