Anyone have an Etsy or Folksy account?

lindos90

Just wondering if anyone sells items via an Etsy or Folksy account and can give me any advice about the best way of running an account and the fees involved please?

I'm fairly crafty and have made items in the past for fundraising for a PTA when my children were in Primary school etc. I'd now like to give it a go for myself, maybe making the odd item in an evening while the TV is on, being a bit more productive than scrolling through facebook! 

I have considered alternatives like selling locally, through a craft fair or similar, but I would need a fair amount of items already made, to fill a stall. I would much prefer to do things on a small scale, more like a hobby, definitely less than £1k a year, and even added to my current very ad-hock zero hour job, I would still be way under the threshold to pay tax or national insurance and VAT. 

What other implications would there be for me to set up an account? Would I need to have a business account with my bank? Would I need to get some kind of public liability insurance/indemnity for my items?

It's something I would genuinely like to learn more about, to see if it's viable to have a go. Hope I can get a few pointers  

soolin

I've never sold on folksy but I do sell on etsy, their fee structure is here:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/legal/fees

I find the site very slow, but since it only costs about 16p (the conversion from 20 cents) per listing for 3 months it's worth letting things sit there. I  don't promote or pay for extra visibility , which might be why I find it slow. However the prices achieved are good.

As for the trading allowance, remember that;s turnover from all sources, not income, so only just over £19 a week , after that you would need to prepare basic accounts, but if all your income from various sources is less than your allowances you wanted pay tax, anddepending on total income you probably wouldn't pay NI either. VAT doesn't come into it at this level, there would be no point at all in being registered.

Technically yes you need a business account, but frankly, if you aren't taking in more than £19 a week anyway I wouldn't bother unless the bank asks you to.

Spoonie_Turtle

soolin said:

As for the trading allowance, remember that;s turnover from all sources, not income, so only just over £19 a week , after that you would need to prepare basic accounts, but if all your income from various sources is less than your allowances you wanted pay tax, anddepending on total income you probably wouldn't pay NI either. VAT doesn't come into it at this level, there would be no point at all in being registered.

Just to clarify for the OP, that's from trading (self-employment, casual services, etc.), not employment as they mention a zero-hour job.
(https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tax-free-allowances-on-property-and-trading-income#trade)

lindos90

Thank you both, thats really helpful! Lots more planning and learning to do, very grateful for your replies and somewhere to start  

soolin

Spoonie_Turtle said:

soolin said:

As for the trading allowance, remember that;s turnover from all sources, not income, so only just over £19 a week , after that you would need to prepare basic accounts, but if all your income from various sources is less than your allowances you wanted pay tax, anddepending on total income you probably wouldn't pay NI either. VAT doesn't come into it at this level, there would be no point at all in being registered.

Just to clarify for the OP, that's from trading (self-employment, casual services, etc.), not employment as they mention a zero-hour job.
(https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tax-free-allowances-on-property-and-trading-income#trade)

Thank you for clarifying , my post could have been misleading .