Now old Tawnyowl has moved into the import market,sometimes a little exporting after buying a few goods from China.

I did not think I ever would but I cannot resist their prices.

Watches and other articles on a small scale,just in case the Taxman is watching i did say small scale.You never know where they are these Tax Men from what i have read. Then i sell to my friends,online or on the car boot.

Now of course i want sales and even compete the Chinese if possible out of business to win sales from wherever.

But no matter how i try am convinced that i am on an unfair playing field.In one way.

How can the Chinese businessman or lady ship goods half way across the world so cheaply when i try to sell items but sometimes the postage makes me frown when only going to the next town.Postage costs are holding me back.

Now a year ago i did say to my postmaster who had done the job for decades.Hey Mr Postmaster how come your parcel delivery service over 1 or two kilo say is so damn expensive.Do you not want to compete,do you want to let competitors take your business away.

He said it is the cost of Pensions,that is why they are so high.But surely you have to compete not let that part of the market be ripped away.

I thought when people pay pension contributions the money goes into a pot and the wise ones invest so plenty is available when employees retire.

Now of course he may just have been trying to calm me down,there was a big queue by then behind me.

May have just been saying anything to get rid of me,but always found him truthful and a pleasant chap.

Another thought out of my head.Think what you like about my one thought for today.And say what you think.

I am sure there are many wise ones out there want to put me right.

Carry on, i do not mind.My skin lately has got a little thicker,i can take it.

Tawnyowl.

To be one of the large containers on a ship from China to the UK/EU does not cost much and i think many Chinese wholesalers have warehouse facilities in Europe. So when they receive an order, it gets shipped from wherever they have stock.

Delivery costs in the UK are a problem, so you have to find a way to sell that works. Car boot sales, market stall in local town.

You are not the only one doing this and you are up against people who sell in larger volumes.

If you are trading even on a small scale, do you have Insurance ? What if a product you sold causes injury to someone e.g a child swallowing something, someone suffering toxic shock due to allergic reaction. If you search there is a market traders policy for a one off premium, but you would have to check it is suitable.

Hi Unclebulgaria67-I consider myself to be a honest bloke.

I am registered with the taxman for this kind of business.

However your advice on insurance has just caught me by surprise.

My articles are immediately going to stop till i have looked into insurance and got it.

Always had Public Liability when in the Construction Industry.

Maybe 3 weeks in on trying to sell my Chinese goods.

After importing them on a very small scale.

In ten minutes those items will be off line.

It is such a shock i may just pack that part in.

Question i have is do the suppliers in China have insurance.How do you tell.Do they need it.

I am now beginning to feel like Arthur Dailly,maybe time to take stock instead of rushing in.

Thanks for reminding me of a very important matter that i will look into and deal with today.

Massive learning curve and reality shock.

I will soon pick myself back up from the depths i have just gone down to.

Thanks for your post

Tawnyowl.

Remember that as the business seller of goods you are liable to the people you sell to. They can hardly sue a factory in China. You are expected to have carried out relevant checks to make sure these Chinese made goods conform to all relevant UK safety standards.

As you are a sole trader, i would guess that all the assets you own could be at risk.

The sensible approach would be to be careful with what you buy, check the products contain consumer information in English, that there are no obvious defects and conform to consumer safety standards. Keep full records of all checks you have made on products. I am sure that there must be Trading Standards or other organisations publications that provide advice to small businesses like yours. If you obtain insurance and follow all sensible steps as a retailer, then you should not have a problem.

Well as most of my selling is done on Car Boots,i would like someone to clear this matter up if you can.

My question is Do you need Public Liability or a traders licence if you sell regularly on Car Boots.

The answer i seem to be getting is.

In respect of a car boot you do not need any licences or public liability insurance in order to set up a stall whether selling new or used items. Again you just pay the pitch fee.

And,The reason you don't need a licence is that they are always on private, not public property - so your pitch payment is permission to sell.

Well as i sell on Car Boots and have yet to sell anything from China on the Online Site despite being the cheapest in Britain for one article i will abandon that.I mean you only have to wait about six weeks and you can buy it cheaper there.The public are not daft as i have found out.I have seen articles selling for ten times more than you can buy for in China.

