Selling mine and my sisters art and creations for a little back...

DeafLeopard

Me and my sister wishes to open up an online store to sell her loom band creations, my photography and art (As prints,originals and stock) and also if I get into making them again, possibly hair clips and handmade cards.

I'm currently looking for work in a childcare setting and I have a weekend job but I wanted to make a little extra cash, mainly to cover the cost of the price my sister paid for her loom bands but I'd like to share my art with people but to get something back from it.

I'm not a professional photographer and do it as a hobby.
I don't think the shop will be open for long and I'm not sure if we will get any sales.

Now the question is,
do I need a business licence and do I need to fill out a self-assessment tax form for being "Self-employed" still or not?

We were going to use tictail.

droopsnoot

You need to fill out a self-assessment for tax if you earn any money outside of your normal PAYE, i.e. money you haven't paid tax on. If it's a small amount, perhaps a one-off, you might be able to just call the tax office, give them the amount and they'll adjust your tax code to reclaim the tax.

Wizzbang

I would strongly consider whether there is a market for this. I have tried to do this in the past, as have friends who are crafty and there is no money in it anymore. We also tried to do craft fairs etc (people just come, look, take your ideas and don't buy). I think loom bands are so cheap and readily available, that people wouldn't want to pay much for any bracelets. Remember also that it is a fad and won't last. People will not pay much for cards because they can buy them so cheaply in the shops, it doesn't matter if they are handmade. I think the same would apply for hair accessories. I'm just saying, you have to be REALLY talented at what you do and hit some kind of niche for this kind of thing to sell nowadays.

You have to outlay so much for craft supplies and I have found (as have my friends) that you won't get your outlay back. You've also got to have a lot of room to store supplies/ items made until (IF) you can sell them. If you have your own website, what would draw people to it? Are you going to have the money to pay to have it professionally done? Don't think people will use a cheap/ free site that you have made. You're not going to have the power of Etsy for example, or show up highly in search engines.

Sorry to be so harsh, but IMHO it's a waste of time. Better to do it for your own enjoyment and that of your family and friends who can receive these items as gifts from you.

Hermia

Wizzbang wrote: »

I would strongly consider whether there is a market for this. I have tried to do this in the past, as have friends who are crafty and there is no money in it anymore. We also tried to do craft fairs etc (people just come, look, take your ideas and don't buy). I think loom bands are so cheap and readily available, that people wouldn't want to pay much for any bracelets. Remember also that it is a fad and won't last. People will not pay much for cards because they can buy them so cheaply in the shops, it doesn't matter if they are handmade. I think the same would apply for hair accessories. I'm just saying, you have to be REALLY talented at what you do and hit some kind of niche for this kind of thing to sell nowadays.

You have to outlay so much for craft supplies and I have found (as have my friends) that you won't get your outlay back. You've also got to have a lot of room to store supplies/ items made until (IF) you can sell them. If you have your own website, what would draw people to it? Are you going to have the money to pay to have it professionally done? Don't think people will use a cheap/ free site that you have made. You're not going to have the power of Etsy for example, or show up highly in search engines.

Sorry to be so harsh, but IMHO it's a waste of time. Better to do it for your own enjoyment and that of your family and friends who can receive these items as gifts from you.

Sadly, I agree. Crafts are a bit of a nightmare and not many people do well from them. I did bits and bobs for years and the big problem is you are competing with the high street. People want handmade, customised items, but they want to pay high street prices. I used to make personalised embroidered cards, but people expected me to be able to make them for £2!

I also agree re: the loom bands thing. They are a fad and surely the fun is in the making them. I also imagine that many people could find a youngster to make sone for them.

If you really want to have a go I would not go down the website route. Why would people go to your site when there are sites like Folksy and etsy with 100s of crafts on? Are there no local outlets? In my town a couple of the tea shops will sell some crafts for you. The community centre also has a craft fair at the weekend and the stalls are pretty cheap.

soolin

Sorry to add to the general bleakness, but just about everyone is trying to sell crafts and photos nowadays.

