starting up a small online business

**Lisa Quinn** · 07-10-2009, 03:22 PM

Evanmade Jewellery sounds really good, well done x

**silver Girl** · 09-10-2009, 03:00 PM

thanks guys for all your help.
I've have one quesion I need help on , at the mo, I would accept a postal order (P.O) and cheque (C.Q) , but to be fair to the customer , I want to accept credit cards , does anyone know how can I do this ???

**Di Sandland** · 09-10-2009, 03:07 PM

Paypal, Silver Girl. I've not used Mr Site so I'm not sure how the paypal function on there works. One of the others will have the answer. Its very simple though and customers don't have to have a paypal account to use it - just a credit card.

**mizgeorge** · 09-10-2009, 03:19 PM

Mr Site comes with a built in paypal shopping cart that's very easy to use. You need to have an upgraded paypal account which can accept card payments though.

If you're selling from your site, you need to make sure you comply with distance selling regulations, which includes things like having your terms and conditions published, along with your physical address.

**silver Girl** · 14-10-2009, 11:18 AM

hi guys
thank you to all who posted and give me some help.
I'm just wordering , what rules should I have , coz I'll be making hand made jewellery and selling it, I'm worried some people won't wait for jewellery to be made , please can you give me some advice on this , thanks

**mizgeorge** · 14-10-2009, 11:29 AM

If you feel ready to sell, then it's really best to start off with pieces that are already finished, and can be accurately photographed, so that expectations are fully managed. Once you gain confidence about the whole process, you can start thinking about collections or making to order. Turnaround times vary for this depending on the complexity and price.

**Boo** · 14-10-2009, 12:02 PM

This is a good summary .pdf document created by the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) on the distance selling regulations - which as George says, you need to comply with to trade on-line legally.

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/bus...ral/oft698.pdf

**silver Girl** · 14-10-2009, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by Boo

This is a good summary .pdf document created by the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) on the distance selling regulations - which as George says, you need to comply with to trade on-line legally.

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/bus...ral/oft698.pdf

so , do I have to fill out any froms ???

cos I will selling by myself

**mizgeorge** · 14-10-2009, 01:43 PM

You need to register as self-employed. Your local tax office will be surprising helpful about taking you through this process.

**Boo** · 14-10-2009, 02:45 PM

Are you sure you're ready for this business venture silver Girl - you seem pretty unprepared for it and asking some very fundamental questions? I've been self-employed for 23 years and selling things on-line for many of the recent years and still learn things every single day and it's taken a great deal of work to get my site to the state of completion that it now is and me to feel confident enough that my business looks reasonably good to the outside world - but I'm nowhere near done yet - still a lot I can do to get it better.

As I mentioned to you in another topic, you need to master a lot more skills than you'd perhaps imagine - I do everything from maintaining and repairing my equipment to my own accounts and tax return. I have to make each piece, photograph it, retouch the photos, write some descriptive text, present it well and then market it. If it sells, I have to present it nicely to the customer, package it well and send it on its way, which needs an understanding of the postal system too. You need to be aware of your legal responsibilities and be canny with customer service.

You're going to have to be prepared for a lot of hard work and to master a great number of skills. Making the jewellery is often the easiest bit. It's certainly the most fun.