But i suppose some do not like waiting.

So at the moment it seems if everything is as it says that i am legal.

Now i am going to check what licence you need or public liability etc for selling on Ebay or whatever online site you can name as a business seller.

I should imagine at the most it is just Public Liability.But maybe not,we will see.A lot of people seem to have asked the same question.

And there seems to be quite a lot of confusion.

I only came on to talk about Postage but many more interesting questions have arrived.

However on a market it seems to be a different matter.

Market stall licence

https://www.gov.uk/market-stall-licence

Public Liability.

Insurance

Public liability insurance is a legal requirement for anyone setting up a market stall - this will cover you in case of any accidents or injuries to the public during trading.

You would have thought it was the same on a car boot really as people could trip over your stall.

But maybe that is where the private land bit comes in.

How strange,if correct.

There are the legal requirements regarding licences depending on where you are selling, but that is nothing to do with liability relating to the products you sell.

The only reason i mentioned it was because China is known for producing products that don't always conform to UK/EU standards and if i were selling them to people, i would want an insurance policy to cover the risk, just in case the assurances i received from the Chinese company about the quality of goods, turned out not to be true.

I have just seen your 2nd post unclebulgaria67,i was writing as you posted.

Thanks for posting.

I feel many people would or have been wondering what you need to trade here and there.

Some good advice. Thanks for posting.I hope everything will become clear as time goes on.

I mean,imagine America you would be sued to hell and back if anything went wrong.

And the goods received from China are sealed and sold without checks,or would have been.

I get lots of stuff at discounted prices. Before Amazon changed the rules on reviews, I did this in exchange for a honest opinion of the goods. While some of the goods are FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) and they arrive the next day (under normal circumstances) and free as I have Prime.

The goods that are not FBA generally come from China and I can say with some certainty, some are crap quality. I ordered a 1.5m spider web for Halloween and while it looked good, it wasn't fire safe. People use candles to get a spooky effect. I cut a piece off the web and set fire to it. It went up very quickly and if this was anywhere near a child, the flaming bits that fall off it could easily burn them. I left a review to reflect this.

Goods from China are stockpiled until they have a large container load. That container is then normally held up at Chinese customs before being loaded onto a ship. I ordered some other stuff in August. It still isn't here.

If I'm buying direct from China, I usually stick to under £15 as there are no customs duty or VAT and certainly no Royal Mail £8 surcharge

This article is helpful for info.

http://www.liveforprofits.com/online-sellers-the-insurance-policies-you-need/

This relates to online, but still relevant if you are selling in other ways.

If you are selling mostly at car boots and locally, rather than online, i think the Market Traders Association has a policy.

This article is helpful for info.

 

http://www.liveforprofits.com/online-sellers-the-insurance-policies-you-need/

 

This relates to online, but still relevant if you are selling in other ways.

 

If you are selling mostly at car boots and locally, rather than online, i think the Market Traders Association has a policy.

It certainly is helpful,thank you very much for your research.

I feel many are totally confused about what they need.

Well, that link certainly clears things up.Many will not know what they need to trade here there and everywhere.

As i have noticed on the web by the questions being asked.

And to cover themselves for all eventualities and possibilities that hopefully will not arise in today's world of claims.

It certainly is helpful,thank you very much for your research.

I feel many are totally confused about what they need.

Well that link certainly clears things up.Many will not know what they need to trade here there and everywhere.

As i have noticed on the web by the questions being asked.

I suspect that many People don't bother. They take the risk and if the worst happens, if they are sole traders they could face bankruptcy.

Pretty good news for those that post heavier parcels and like using Royal Mail.

Just received this email.This is a huge reduction and needed doing.Ongoing though not just for a few months.

Heavier Parcels are soon going to have a much lighter price

From 17th July you will be able to send a Medium Parcel between 2kgs and 5kgs for only £6.29*

We’re reducing the cost of sending a Medium Parcel by over 50% from £13.75 to £6.29. From 17th July to 16th October 2017 the cost of a 2nd Class Medium Parcel 2kgs -5kgs purchased online will be reduced to £6.29, meaning you can send more for less. 2nd Class Signed For, Medium Parcels will cost £7.29, reduced from £14.75.

