Selling bears

[LouLou]

Hello everyone!
I was wandering if I could pick all your minds for just a moment :) My town holds a market every August which has lots of crafty stalls etc. and is very popular! I would like a small stall selling my hand made bears just to spread a bit of beary love through the community:6045: But I was wandering what rules/laws I will come up against? Also if anyone has any helpful advice I would be very grateful! I'm lost as to where to start

Thankyou
Lucy xxx

[Rich1988]

Hi Lucy

Have not actually sold my bears yet but it's something I'm really looking forward to.
Obviously there's the usual rules of sale and you may want to consider liability Insurance given that you looking to go into a market place.

In addition specifically with Teddy bears where they have glass eyes, or joints etc. be sure to state that they're not suitable for children under 14 years of age and are made as collectable items only.

I'm sure the more experience sellers will be able to help more on this and in fact I look forward to the replies myself.

Good luck with the stall though, you'll have to let us know how you get on.

Richard
x

[Ruth]

Hi Lucy ,
This could be quite a complicated answer , especially with regards to anyone who wants to start selling their bears . If it isn't going to be just a "one-off" you will need to become a Sole Trader , and register as self employed .... and get a boring tax return once a year ! A lot of people take a chance by not making themselves known to the tax man , but if you visit the HMRC site, getting any income from bears would come under "getting a 2nd income" which is a notifiable change in tax status. I think you have to register as a sole-trader within 3 months of starting your business.Of course it doesn't necessarily mean you become liable for any tax (hurrah! :6013:) it just means everything is "above board"

Anyone yawning yet !?
Richard is quite correct in stating that you need to label something along the lines of "collector's item only - not suitable for children under 14 due to small parts" There are really stringent rules on child safe products , and most artist pieces are only for collectors - you could try checking The Toy Makers Guild.
If you are intending to get a website at some point you would need to look in to distance selling rules too.
Some time ago a lot of these things were discussed on the British Bears on the Net forum - you could try joining and looking through the "Business of Bears" threads (it isn't really an active forum currently)

Don't get down-hearted by all the rules ; remember it's only a small part of selling bears - the best bits are making them , and seeing a very happy customer who is delighted with their new friend ! :6026:

Mini Hugs ,
Ruth