I’m just curious how much the player gets paid, on average, per yo-yo sold, for having his/her name on a signature yo-yo. I can’t remember where I read it, but I read somewhere $3 - $5, per yo-yo, depending on the reputation and popularity of the player involved. I am wondering if someone could correct me on this. I am not looking for guesses, just if someone has a very good idea of the average rate, please post. Please let me know your source, or what you are basing it on. Thanks.
Yup, that’s a given, but I’m interested in whether there is a royalty rate for each yo-yo sold. I believe there is. I’m curious what it might be. :-\
Other than speculation we (the community) really has no idea. It would be interesting to see some of the pro’s weighing in on this. I would think that only the bigger comapnies YYF, YYJ maybe Duncan do this… Interesting though…
Dude, grow up. If you dont have anything about the topic to say, then dont talk at all. Totalartist asked a serious question and if you dont have anything productive to add to the thread then dont. Youve been doing this for a bit now, and its been getting on my nerves.
Totalartist, Ive never heard that they get ANYthing from the sales, but if that is the case, Then I could use a signature throw or two.
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Thanks Nemyo and mgiroux77 
Well, I’m curious about this because the players seem instrumental in pushing the signature throws and popularizing them through their image. I figured they must get at least a few cents per throw for the use of their name and image used in selling the yo-yos. Also, some of the players put their two cents in on the design of the signature yo-yos, and in that case, it would be a nice way to compensate them. Also, for the company, it gives the players more incentive to push sales of the throws.
Yeah…
Yoyofactoryben have anything to say on this? Or caribouchris?
Wow. If they were to get 3-5 dollars per yoyo sold and if the run is say 100 pieces. That’s a nice chunk o’ change for the player.
It would be nice to hear from a credible source on this. Yeah, just curious and all, and looking for the “industry standard,” or “common practice,” for these kind of agreements. We’re not looking to put any player under the microscope or anything. If there is a window for the royalty dollar amount, just curious what that is, and if it is common practice in the industry to offer it to players for using their name and image. Also, if they are offered anything extra for input on design of the throw, naming it, and such.
When some of the yo-yos cost over $100, I figure the player getting $3 seems fair in some cases. Using that figure, if 100 yo-yos sold, and the player got $3 per yo-yo, the player would get $300. Not bad I’d say. Maybe that $5 figure is high, but somewhere between $1.50 and $3.50 sounds good depending on the reputation of the player and the cost of the throw.
I remember hearing that Zach Gormley gets paid for each AC sold.
YoYoJam does pay royalties for signature yoyos sold. The exact figure falls under proprietary pricing information.
Understandable.
Thanks for chiming in. It’s nice to know YoyoJam is on the ball. I believe that is the right way to do business. I’m not passing judgment on others, but my common sense says it is the right thing to do. A lot of these players are young, they have their lives ahead of them, and some compensation would help toward their future endeavors (college costs…books, whatever). Players who have no signature already get free yo-yos, so I think someone with a signature should be compensated properly, especially if they had input on the design, name of it, and such. I added a poll to this thread for those who would like to vote. YoyoJam just seems like they are at the top of the game business-wise…period. Them and a few others are top notch.
I agree with Totalartist… Totally.
YYJ May not make my favorite throws (Although the DiamondBack is a beast) but it is probably the best company in terms of treating their team members the best (Not that other companies DONT treat their players well, but YYJ just is extraordinarily nice to their players) and customer service.
Other companies are great at these things too, but YYJ is just #1 in these terms.
JMO
And also, I believe that companies should only pay royalties if they can afford it, because if they cant afford it and they DO end up paying it, than the player getting the royalties wont have a company to play for anymore. If you get what I mean.
I am on the “if they had a hand in the design” camp myself… If I had a sig colorway I would not expect compensation or just had a yoyo named after me… But if I had say in its design and all that and it was made for me… Well than a few bucks per throw would be great!!!
I think they should always be paid per yo-yo, but the amount should be dependent upon how much the player was actually involved in the process of making the yo-yo. Even for just using their name on the yo-yo, I think there should be a minimum royalty. From there, it should increase if the player is really popular, if they had input on the design, or had past signatures that did really well. I think the royalty should be a given, and the amount of the royalty should depend on the other criteria. Using someone’s name to sell something is huge. I’d say a minimum of $1.00 per yo-yo for just putting their name on a random prototype.
Very interesting topic. I am curious to find out what these companies make yearly, or the players make. I know YYF, YYJ probably makes the most $ and some of the stores like yye and others. It would be nice to see some actual numbers. Maybe I can repost as a new topic. If anybody has any info it would be good to know. Also companies like CLYW and ONEdrop etc, it would be nice to know where everyone stands etc.
Just curious.
Duncan, like many other manufacturers pay royalties to it’s pros who put their name on a product, as well as inventors/designers of specific models and technologies.
Examples:
Rafael Matsunaga receives royalties for his design of the Barracuda
Steve Brown receives royalties for counterweight products
Takeshi Kamisato received royalties for his design of the Exit 8
Kohta Watanabe received royalties for his signature edition Echo
Tomas Bubak recieved royalties for his signature edition Raptor
The royalty rates vary and are as Nathan put it, proprietary. Many times this is negotiated, and or depends on the cost of the product.
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So it sounds like the “industry standard” is for a royalty to be negotiated. Thank you for sharing that. Mgiroux77 was right, Duncan also takes care of the players with royalties for signatures. Very nice to know…good job Duncan. I guess we would expect this from the larger companies, but now I am wondering how the smaller companies are doing on this issue. At what point does a “small” company become large enough to offer royalties to the players?