I have a few questions regarding selling a product. I figured this place might be more useful than tediously searching on google.
First, do I need a patent, and could I sell the product without having the patent yet?
Second, do I need a business license to do so?
In general, do you have any tips or things I should know to go about selling my product?
>>956776
Just go out and do it.
You don't have to worry about patent or licensing if you're not even out there; the biggest think you can do for yourself is spread your product and info about your product like pizza sauce.
If you finally get a warning or any kind of indication that you need a license or patent, you've done well, and should be able to afford them by then.
Also it's 2015, fucking use google. You're at a severe disadvantage if you can't do market research or use online resources.
Best of luck /biz/fag and cheers.
>>956776
1) depends
2) depends
3) depends
a, on your jurisdiction
b, on your product,
c, on your intended market,
d, on your personal legal qualifications (see a),
e, on your revenue or profit (see a),
f, on your employee count and/or value
g, on your tax status
h, on other things depending on some or all of the above.
>>956868
Pretty much this
Also you never "need" a patent to sell something. Its just a mean of protecting your intellectual property. So if you have something very innovative you can sell it without patenting it, but if someone understand your product.copies it and patent it you'll have to pay royalties to them or even be denied using your product.
Of course only real innovations can be patended. Also they cost a lot and aren't effective everywhere in the world.
Last point, good luck suing them Chinese guys infringing on your patents.
>>956776
No you don't need a patent.
You may need a business license. If you want to sell under a name other than your own, you will need to file a DBA (Doing business as) with your city/county.
>>956937
>etsy
Or eBay store.
Check the us law on how to report the income. And what threshold will make you pay corporate tax (I know nothing about the us but in Europe when you reach some level of income from sales or service you need to change your status)
>>956891
>Also you never "need" a patent to sell something
that's wrong. for some products in some jurisdictions under certain circumstances you require a patent to produce it, even if it's an in-house or your own invention.
>>956964
I was unaware of that.
Can you vive an example when you absolutely need to patent the product to sell it?
>>956829
This. Unless you have some invention that is absoultely revolutionary, then just start selling.
Only when you have been doing a successful business for 6+ months do you start worrying about:
- The LLC
- The Tax ID
- employees
- a business bank account
- record keeping
- taxes
- sales & marketing
At first, totally forget this shit. Just go out and sell for a few weeks. Once the freight train is barreling ahead, then worry about the business side.
>>957019
this seems sketchy though
>>957094
If you're afraid you're never going to get anywhere. No offense, that's just a universal truth in the business world.
>>957683
That's terrible fucking advice and it's exactly how people end up running afoul of the IRS and losing shitloads of money and possibly their business. Without incorporating, it's also how people end up getting sued and losing all of their personal assets.
OP, if you're going to be selling a product, you will be responsible for sales tax. If your primary source of income is from self-employment, whether as a sole proprietor, partner, or whatever, you're also responsible for filing self-employment tax quarterly. Establishing an LLC is fast and easy. The forms can be found on your Secretary of State's website. You can also find most of what you need to know about owning and operating a small business there. I would also suggest seeing if your state offers free seminars and counseling on running a small business. Mine runs a Small Business Center through the local community colleges. They can tell you everything you need to know at no cost to you.
>>956776
If you want to stop other people from selling the product, you'll need a patent, obviously.
>>957692
Form the LLC its only like 100$ in most states. But only do that to get the companies credit profile up and running. List the company phone on a directory and call Dunn and Bradstreet. Then get your first company card from office depot.
Records keeping and taxes don't worry about till 10k profits.
>>958942
Chineeeese?
