| Postcards represent a wonderful way to make | | | | add-on opportunity for your business. |
| money from items that are in the public domain. The | | | | IDEAS TO GET YOU STARTED |
| public domain typically describes items that are not | | | | * Have firms like Café Press turn your best |
| covered by copyright, usually because their legal | | | | selling postcards into any of hundreds of different |
| copyright protection has expired or no longer exists, | | | | items. But keep the original postcard yourself, this |
| sometimes the item never was copyright protected. | | | | prevents anyone else buying or otherwise obtaining |
| Regardless, a great many people buy vintage | | | | the illustration to create their own products such as |
| postcards, not because they collect postcards, but | | | | those selling on Café Press. By keeping the |
| because they know the place depicted or they | | | | illustration and, assuming no-one else has a similar |
| collect items connected to a particular topographical | | | | illustration, you'll be able to sell the item yourself and |
| area, including postcards but more often also prints, | | | | get commission from every other person selling your |
| books, calendars and other items. | | | | creation. |
| This means many people will very happily purchase a | | | | * Sell reprint copies of the postcard mainly to |
| reprint copy of the area depicted on an old postcard. | | | | topographical view collectors. |
| Many very early postcards no longer have copyright, | | | | * Start a line of vintage greetings cards and other |
| including many from unknown and unspecified | | | | stationery types based on your most popular designs. |
| publishers from the early 1900s or sooner. | | | | * Collect postcards by theme or topographical area, |
| Rules regarding copyright are not complicated but | | | | such as all of one village, all from the same artist, |
| they are important and you must ensure your view is | | | | etc., and compile an eBook to sell in downloadable |
| in the public domain and never assume you are free | | | | format or on CD. |
| to make and sell copies. | | | | * Simply add the illustrations to a folder on your |
| To copy items, scan them, using a quality scanner | | | | computer and sell them as downloads or on CD. |
| and recreate as postcard size items or as larger | | | | * Contact newspaper and magazine editors and offer |
| prints. Check out other people selling items from the | | | | to sell illustrations with short articles about them. |
| public domain on eBay and consider this a great | | | | |