By all means give it a go, but personally I would caution against spending any money at all on websites etc, you won't get it back.

QuackQuackOops

DeafLeopard wrote: »

Me and my sister wishes to open up an online store to sell her loom band creations, my photography and art (As prints,originals and stock) and also if I get into making them again, possibly hair clips and handmade cards.

I'm currently looking for work in a childcare setting and I have a weekend job but I wanted to make a little extra cash, mainly to cover the cost of the price my sister paid for her loom bands but I'd like to share my art with people but to get something back from it.

I'm not a professional photographer and do it as a hobby.
I don't think the shop will be open for long and I'm not sure if we will get any sales.

Now the question is,
do I need a business licence and do I need to fill out a self-assessment tax form for being "Self-employed" still or not?

We were going to use tictail.

Absolutely go for it. There are 1000s of people out there who are always looking for something to spend their pennies on and you are as good a person as any.

As for business registation no, you do not need to do anything initially so long as you are only earning enough to pay for your supplies. ie you are selling items so that you can buy more craft/photography supplies.

If you earn more than that, then you will have to start looking into registering and declaring your income.

Make an enquiry with the tax office at first and let them know your intentions.
Quite often they will tell you to come back in 3 months time, as so many people have these ideas of running a business but within 3 months, the idea has gone, and it is not worth the time and paperwork sometimes but let them make that decision.

It is a relatively easy process and you have oodles of help available left, right and centre.

Your biggest hurdle is getting people to find you. Its no good having all the nicest items on display on a great website if noone knows you exist, so building web traffic is essential to sales but there is lots of help on this too.

All you can do is give it a go...noone gets anywhere without trying

Good Luck

Wizzbang

QuackQuackOops wrote: »

As for business registation no, you do not need to do anything initially so long as you are only earning enough to pay for your supplies. ie you are selling items so that you can buy more craft/photography supplies.

If you earn more than that, then you will have to start looking into registering and declaring your income.

Incorrect, you must registered as soon as possible after you start selling your items- regardless of whether you make a profit or a loss. If you do not, you will face penalties. You are running a business if you are selling items, it does not matter if you are just doing it to cover your supply costs. You will need to declare all sorts of info and decide on a business name. I would suggest looking on HMRC, BusinessLink and Citizen's Advice websites for full info.

DeafLeopard

Wizzbang, We're using tictail and a lot of designer stores overseas use them, and they are really professional looking - I've already looked into them and was impressed as it offers professional sites.
I will be advertising this link as much as I can since the website is just a storefront so we'd have to actually market it.

Today I have signed with a childcare agency and will be classed as "self-employed", would that account for this as well or do I have to do another form? On the form it says "I have another job or receive a state or occasional pension" so I ticked it (I work in a shop on weekends but will do temp work in the week).

DeafLeopard

sorry to double post but I'm not spending any money on websites just for the fact of if these ideas don't sell.

Wizzbang

I have my own business, but do money-making things on the side, like swag bucks, selling bits on eBay, mystery shopping etc. I just put it all on the books for my business, since it's all self-employment and my accountant does the books all as one. Someone will correct me if you aren't supposed to do it that way, but my accountant hasn't said it's wrong.

I believe the key thing is that you are registered as self-employed for the purposes of tax. You will need to keep accurate books (records of profit and loss). You will need to do self-assessment for tax, or get an accountant to do it for you- they send you the forms once you are registered. I opt to pay my self-employed NI conts, but I don't have to because my earnings are below the threshold. You will have that choice, an accountant can advise. But, consider if you get sick if you haven't paid them you can't claim benefits. I also don't like to take out of the system without putting back, when I use it a great deal (NHS). HTH

whitewing

Will people buy loom bracelets? Surely the main attraction is that children make them themselves?