About the Tail Design Marketplace
The Mer-Made Tail Design Marketplace was conceived to be a place where artists could post their tail designs, and then see them actually come to life. The Marketplace aims to give customers the widest, best selection of mer-tail designs possible, coupled with high-quality dye-sub printing and construction.
Work in progress and subject to change
TL;DR: The Tail Design Marketplace connects artists and designers with people looking to purchase printed fabric mermaid tails. The designs are provided by the participating independent artists with the physical production completed by Mer-Made LLC. Each sale of a tail using an artists design results in a commission payment to the artist.
Four major points that have come up a lot in conversations with artists:
1) Any designs you have already done will need to be at the very least transferred/reshaped onto the basic templates that are provided, so that the resulting tails are known sizes for people to order, like any other intended-to-be-worn product
2) Starting with $50/sale
3) All templates come in six sizes (XS-XXL), all designs must be submitted in all sizes so they can be sold
FAQ:
Q: Does this cost me anything?
A: No, signing up and posting tails doesn't cost you anything
Q: Ok, what's the commission then?
A: For every tail that is sold using one of your designs, you will receive $50 commission, with no limits on number of designs you can post, and no ceiling on sales.
Q: But I don't get paid per-upload?
A: Think of this like having an online storefront, or Etsy page. You are creating the art on your own time, but you get paid each time the piece is purchased rather than a one-off commission fee.
Q: So you're selling my designs, or....?
A: No, what I'm selling is essentially a fulfilment service to turn tail designs into actual tails. The end-customer will never have your final design file (I'll need it, obviously, to print it) and what you'll post on the marketplace as a product image is a much smaller, lower-res, heavily-watermarked version of the design.
Q: Do I work for you? Am I a contractor?
A: No, this is just an online platform that I'm running. Think of it like having an Etsy shop or selling on eBay. That said, if you start approaching USD $600 in commissions we'll have to have a talk about providing you a tax form to report the income. Please consult a tax professional for any tax-related questions you may have.
Q: Is there a contract outlining the terms of this whole thing?
A: The Marketplace Artist Agreement is contained in the general site Terms and Conditions, found here: https://app.websitepolicies.com/policies/view/vkjDdtAZ
Q: Do I need to use your templates?
A: It's much easier if you do, since the templates I'm providing are in known sizes. If you want to do your own, shoot me a message and we can discuss. It's possible, just not easy.
Q: What monofins can I design for?
A: Any of them...all of them! Again though, message before making any modifications to the existing template. It's doable, just tricky. You MUST specify which monofin(s) are compatible with each design in the product description (along with the measurements....remember, the end goal here is people are going to actually wear these!)
Q: Can I design for monofins made by other tail-makers?
A: Kind of? Again, message me before doing any modifications to templates.
You'll need pretty comprehensive measurements for the monofin you want to make a template for.
Q: That means the designs need to be full size?
A: Definitely, 1:1 size, high-res, 150-300 PPI, print ready.
Q: How wide is the fabric you use?
A: 58 inches wide, 1.5mm scuba knit. There will probably a 3.0mm and a neoprene option in the future.
Q: Open or Closed fin?
A: Update: Finally going closed!
Q: Do you provide vinyl fin inserts?
A: Not at this time, maybe in the future. The idea was to keep costs (and thus price) down, especially in the beginning.
Followup Answer: Vinyl inserts are proving very popular so they'll be coming around sooner rather than later.
Q: Side? Dorsal fins? Pectoral fins?
A: Not yet, see above-above. Side fins on the seam are probably fine, but will incur an upcharge for the extra work needed. Any upcharges are on the final price of the tail being made, not charged to you in any form, and doesn't affect your commission.
Q: Where are you located?
A: Mer-Made LLC is located in coastal Connecticut, USA
Q: Cool enough! How do I sign up?
A: Email info@mer-made.com for information and the sign-up link, or feel free to DM on Facebook or IG (Links on homepage)
Ready to sign up?
DM @mer_made_official on IG or email info@mer-made.com for a page with the signup link