Sell Your Font to a Foundry

There are 3 methods to sell fonts online, but each method has its own pros and cons.

Unfortunately, every designer’s needs and skills are unique, so the best method of selling fonts on the web depends largely on these factors. Compare and analyze which one is best for you:

1. Join a Font Foundry

Known as a font publisher or vendor, the foundry (like FontSpring Links to an external site., FontShop Links to an external site., Linotype Links to an external site., Monotype Links to an external site. and P22 Links to an external site.) is where fonts are “manufactured.”

As a designer, once you join a foundry, you’ll be selling your work within that site and whichever resellers that site has within its network.

This is an exclusive set-up, so you can’t sell your fonts anywhere else.

Your chosen foundry has the right to sell your font within the bounds of the contract you (and other designers) signed.

The main issue with foundry that you should know is that every foundry has a well-written pricing agreement. Royalty designers get from foundries range from 20 to 50 percent, but you have to read the fine print. Most foundries only pay the percentage of wholesale font price, which means designers will be paid smaller amounts if the font has gone through two or more channels.

In a few foundries, designers earn percentage of the suggested retail price, even if the font was sold directly off the foundry or through a reseller’s channel.

Font Foundry Pros:

  • Fonts under foundries are sold through multiple channels, which means your font would have better exposure beyond the foundry’s main site or store
  • Foundries protect their designers and the designers’ fonts against piracy
  • You don’t need to market your own font
  • Foundries will handle customer support for you
  • Font resellers prefer foundries
  • No administration or business knowledge needed
  • Get design assistance (not all foundries)

Font Foundry Cons:

  • Smaller income if fonts are sold by resellers
  • No control how or where your work is sold
  • Stuck in a contract

Go with a foundry if you think its library can accommodate your font style and that your fonts wouldn’t get buried under millions of fonts. Learn how much assistance a foundry can provide you when it comes to marketing and communicating with resellers.

And before you sign the dotted line, make sure you know (and agree to) the length of your contract with a foundry.