Hi everyone
I want to start selling my beaded jewellery on line, but am put off by all the conditions and rules.
I just need some advice on what a complete beginner needs to do especially with insurance, home insurance and tax etc.
I am a complete beginner so just need the basics, I am not going to be earning a fortune its just i have made so much and there is only so much you wear yourself!
I will be grateful for any help.
Thank you
welcome to Folksy…I cannot help you myself but I am sure someone can…I am replying to bump up the message for other people to see…if it disappears down the list then come back on here, make a comment to bump it to the top of the thread again x
The first thing I would do is notify the powers that be that you are going to be self-employed and on what date. As far as I remember, you are allowed to start trading without doing so as long as you do it within a certain time, but you will have enough to think about so I would get it done first! When I did it it was a phone call but might even be online now, so look up ‘register as self employed’ and see who to contact. They don’t need much info and as I recall were very helpful, in fact seemed very pleased that I was doing things properly. Definitely not as scary as it sounds (and believe me I am a scaredy cat).
Start straight away recording your income and outgoings, get yourself into the habit of doing it and it will not be a big chore. You will have to fill out a self assessment form every year but again nowhere near as scary as it sounds. The amount of tax you pay will obviously depend on what other income you have.
I am not sure about home insurance, I think if you have customers visit your home or you have expensive equipment that would not be covered by normal contents insurance, you would need to look at it. I’m sure someone else will help us out on this one.
Welcome to Folksy and good luck with your shop. xxx
PS I just looked this up, I think this would be the place to start.
Thank you for the info. Still sounds scary.
I think you have to tell your home insurers if you work from home (even though you are just selling on line.
Anyone know about public liability when it comes to selling jewellery?
Thank you
If you decide to do fairs, some will insist on public liability insurance. It is not essential for online selling.
When selling online you need to comply with distance selling regulations, so it is worth reading up on that, you also need to familiarise yourself with data protection/privacy policies.
And if you plan to sell overseas you need to look into the necessary customs requirements for the countries concerned.
It all sounds a lot, but the relevant bits are quite small and easy to grasp.
Yes, you should let your your house insurers know that you are running a business from home.
Re public and product liability insurance, there are quite a few specialist companies who do this for small craft businesses. Ian Wallace is one which I can recommend.
Some insurers quite simply will refuse you insurance if you say you work from home, no ifs, no buts. We now use Admiral but did have to change to them as our previous insurers (Lloyds ) stopped our insurance, with immediate effect when we asked . If you don’t tell them and your house falls down they will probably not give you a penny.
Hi ya.
Just to mention I have had an online shop for a couple of years as well as doing craft fairs & haven’t ever registered as self-employed. I’m a stay at home mum & I don’t make anywhere near enough to make it worth registering. There as an article on the folksy blog about tax & selling online which is well worth a read to see if you fall into the category of needing to declare that you are self employed or not. Also this article was posted on another thread which may be of interest for you https://taxaid.org.uk/guides/information/a-starting-point-for-the-self-employed/self-employed/trading-allowance
Cheers Lou
Thank you Louise
Like you I don’t expect to earn anywhere near £1000 and i work part time and don’t earn enough to pay tax.
Did you inform your house insurers?
I haven’t done but it’s not something I’ve thought about because I don’t really think of it as a business. It’s a hobby I do & every now & then someone buys something! While I think about it I have insurance with Craftcover.com which specialises in insurance for crafters & wasn’t particularly expensive.
Good luck! 
Just remember that the aim of all insurers is to take your money and then be as creative as possible in reasons for not paying you any back.
So if you tick the box which says no business is done from this address you will Not be insured.
And they can prove you have a business as you have a shop on here
Just saying.
Hi,
Welcome to Folksy! I am a newbie on here myself. As an independent craft and gift retailer and also a designer/maker, I sell online and as a pop-up trader at a few events and also have some of my stock sold by other bricks and mortar businesses. I use the Market Traders Association for my public liability insurance, which also covers product liability.
I wish you lots of luck with your Folksy Store! 
Thanks Joy, I’ll have a look at my home insurance!
This is a useful link, thanks for that.
Public liability is mainly for craft fairs. I have a policy that covers product insurance also. This protects me from claims that my jewellery has caused injury to a customer. It’s never happened but it is worth having. Hope that helps a but. My policy came from Direct Line.