the legalities of selling sea fishing rigs?

[fishermangaz1]

Hello all,

I have been making my own sea fishing rigs for a couple of years now and In recent months started selling black lugworm. I Wish to start selling sea fishing rigs on ebay and from my website however.

Does anyone know if certain sea fishing rigs/designs are patent protected such as the pulley pennel rig and pulley dropper rig?

is liability insurance necessary and can anyone recommend a good company?

[Shaun1118]

I don't know what you stand to gain from it? After ebay fees your mark up would be negligible even if you charged what you want for them.

Your target customer on ebay is the summer day tripper and the chuck and chancer both of which are captivated by the vast number of existing companies which churn out low quality rigs for 50p.

My rigs cost more than 50p to make

Your onto a loss before you start

[Trishy]

I know where Shaun is coming from , I used to make and sell rigs to club members , and the profit is very low to say the least. I used good quality components, basically the rigs were the same that I used myself . I could have used cheaper components but when they start failing, it can be costly. The big firms are selling rigs very cheaply, getting them made up for pennies in china/Far East and getting the components for massive discounts. If you think you can compete go for it , but you will never make a living at it. Every decent angler I know make up their own rigs anyway.

[wobbler72]

I had the pleasure of meeting and fishing with Ian Houlton, the founder of Moonfleet Angling. I think the general consensus on World Sea Fishing was that he made the best rigs on the market.

We didn't discuss it but I got the distinct impression that he didn't make much out of selling his rigs.

[fishermangaz1]

The primary reason im interested in offering rigs as products is to promote my business name and other products associated with it. There seems to be a lot selling online and high demand for them.

It would be interesting to know whether any patents exist on rig designs and what implications they represent for other companies if any?

[Steve Duffy]

The primary reason im interested in offering rigs as products is to promote my business name and other products associated with it. There seems to be a lot selling online and high demand for them.

It would be interesting to know whether any patents exist on rig designs and what implications they represent for other companies if any?

There are no patents on rigs.Thats why everyman and his dog and cat make rigs for sale on ebay.They make pennies per rig profit.You would be better just promoting your other products.I used to make leads for a local tackle shop.We made pennies per lead.We used to get through 300K of lead a year.It was just a service we had to offer.
If I was you I would sell coloured beads because round here people insist in making rigs with loads of coloured beads despite the Mersey being the colour of dockers tea.