The Wholesale Forums

[Manny]

Originally Posted by teja11

i was just reading your checklist and im shocked by how much stuff needs to be done to start a business on ebay. I was thinking about buying a batch of shoes to sell on ebay hoping it might bring in a small income of around £200 pw i thought it was just a case of buying the shoes at a good price, taking good pics and hopefully selling. do i need to do all the things you've metioned in your checklist ?

From what I understand from reading about, you have up to three months to register yourself as self-employed, so I don't think you need to panic too much about crossing all the 't's and dotting all the 'i's within these first few days of selling. For the last month I've just been selling all the rubbish from my attic on e-bay, but I've also been searching out deals on certain items and selling them along with the rest of it. I only really decided what type of things I wanted to sell today (stuff around the house is running out and I'm fed up of packing up awkwardly shaped items and china!) and have started going through the 'official' motions, but that's only because I like to have all loose ends tied up sooner rather than later. I don't think anyone would bat an eyelid if you started trading now, Teja, just take all the other stuff in small steps (but keep an eye on your calendar )

[teja11]

thanx for that...... just one more question, do i have to be making a specific amount of money to be classed as self employed?

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by teja11

thanx for that...... just one more question, do i have to be making a specific amount of money to be classed as self employed?

No.

Being self-employed isn't income dependant although from your point of view, the more you are making, the better.

[Jester]

Originally Posted by Manny

From what I understand from reading about, you have up to three months to register yourself as self-employed, so I don't think you need to panic too much about crossing all the 't's and dotting all the 'i's within these first few days of selling. For the last month I've just been selling all the rubbish from my attic on e-bay, but I've also been searching out deals on certain items and selling them along with the rest of it. I only really decided what type of things I wanted to sell today (stuff around the house is running out and I'm fed up of packing up awkwardly shaped items and china!) and have started going through the 'official' motions, but that's only because I like to have all loose ends tied up sooner rather than later. I don't think anyone would bat an eyelid if you started trading now, Teja, just take all the other stuff in small steps (but keep an eye on your calendar )

Yeah your right in saying that it has to be within 3 months of start of trading. I'll be registering within the next few days, as I can't wait to have that glowing feeling inside where I can say "I am self-employed, and I own my own business!"

J

[K90]

As a new guy here at TWF I found the information in this thread really helpful - Thanks

[Jester]

Originally Posted by K90

As a new guy here at TWF I found the information in this thread really helpful - Thanks

You're welcome, I hope others who are in the same boat as me can benefit from this.

J

[Lewis_]

Not sure how well stocked you are on your postage supplies, but I'd go to your local post office and ask for a role of "recorded delivery stickers" they're more than happy to hand them out freely.
It saves a LOT of time in the post office, trust me on that one

Also worth buying 20 or stamps if you'll be sending them out that way, again saves a lot of time in the PO if you dont have to faff about with stamps

[Jester]

Originally Posted by Lewis_

Not sure how well stocked you are on your postage supplies, but I'd go to your local post office and ask for a role of "recorded delivery stickers" they're more than happy to hand them out freely.
It saves a LOT of time in the post office, trust me on that one

Also worth buying 20 or stamps if you'll be sending them out that way, again saves a lot of time in the PO if you dont have to faff about with stamps

Thats useful info, however I wasn't planning on sending everything by recorded delivery, although maybe this is a good idea, of course this would cover me for those times when items go astray, with the disadvantage of having to charge higher postage costs. Bad with the good, I suppose.

J

[Lewis_]

From experience I generally try to send the majority of orders out recorded, it adds about a pound onto the cost, but completely covers both yourself and the customer
At least give them the choice

[mickster]

Sounds good, what's your products mate?