Partnering on a shirt project

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kristine9889
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Joined: Tue Jul 02, 2013 7:48 am

Partnering on a shirt project

Post by kristine9889 »

A local artist and I are going to partner on some t-shirts. She created the design and wants 50% of the profits on the sales. I need to come up with a cost and contract and am looking for some input from anyone with experience with this. I want to be fair to both of us. This person has a tendency to take advantage and I have a tendency to give away too much. I am taking all the risk because if we only sell a couple shirts, I have still used my supplies etc creating the screens. So I need to work out a break even point before I pay her anything. What would you consider the cost of your time to work into the cost.
Thanks for any feedback.
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Shamax
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Re: Partnering on a shirt project

Post by Shamax »

Yeah, you're taking on all the liability (blank tees, inks, supplies, etc) and doing all of the production work (setup, printing, and teardown). I'd say push for AT LEAST 75/25 or 80/20. I run an indie record label and work out similar agreements with artists. The intellectual property is theirs, but all they have is a digital representation of their work (in their case, it's their music, in your case, it's your artist's artwork). As the label owner, I'm the one holding the bag and investing the cost if only 1 or 2 copies sell. Same thing for you - if you only sell 1 or 2 of these shirts, you have to go through all the cost of setup, print, and teardown for those 1 or 2 shirts. That or you have to print up a ton of shirts ahead of time and only sell a couple of them.

I'm not sure of the nature of the project, whether it's to be an on-demand sale or what, but if she demands 50/50 try this: Try to do a pre-sale/pre-order of the shirts. Enumerate your costs (screens, supplies, tees, ink, etc). Then say you can do 50/50 of what's left as the price of your labor.

Just my $0.02 :mrgreen:
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Casams
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Re: Partnering on a shirt project

Post by Casams »

The statement "50% of the profits" is a ambiguous statement. Many Hollywood actors have had a clause in their contracts similar to that statement. After the studio's accountants worked over the "BOOKS" the actor never received a dime. If your artist friend was stating she wanted 50% of the gross; that high percentage is way, way out of the ball park. There is no way you can give away that much of the sale, meet expenses and make any profit. What "Shamax" stated is true. Make sure you create a contract. Operating a joint venture without a contract is financially risky. It is also the easiest way I know of to destroy a FRIENDSHIP. Over my career I have made this error several times. They have always been close friends. Contracts are more important between friends than they are between strangers or common business acquaintances.
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