Starting an Online Shop

Warriorsith

Hi

I wish to start up an online shop, thinking I'd use an Ebay Shop for starters then progress from there. The problem is the suppliers of the products I want to use state that they require Trading Papers to ensure I'm a proper Trader.
Can anyone inform me of how to obtain this and at what cost? and any tips for a newbie for me? I have sold bits & bobs on ebay before, I take it is just a set up owning a online shop?

All help welcomed :T

Dave

Savvy_Sue

I'd ask what they mean by Trading Papers. I know if we want to set up a credit account (rather than paying up front) with some suppliers they ask for something on headed paper, or a copy of bank statement, or a recent invoice, or some combination of those. It's to establish we are a business rather than a fraudulent attempt to obtain goods, I guess.

If you haven't yet taken any formal steps towards declaring yourself self-employed then this might become more difficult, but I think getting more info would be a first step. And a thought: have you looked / asked on the Ebay board?

soolin

I've never heard the phrase trading papers before.

However, when I first went self employed about 18 years ago it was a simple process of giving other companies my business card and headed paper, but as soon as good home printers became commonplace this was stopped as 'proof' as it was too easy for someone to print it up themselves.

It then became commonplace to provide sight of schedule D paperwork issued by the Revenue that could be checked, but it's been a long while now so even that may be an out of date requirement.

As for ebay, you don't need to register as a trader to use an ebay shop, any seller can have one. However it is posisble to register as a trader to show buyers that they have some more rights when buying from you, and I agree with the earlier post that if you ask that specific question on the ebay board you may get some more responses.

Soo

juiceman

What kind of goods do you sell. I have found that most suppliers will sell you goods at trade prices as long as you buy a certain amount and pay upfront. Once you have goods from one supplier, you can use them as a reference for other suppliers. You can then get a website up and running. I started my own website a few months ago, so have learnt lots along the way. It has been very time consuming, but things are now starting to settle down.

One bit of advice I think is critical, is that you need to sell goods with a decent profit margin. It is easier to sell on product and make £100, than have to sell 100 products with £1 profit each. With the first, you just have one customer to deal with and one product to post. With the second option, you have 100 times more work to do for the same profit. Think how much you want to earn and how many items you can realistically sell in a day. £100/day = £36,500 a year. And don't forget all the fixed costs such as accountant fees, web hosting, etc. You will have to pay these ven if you don't sell anything. Your biggest cost will probably be your advertising.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Warriorsith

Am looking to start an online Sweet Shop really, and the two nearest Cash & Carries for the items I'll need are Makro & Bookers who I know supply a large amount of these items, but they state that need proof that I'm a proper Trader and not a scam I suppose.

I have some business knowledge which I learnt from my place of work and I have bought & Sold on Ebay before, and like I said I wanted to use Ebay as a kind of testing place as they have the 'shop facitity' and if it didn't really take off I wouldn't lose that much.

It is only an idea but I would like to see it go further, I want to earn more and see the benefits of working for myself rather than working for a company and helping their profits increase.

soolin

Makro usually require sight of schedule D papers to register for their cards. However, I never found them particularly cheap, my £1 shop sells boxed sweets a lot cheaper than the makro wholesale prices.

Soo