It all started with the farewell package from Mark Joyner, who is affectionately (or dispassionately in some cases) known as MJFP. This was the first time I know of someone selling many thousands of dollars worth of source code that had been successfully used to run million dollar websites. Since then I’ve seen a couple dozen similar source code sales and you can be sure you’ll see more in the future.
WHY DO THEY DO IT?
There are multiple reasons why someone would want to sell their source code in the first place, including:
- They need funding for a project.
- They are going to close and will no longer use it.
- They spent $100,000 to program it and would like to save someone else money and time.
- They are using a new version of the source code, but the old source code is fully functional, especially for smaller sites.
- For some people, like Jeremy Burns, selling private label source code has become a business in itself.
WHAT TYPES OF SOURCE CODE
The types of source code you can purchase include website scripts and software programs. Some people will refer to e-books as source code, but I don’t think they are. By source code, I mean programming or desktop or website code.
The source code is sometimes for private use only. Sometimes it comes with resell rights, master resell rights, private label resell rights, and even private label master resell rights. Private label resell rights mean you have the right to do whatever you want with it, including reselling it under your own name. But you can not sell it with private label rights. Mastering private label resell rights means you they can offer the source code with private label resell rights.
By the way, the MJFP was the most expensive private label source code sale I’ve ever seen and it only came with private label rights. You could not resell the source code itself. However, it was also the most valuable in terms of how much was paid for the programming behind it and the value of products without source code.
SKILLS YOU NEED
HTML – If you know nothing about HTML, you should probably NOT buy private label source code. Not only will you be lost in terms of what to do with it, but you won’t be able to give useful instructions to a developer or webmaster on what to do with it. Most of the source code buyers I’ve read complaints from knew nothing about HTML and didn’t even know where to start when it came to putting the code to use.
One exception to this is that I’ve seen some sales where you just need to know how to edit a sales page and don’t need any experience installing scripts. This is a deal that virtually anyone can benefit from.
INSTALLATION SCRIPT – The people who benefit most from these offers are people who know some HTML and have some experience installing scripts. It really isn’t that hard to learn how to edit HTML and install scripts. There are inexpensive books out there that can help you. If you know HTML but don’t know how to install scripts, it’s usually not too expensive to hire someone to do it for you.
PROGRAMMING – You do NOT need to know programming to benefit from private label source code. While I am an experienced website builder and script installer, I am NOT a programmer.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
Always read the entire sales letter. In fact, read it a couple of times. I’ve bought quite a few source code packages and I haven’t seen any cases where people are related to what is needed to make the source code work. The fact that errors or missing data situations were corrected in many cases tells me that the seller was not trying to scam anyone. As a moderator for the MJFP forum, I saw all the complaints (and praise) about the package, so I got a pretty good idea of what people should ask themselves before buying the source code. In many cases, people did not pay attention to the part of the sales letter where it said that they needed to hire someone to configure and install the source code.
Whether you should take advantage of a particular offer depends on your level of experience and the answers to the following questions:
– Does the code require additional work by a programmer to make it work? If yes, do you have money to hire a programmer? If not, are there additional products without source code in the bundle that are worth the price of the bundle alone? If the answer to both is NO, you should NOT purchase this source code. It will be a waste of your money.
– If the source code works as-is, does it come with installation instructions that a newbie can follow? Or do you need to be an experienced script installer to follow the instructions? If the source code doesn’t include instructions, even an experienced script installer risks buying it.
– Do they give information about programmers and/or script installers that you can hire, if necessary?
– If the source code is expensive, is there a payment plan?
– Is there a refund policy? In most cases there are no refunds, so you shouldn’t buy unless you can honestly afford it.
– Are you spending your last dime hoping this is finally the product that will make you rich?
If so, DO NOT BUY! If you’re that desperate, the last thing you should do is spend money. You probably already have products that you can sell to make money. Most likely your problem is that you haven’t used what you already have. Well, now is the time.
WILL YOU NEED TO HIRE A PROGRAMMER?
If you want to add additional features to the source code, you will need to hire a programmer to do so. You can’t do it on your own, and frankly, it’s not practical to learn programming just so you can use a source code package you bought. One of the best programmers I’ve ever met said that it took him 5 years to feel like he mastered programming. Do you think it’s wise to buy something that takes you 5 years to put to use?
In cases where you need to hire a programmer to get the source code working, you can hire a cheap one from places like Scriptlance.com and Rentacoder.com. Before you hire one, pay attention to the reviews they have. You should also ask to see the work they have done.
CONCLUSION
There is no doubt that most of the private label source code deals I have seen can be very profitable. They can save you hundreds and even thousands of dollars that you would have to pay a programmer to custom program it for you. Also, there is no guarantee that the programmer you hire won’t give you useless junk. These private label source code sales are typically fully functional code that, in some cases, was used to run successful websites. However, you should go into these purchases with your eyes wide open.
I won’t say “buyer beware” because that implies there are a lot of scams out there, and so far I haven’t seen them. I will say “Buyer advised — BEFORE buying”. That is the key to your satisfaction. If you are one of the many people who have bought things and never used them, save your money and work on your motivation. This will cost you nothing and will ultimately save you a lot of money, time and frustration. With the right motivation and the right private label source code, there is no doubt that it can be very profitable.