Newsletter #1: Shopify theme piracy, lakeside cabins and 3D printing design

Hi there,

I hope you're feeling good.

Today we're discussing Shopify themes piracy, lucrative lakeside cabins and 3D printing design.

Let's dive in.

Work

Have you ever heard of Shopify themes piracy?

It refers to people buying premium themes on the Shopify Theme Store and selling them for a very low price (for example $50) on marketplaces such as Etsy or Fiverr.

This is a damageable practice that has negative consequences:

• For theme partners: they lose money spending time searching for the store owners who bought those themes illegally, and reporting them to Shopify (through a DMCA form). They also lose money for each store that they were not able to catch. Each $50 illegal sale corresponds to a $350 loss (depending on the theme price).

• For merchants: each time a theme partner fills a DMCA form, Shopify contacts the merchant and asks them to buy the theme legally, otherwise their store gets taken down. So merchants often end up paying twice for the theme: the illegal sale price and the regular sale price.

• For Shopify: theme piracy is not good for the company's image. During Shopify's internal Town Hall in May, Harley Finkelstein (President) assured that he was going to take care of this issue personnally. I have hope that it will be solved soon.

Inspire

I'm very inspired by the story of Isaac French, a 25-year-old American entrepreneur.

He created Live Oak Lake, a set of 7 A-frame lakeside cabins located in Waco, Texas. They are available for short-term rentals.

Isaac openly shared the numbers of this amazing project:

• $2.1 million investment

• $220,000 to build each cabin (unfurnished)

• $1 million annual gross revenue

• $550,000 annual net revenue

Here are two things I found particularly interesting about Isaac’s strategy:

• He sells add-on packages to bring in extra cash: guests can pay $35 to get an earlier check-in, and $95 if they want to bring a pet.

• He does his best not to depend on platforms: 70% of his bookings go through his own website, 25% through Airbnb and 5% through Vrbo.

Learn more about Live Oak Lake in this YouTube video, on their website and on Isaac's Twitter account.

Explore

I had a great time watching this 9min video of a designer, Scott Yu-Jan, organizing his drawer with 3D printing. What a beautiful, meticulous and satisfying pursuit.

Enjoy.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for reading this edition until the end.

I'll talk to you soon.

Take good care of yourself.

Coralie