Selling handmade items...

[mummydinosaurRawr]

I'm considering making some craft items to sell. I don't want to over-complicate things, as this is just a hobby I'm hoping to make a bit of extra cash from, but I don't want to fall foul of any regulations.

Do I need to register as a business in some way?

How do I find out which products need to meet certain safety / quality standards; and if these are needed, how do I go about it?

Any advice welcome.

You can operate as a sole trader - no need to register in order to do that. Your local adult education service may offer courses for people looking to run their own business - worth checking and it may be free.

Just google what you want to make + regulations. Or find other sellers and see what regs they apply as a starter.
Bear in mind that if you sell online there are legals there as well as any related to the type of product eg food.

@GrimDamnFanjo I tried googling the product + regulations, nothing relevant seemed to come up. I take it there are some products that aren't regulated? Looking at similar items on Etsy and no one is mentioning any testing standard or anything.

I'm a bit of an over-thinker. Panicking about selling something that doesn't conform, but aware that I might only sell a couple (or none at all!) so don't want to create unnecessary work & complications.

Cheers @wowfudge is there a certain point at which you need to declare earnings? It will probably only be a tiny amount / value of sales, but you never know!

Taking a stab in the dark here...homemade fabric face masks?

If you google the government guidance about how and wear to wear them it has info about manufacturing compliance (basically, fuck all)

Due to the complexity of the different contexts in which COVID-19 can spread and the rapidly changing and growing evidence base on the effectiveness of face masks and coverings, there are currently no UK product standards for face coverings.

That last paragraph was a quote from the government website, not me being a total pompous fuckwit!

Thanks @FuckBubbleOrBubbleFuck think the home made face mask market might be saturated already, I'm a bit late! It is fabric though, blankets to be precise. Does anyone know if they need to be fire retardant?

Why not join a few of the facebook craft groups and ask there?
As soon as your sales (not turnover) reach £1,000 you have to register with HMRC as a sole trader

As soon as your sales (not turnover) reach £1,000 you have to register with HMRC as a sole trader

Sorry if I'm being thick but I thought sales and turnover are the same thing?