Setting up craft business

felis

I really hope you can help me with some advice form the real life

I live since 1 year in Ireland now and I had a little craft business when I lived in Austria!
I went to fairs and sell my craft there and also over the Internet.

So, ... now.... I really like to live here in Ireland and would like to stay - so I think I should also move my little business here.

But I have some troubles to figure out how it works here.

- Do I have to have a registered business to sell on fairs and the Internet?
(I found the following informations: If I register as a business I have to register for Tax as well - which means I have to pay income tax from the first Euro I earn, and I have to sell my crafts with a Vat of 23 % on top - is that right or are there certain limits to sell without Vat and income tax - we have that in Austria - if you do not sell more that 10000 per year you do not have to pay income tax on that and also can sell your goods without vat)

-or is there maybe a income range for craft people without registering as a business?

- I will have to pay a certain percentage of my income for the health system if I come over a limit of - i think it was around 3000 euro per year.

- Do I have to add vat on exported sales - most of my sales in the Internet went to Germany

- I just got a informatin letter from the National Crafts & Design Fair in Dublin - the price for a stand is about 1650 Euro! Well I think I am really spoiled from fairs in Austria where you can get a stall for 80 - 150 Euro for a weekend where I could make about 1000 Euro income.
So I wonder how you can create the money for such hight fees .... are the sales that good at those fairs? And still if they are - I do not think I could even produce that much products to get in the fee AND have products left to sell for income (my products price is around 18 Euro)

I do hope you can share your real life experience with me....
it would help me a lot to establish my small business here.

Oh I almost forgot: I am in Co. Cork - so if you know any good fairs for selling it would be great if you could share

Thanks a lot
Sophie

looksee

Forget the National Craft and Design fair for the moment. There are loads of craft fairs and country market type places you can sell with much more reasonable charges.

Also contact Cork Corporation and ask about pop-up shops where you have access to a premises either free or for very little and have use of it to sell - there are rules about profits but you would have to ask.

You don't have to be registered as a business to sell crafts at the level you are talking about, you also do not have to get involved with VAT unless you want to - the threshold used to be €20,000, not sure what it is now. You will find that you are not liable for tax below a certain level either, again check with the tax office or http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/types_of_employment/self_employment/
lots of reliable information here.

The craft market is very quiet at the moment due to the state of the economy, but its worth a try.

You could also try craft shops and tourist shops but they will almost certainly want to do 'sale or return' and offer no real security on your items. If you can get a good relationship with someone fairly local its worth a try though.

felis

Hello!

Thanks a lot for your tips and the link as well - found lot of informations there.

I just wonder - if I do not register as a business now - can I still sell on fairs? In Austria you have to have a business if you want to sell there and I actually got controlled twice on different fairs....

All I wont is to avoid troubles but you are right the business is not big enough to pay all the things you have to - if I register it.

So if I would make lets say 15. 000 Euro volume of sales / year, and lets assume I would have 10000 Euro gains out of that - would that be a point where I should register?

I am a few years away from those numbers but - I grow every year a little bit

What I have not found is the thing with the Cork Corporation and the pop-up shops. I found their website but I do not know which department I should ask for it?

Thanks a lot for helping....
Sophie

dearg lady

I think you do need to register as a sole trader, but that's just a matter of filling in a form, check the revenue website, revenue.ie

You won't need to register for VAT until you think your turnover in a 12 month period will exceed €75,000 for goods.

looksee

http://www.westcorkcrafts.ie/christmas_pop-up.html
http://corkindependent.com/stories/item/5535/2011-44/Cork%E2%80%99s-first-pop-up-charity-shop-to-wow-shoppers

Here are a couple of examples of pop-up shops which have happened in Cork. Suggest you ring Cork Corporation and ask if anyone deals with pop-up shops. You might have to hunt around a bit, they are a newish idea and the corporation staff themselves may not know whose department it is.