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Business founders/entrepreneurs

Best and cheapest way to set up.a shop system?

6 replies

CornishTeaTime · 29/05/2024 18:59

Just that....I have a few items I want to start selling but want a more professional edge and ordering system in place.

Any suggestions?

OP posts:
MyKingdomforaNameChange · 30/05/2024 08:36

What sort of items are you selling, are they made by you? And how many is a few?
There are various places you can sell but what type of thing and what amount will dictate a little bit.
For example, I design and print household items, and sell on Etsy, Ebay, Amazon Handmade and my own website. If you are a crafter I would suggest one of the three companies to start with as your own website is quite expensive, and it's hard to drive your own traffic unless you have a super niche or in demand product, or a major SM following.
Happy to answer any questions if you think I might be able to help although I'm no expert :)

CornishTeaTime · 30/05/2024 14:12

@MyKingdomforaNameChange hi thank you for your reply. I'm looking at selling journals/journal books aimed at readers. I've done my research and know my target audience and there is a demand. I am just searching for wholesale/bulk buy companies to buy from. I have a marketing plan and am really confident in this

Can I ask:
Where do you purchase your household items to personalise?
Any recommendations of where I could look?
How do you ship/post?
Do you have payment into a separate business account?

I think you're right I should start/dip my toe by setting up on the sites you mention and see how it goes.

Etsy - what are the fees?
Ebay - do you have to set up as a business
Amazon Handmade - Oooo sounds interesting again how does this work?

OP posts:
MyKingdomforaNameChange · 30/05/2024 15:41

Oh that sounds good!

I buy from a number of different wholesalers - Longforte mainly, although I do lots of mugs, coasters, clocks etc so I don't know if they'd have what you're looking for. To find wholesalers I really just typed mugs wholesale uk into Google, and went from there!

I ship through Royal Mail, and always tracked, usually Tracked 48. I buy labels online and have a thermal label printer as it's so much easier that hand writing addresses and getting a label from the Post Office.

Etsy fees are quite complicated, but this will give you a good idea - scroll to the bottom for fees on other sites - https://www.ebayfeescalculator.com/uk-etsy-calculator/

I set us as a business on Ebay. I know there are people who don't, but if you are clearly selling stuff to make money, they could close your account if they realise. I wasn't willing to take the risk. It's around £30 a month, their help pages are really good so you can read all about it there :)

Amazon Handmade is Amazon's attempt to capture some of Etsy's business. The main thing is that you have to apply and be approved to sell on Handmade. If you don't get approved you could always sell on the main Amazon site if your products are suitable - I can't advise on that though as I've ever done that.

The main thing I do is send everyone who buys from me a business card with my website address on, and everything is a bit cheaper there, so hopefully repeat buyers will come there instead of Etsy Ebay and AH - fees are cheaper there so eventually I'm hoping most of my sales will be via the website. It's worth waiting to open one though until you know if your business is working, as initial setup is quite expensive and you need to know you'll have the customers.

Hope that all helps - please ask if I've made anything sound really confusing!

UK Etsy Fee Calculator | Updated on 02 Jan 2023

Free tool to calculate your total profit after Etsy listing, Etsy payment, Offsite Ads, Etsy Ads, VAT and PayPal fees when selling on Etsy UK.

https://www.ebayfeescalculator.com/uk-etsy-calculator

MyKingdomforaNameChange · 30/05/2024 15:43

God please ignore typos - one of my cats is determined to sit on my keyboard...

samhollis · 05/06/2024 14:31

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This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

CornishTeaTime · 06/06/2024 17:26

Fab advice!

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