Hi!
I have that problem too. I bought 3 themes for 3 different clients with my own Envato account, so if I understand well I have 2 options :
- I tell no one I have that problem and I’ll take care of my clients updates for ever (for free)
- or I’ve to buy 3 new licenses for each of those clients, with 3 new Envato account per each of them
Am I missing something? Or do you have a better idea? (please tell me you do… 
)
And what about :
“If you are a freelancer / agency using the item for a single end product for one client. The license would in effect be transferred to the client.”
?
Thx!
You can give them the license and therefore permission to use the item on their site , but as long as it was bought on your account they will never receive access to updated versions and these will only ever be available via the purchasing account.
This means:
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as you said you carry out updates indefinitely either free or at a maintainance charge
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you get the existing client and any future ones to purchase the item themselves via their own profile.
Given guest purchases are now available, there is very little reason not to adopt this approach.
Thank you for your answer.
I’m a little upset I will have to buy 3 more licenses (of course, I won’t charge my clients for it). It’s too bad it’s not possible to transfer it because reading “The license would in effect be transferred to the client.” wasn’t that clear for me.
But well, english is not my mother tongue…
It’s not overly clear (although also not untrue) even to a native English speaker.
At the same time I sympathise with the reasons for it working the way that it does to prevent exploitation and protect everyone involved.
Envato really needs to work out a solution for this problem. This isn’t efficient at all. Not for the developer and not for the clients of the developer. I’m really amazed that Envato hasn’t come up with a solution to this problem. :S
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You can transfer the license ie the right to use an item BUT you will not be able to physically transfer items between accounts so that they can be downloaded or access updates from a different one to that which purchased it.
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I second the concerns in this thread. It’s baffling that there’s not a more elegant and thorough solution to this (obviously very common) issue.
It’s (one of) a reason behind guest check outs which make it easier for clients to purchase items.
Out of interest why would anyone not want their client to buy the item for themselves? Surely it’s easier and means that they there is no problem if developer and client part ways?
For one, I try to minimize hassle for my clients - they already have to buy a domain, buy hosting, blah blah blah. Getting an Envato account, buying the theme - it’s just another thing for them to do, and it slows down the process. Maybe that’s silly, but it’s one reason.
Second - and maybe I’m misunderstanding how this works since I haven’t done it this way - if I have the client buy the theme through Envato, and support is accessed through Envato, then in order to access support, I have to be logged into their Envato account. And email alerts for responses from support will go to their email, not mine. It makes for a poor workflow, and (again) can slow down the process when troubleshooting. And some people are just weird about contractors having access to systems that store credit card information.
And third - when I was new to this, it just did not occur to me that transferring ownership of a theme would not be possible. It seems like such a no brainer in an industry where people hire someone for a short time to build something and then (in a lot of cases) hand it over to them to manage. It just seemed like - obviously you can do that, why would the geniuses who build stuff like this not think of such a simple thing?
Those are my reasons. I appreciate you asking me to elaborate. 
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I do see your points and simply to clarify.
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this is why guest check in (no need for envato sign up) was created
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you only need the purchase code to access support not logged in to any specific accounts
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it does seem obvious but it’s because envato have thought about it that it works how it does - allowing transfer of downloads opens up opportunities for fraud from less genuine users that as it works now does not exist.
Again I get your points and it does come down to how people interpret it. For example;
If a client is paying a template from here then they should be able to access all the support and updates which are included and which they can’t if they are not the buyer.
What is the developer then uses the theme again elsewhere - this could create problems with the original installation
Too often some “developers” try to mask the fact they are using templates and that’s is simply not right. Encouraging clients to buy items avoids this and the associated confusion
If buyers and clients are from different countries then different taxes etc. May apply which again could become a loophole if transfers were allowed
Thanks for clarifying these things - mostly stuff I hadn’t thought of that make sense when laid out like this. Of course the nature of this field of work (both extreme amateurs and extreme experts are trying to build websites these days) means the range of understanding of these sorts of things is going to vary so widely - I can also understand why there’s so much frustration (and ignorance) around the way Envato handles this.
I wonder if it might be possible to present these points at the point of purchase? Not at length, of course - but, for example: what if at checkout, Envato prompts the user to make sure the purchaser is the one who will need access long term. “Are you building this site for someone else? It will save everyone a big ol’ headache if you purchase this theme under that person’s name. Here’s how to do it…” or some such. Could alleviate a whole bunch of strife for folks like me, and save you from having to defend Envato over and over.
I think the main issue is we just don’t understand Envato’s reasoning. If it were made really clear at the point of sale, and we were directed to do this in the way it should be done, we’d just do it that way and wouldn’t have any reason to complain about it.
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I think many of your points are very valid and I like the reminder at the point of purchase idea. As with many things here (support, updates, transfers etc.), there will never be a one size fits all solution.
Envato is forced to find the best of a bad situation, and I would imagine take that from a business perspective primarily (which has to be the case). While there may be 90% genuine buyers the 10% who would exploit being able to transfer items between one another may be enough to trigger the approach that is used.
I agree that if it were clear to everyone as to why things work the way they do, that this would help, however, I am also certain that there would still be those people who find it unfair, and a sizeable group who just don’t bother reading help articles and jump straight to assuming the worst.
At the end of the day we completely understand why envato behave the way they do here, regardless of how common sense it may seem to operate differently. It is however great to see people bringing solutions as much as problems
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You’re real cool. Thanks for the chat.
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Can you transfer an entire account to someone else, like to another developer, for them to take over maintenance of whatever sites are running under the licences on that account? If there’s only one license on a particular account then in practical terms you’d be transferring one license. It may come down to: Is there any reason not to keep a separate account for each license?
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Unfortunately not: https://themeforest.net/legal/market
Point 11: 'Your membership is not transferable, that means you cannot sell your account’
If we develop the website for client under http://demo1.developer.com, and activated the license. After the project finished, we transfer it to customer host server under http://www.company.com. Then we can use the token to activate the theme on the new host server, of course remove the old from our developing site. That action is allowed. But for extend support / update, we need to tie our Envato login to the customer actual website. Do I understand the license transfer options properly? New to the forum, thanks in advance.
More or less…
If you migrate and remove the original then you may have issues with reactivating plugins etc. Usually, this can be worked around with the author but it’s something to be aware of.
If you transfer the license then the client can use it but the ability to download the updates etc. will only ever be available to the purchasing account and cannot be transferred
Hi folks,
since I commented back in Feb I’ve found that the latest version of the Envato Market (Formally Envato Toolkit) has solved my issues.
Add the plugin to the Wordpress website, insert a personal token/key and the item ID and that’s it. The client can see when the theme needs updating and do it themselves without having the hassle of contacting us.
Result!
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I was just about to buy on behalf of a client. Good thing I saw this.
However, just to check. Is it OK if I create a new account for the client in the client’s name, set it up with a new e-mail (any Hotmail, Yahoo or whatever) that I have access to during the development of the website - then just give the client the login for Envator and the new e-mail? Then it is up to the client to keep the e-mail login or change to an another they prefer.
You would be buying the item in that new account?
Legally it’s better for them to set it up themselves - security may recognise different sign ins and it’s not a difficult job.
Assuming they ultimately have access to that account and the purchase then they will be able to access updates etc in the future