Our Medium Parcels format is ideal for sending larger items between 2kgs – 5kgs great for bulkier gifts and items sold online.

*2nd Class Medium Parcels purchased online (61cms, 46cms, 46cms). 2kgs to 5kgs. Available online only from 17/07/17 to

16/10/17.

Now i do not know if others do this.

Everything i post under 2 Kilo goes Royal Mail.

Everything over 2 Kilo i hunt around like a dog after a bone for the cheapest price.To save my customers a lot of money.

Otherwise sometimes the goods i sell cost more in postage than the article and raises my blood pressure thinking of my lost sales.

But i do like using Royal Mail.They have never let me down.Others maybe but perhaps i have been lucky.

And of course if they did compensation would be sought as quick as possible.

Now i will alter my goods over 2 Kilo to use Royal Mail for the period.Now if they were to say this will continue for the Christmas period it would make my life easier for sure and perhaps many others as well.

And save me altering things again.And save me such a large amount of time.Which can cost a few pounds for sure.

Time is money,it is not that i am tight or anything like that.

I do not have shares in Royal Mail but for those that do this could prove profitable perhaps for you.

Stack them high and flog them all, onwards.

Post ten times as many articles means more profit,more jobs perhaps.Happy days for all.

Lovely Jubbly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S24EJjsAZdw

Postage from China is very cheap probably because the Chinese PO is still government controlled unlike here where it is now a company enterprise. For me Post Office prices to Asia for parcels make my goods uncompetitive outside Europe - and the same applies to private courier companies. Anyone exporting to these areas is at a disadvantage regarding shipping rates - anyone importing has a built in advantage with the low freight/shipping charges from China, Vietnam, Cambodia etc.

A little news from Royal Mail.Every little helps.

I must alter my prices as i am still using the summer rates.

Or switch back to other couriers.

I do not like the idea of losing a couple of pounds.

Still expensive but a reduction all the same.

I am rushing a bit today but will come back to it and compare other couriers.And any views anyone feel free to post away.

The new promotional price of £8.79* for 2nd Class Royal Mail Medium Parcels, online only, is available from today, 17th October 2017, until 16th January 2018. 2nd Class Signed for Medium Parcels will also be available for £9.79* during the same period.

The Medium Parcels format is ideal for sending larger items between 2kgs – 5kgs, great for bulkier gifts and larger items sold online. Our new Medium Parcels promotional price is available throughout the Christmas period until 16th January 2018.

simple answer is in the UK you have the WAIT for it:- " ROYAL MAIL" = right Royal Con artist, over price non service and we are too big to argue with, yes we have services which we charge heavy for and fail to deliver, such as signature for letters./.goods over seas for an extra heavy payment, and guaranteed to be delivered with 7 days??? well good job I sent normal letter to wife that I was arriving in the far east within 10 days, as the so called special delivery etc etc arrived 14 days after I got there! 8 days before my return,

On my return was in the small local post office and heard a manager say to the assistant have you sold any of the special service system since introduced?? yes to the gentleman there! How did you find it I was asked = well I am here to make a complaint OH???????? not our fault was the response as it must of been the overseas mail service, Oh! yes I stated, well here is the envelope, stamped received at incoming country date/time, forwarded local distribution centre on date/time/ delivered with 24 hrs date and time .. must be wrong I was told?????????? and that was decade or so ago! even sent for large UK company box of china ( with full insurance cover offered by Royal Mail" it arrived in the USA with couple damaged items, returned back to us Royal Mail looked at it and stated you have to prove damaged this end? no claim, even attached a letter from sender that it was the best packed box received from any of the UK companies.

i have to admit to importing tons of stuff around this time of year

dont have to worry about mr taxman too much as its all gifts and is mostly for the kids

this year has amazed me as most of it has arrived within a week of ordering, yet it took 9 days for the letter to get to the DLA people this time in the country...

have to admit to some of it being knock offs, the chinese lego has got so good that the kids still havent realised it wasnt real lego they got last year