Selling carvings from rough-outs?

[bbowers]

??? I read an answer in the magazine that said selling carvings from a rough out is OK. Is that pretty well accepted? I am geting some requests for my carvings and several are from rough outs I really like. Just do not want to break any rules. Any ideas on how to get started in carving sales?

[noel58]

You are creating a carving, it is yours, regardless of where the wood comes from. If you sell someone elses patterns, or cutouts you may have a problem. The people who sell cutouts expect you to buy their stuff and lots of it. As for selling, a lot of people are making money on Ebay. You can also buy cutouts there. 8)

If you gave 5 people the same rough-out and had them carve it, they would all come out different. If you are carving them after having bought the roughout then you are perfectly safe. All anyone is doing with a roughout is saving you the time in having to rough it out yourself.

Selling a finished roughout is something that I would have a hard time of taking any pride in. True YOU are the one that finished the carving,and therefore it is a one of a kind, but I would think that if you have any scruples at all then you would at least acknowledge that it was carved from a roughout DESIGNED AND SOLD TO YOU by ________.
I always swore that I would never purchase a roughout, but have recently purchased one at a carving show from Gerald and Barbera Sears called (GRIZZELY). I have found that a roughout is a good learning tool simply because in order to get the same results as the original, you may have to change your way of carving an eye, nose ,ear, or mouth.
Put yourself in the shoes of the consumer. How would you feel if you purchased an 'ORIGINAL' carving just to find out on down the line someone else is also selling the REAL ORIGINAL?
As an example, I purchased a how-to book called'carving and painting an heirloom santa' by Paul and Camille Bolinger. This is an excelent book that has such good step by step procedures that ANY carving done from this book is RECOGNIZED immediatly by anyone who has carved one of these santa's. Yet , I have seen pictures of these santa's in Chip Chats where they have been entered in carving shows and even won awards without ever acknowledging that it was thier version of the Bolingers design.
To me this is unethical
You want to sell your version of someone elses roughout? Then tell people that! I think that they would still buy it and even thank you for your honesty.