The Wholesale Forums

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Hello,

After reading most of this site over the last few months, there are still some questions i need answered. You'd think the NMTF would have their own forum but alas, no. I can't find one anywhere for the UK.

First a little bio of my situation:

I have not started trading and am currently just looking into market trading. I have spent over 9 months looking into this and have sourced 4 suppliers for my goods in the USA. I understand about import duty and vat etc. The Main player out of these 4 requires me to fax any government document to prove i am currently trading before any order can be placed as i don't have a business or sellers ID. Fair enough as this keeps the wholesaler/retailer integrity. The items in question are brand name toys and stationary. Disney etc.

I've seperated this part as it's the flip side, so to speak.

The local council will only entertain any request if i have the necessary insurances for my application for a street license. These can be obtained for about £80 when joining the NMTF which i would do anyway. Then they would grant the license and i could trade on the street. After this i would approach the markets manager and apply for a pitch, probably casual at first and then regular.

Here are the questions, i hope there are some market traders out there:

1) When you join the NMTF do you get the insurances in written form? I would think this would be enough for my suppliers.

2) This seems like a catch 22 situation for me. I want to know i can supply the goods before applying to the market but if i get say $1000 worth of stock from the US and then another trader/stallholder or nearby leasehold shop objects to my presence, i can be left with no outlet for the goods.

To do it the other way round - If i obtain the streetseller license and they say "Go ahead mate! Here's a pitch for you!" i have to tell them i'm not absolutely positive my supplier will provide me the goods and even if he does, it'll take about 4 weeks to get them!! Am i missing something? Is there another way around this?

Any advice would be appreciated and a few more questions are still forthcoming but they are pointless without a resolution to this predicament.

Regards,

Jason