What do I need to do before I can sell my handmade jewellery online and at craft fairs?

[Newbiecrafter]

Hi everyone

I'm a bit stuck and need some advice, pointers or basically need to be told what to do in order to sell my handmade jewellery items online and at craft fairs.

I am currently trying, unsuccessfully, to photograph my items, but once I have got images, I am hoping to use a sure like etsy, or any others that you might recommend.

Basically I am confused about the following:
-do I need insurance to sell on line and at craft fairs, and if so what sort?
-how do I know in advance how much postage to charge?
-on etsy, can I just sell to the uk? Or do I have to sell internationally?
-is etsy the best site for a uk based newbie to selling handmade stuff?
-do I need to register with whoever for tax purposes?
-If I sell online, how many items for sale is a good starting point?
-if I sell at a craft fair, how much stock is recommended for a first stall?

Also, would you sell through a local gift shop? There is a local one looking for local people who are into crafting, but before I go and ask if my stuff would be good enough, I wanted to know what I need to know about that way of selling. What are the advantages and disadvantages? How much should I expect the shop to take from the sale amount?

Thanks so much, in advance for any help, advice or words of wisdom. I have looked at previous threads but haven't really found the answers so thought I ask here.

Bump, I would like to know too!

I have an etsy shop (not jewellery though) so I can offer you a bit of etsy advice:

1. you can sell to the UK only but you'd be severely limiting your potential income. It's best to sell internationally (but do some research on customs restrictions first as some countries don't allow in precious metals).
2. join some teams and go in the forums a lot, it's the best way to get answers and advice and you'll find you learn a lot very quickly.
3. when setting up postage costs use the post office price finder page on the royal mails website, they have a very easy to use guide.

Good luck! Jewellery is an extremely over saturated market on etsy but if you work hard at it I'm sure you'll get there!

There is a British version of Etsy, it's called Folksy but I am not sure how much traffic it gets. I can't say for certain but you can probably decide where you will agree to ship on Etsy.

Good luck! :)

Also, if you sell through etsy you can get lots of your other questions answered by their help pages, reading the guidance as you set up your shop or by contacting the support team directly. For example you don't need insurance but you do need to set up shop policies to cover yourself if anything goes wrong (guidance is available on this), you do need to pay tax but only after you've earnt a certain amount (guidance available on this too).
You can also get lots of advice about how to approach brick & mortar shops with your product and advice on whether your photos are good enough/how to improve them.

If you're selling at craft fairs you basically need enough stock to fill a table! Some fairs sell half tables so that might be an option if you're not confident you have enough. Call round a few fairs and enquire 1) how much a table costs (you need to know you'll be able to at least make enough money to cover the cost of the table, or be prepared to make a loss) 2) whether there are already any jewellery traders attending and if so how many (you don't want loads of competition) 3) what the dimensions of the table are (that way you can set up a practise stall at home to try out different ways of presenting your stock).

Feel free to PM me if you want any more etsy advice or to look at my shop, etc. I admin for a team on there too.

Many craft fairs will require you to have public liability insurance before they will let you sell with them and I would get insurance in any case. I had mine with Direct Line in the first year and then used this insurance:

www.hencilla.co.uk/unions/a-n/air/ppl/

If you subscribe to AIR (Artists Information Company) you get insurance cover as well. I don't know how much it costs now, but it was about £35 per annum a couple of years ago.

You will need to register as self employed with HMRC and complete a yearly self assessment tax return. It's very simple to do and not as much hassle as you would think. This might be helpful:

<a class="break-all" href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.hmrc.gov.uk/selfemployed/register-selfemp.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.hmrc.gov.uk/selfemployed/register-selfemp.htm

The forums on Folksy are very helpful and geared towards UK sellers, so I would go on there and ask a few questions. It's a while since I've looked at Folksy, so no idea what it's like as a selling platform these days.

Most craft fair tables are about 6 ft X 2 ft, so I would do a mock up at home and see whether it looks like enough stock and how you would display it.

As for postage, I would pack up a few items as you would for posting, weigh and measure it and see what the RM website says about costs. Only charge what it costs you, as customers hate overcharging - RM costs plus small amount for packaging.

I think that will do for now.

I had a stall selling crafts a while back. You will need public liability insurance for some events, I needed mine for a street market but that was a weekly thing. I got it for about £50 for a year I think. Also, re. approaching shops, do NOT ' go and ask if my stuff would be good enough', show them what you have, tell them you're selling online and that you'd like to offer them the opportunity to get involved! Make them see they would be missing out if they didn't stock your things! It's so hard to big yourself up like that I know but if they think you're not confident in what you're selling they won't want it. Good luck!

Wow! Thanks so much for all your replies. You're all amazing! I sometimes wonder what I would do without MN.

I felt a bit silly for asking to be honest, as there are so many websites about various things but I just couldn't get the answers I needed so really do appreciate your help.

I'm still struggling with getting good photos, but improving slightly with each day, so hopefully I'll be setting up on an online site soon.

Thanks again for sharing your experiences and thoughts. Awesomer, I would love to see your online shop, so will PM you soon.

Hope you all have a lovely evening. It's a bit cold here so hope you're all warm and cosy wherever you are. xxx

With your photos, try a sunny day, in natural sunlight with no flash on your camera.

I do this then run them through Google Picasa (free) to crop, watermark and sharpen up colours.

Thanks Gemma.

I have been trying to do that, but the colours seem to get washed out. Also, I have some dark red stones that always look black. So pale colours become muted, and dark colours lose their definition, if that makes sense.

Thanks for the tip about picasa. Also, is watermarking necessary? I hadn't thought of that..

Thanks so much for your help.
Xx

In my house the sun, during the day, is on the front of the house, my photo taking spot is on a piece of white or pink felt on the front window.

Try taking your photos on a different background and also slightly angling the camera for different shots.

I watermark my photos since I caught another etsy shop using one of my photos!!

Lots of people on FB take photos with a stategically placed business card to stop other sellers using their photos.

Ooh! That's a bit cheeky of them!

Thanks for the tips on taking photos. We also have the sun pat the front of our house, so will try the windowsill tips. Thanks.

Can I ask, how long did it take before you had business cards and branding sorted? I'm always thinking about this sort of thing, but am no where near deciding on what I want so hoping this won't stop me from having a go at selling.

Thanks again, I really appreciate all your advice and help.

Xxx

You also need to use the macro setting on your camera to pick small/fine details up.

Business cards and branding? - whenever Vistaprint have a sale or free offers (my stall banners were something like £3.50 each)

Thanks Gemma, that's brilliant!

Xxx

Hi all, I know I’m 4 years behind you on this post but just wanted to say thank you for the answers to the same questions I’ve been asking myself! Hope you’re all succeeding in your craft sales and having fun making them 🤗xx