How to make extra money from home with a Facebook, eBay or Etsy business
Here is how to start balancing your home and work life by selling in an online shop
RUNNING an online business from home is a great way of fitting your work around your life.
Brit businesses with up to nine employees made 272 billion pounds last year, so here is how to get in on the action.
Lizzie Penny co-founder of Hoxby, a company that manages 400 self-employed people over 30 countries, told ...
“Previously, people felt lucky to be part of a big organisation but now we all want more control and more freedom,”>
“We want to pick projects that excite us, and work where and when we choose. Self employment brings autonomy.”
When do I need to start paying tax?
If you work from home as your only income you will have to start paying tax on anything over £11,000
If you run your business from home you need to pay tax on your income in the same way you normally would.
Is anyone exempt from paying council tax?
IF you are over the age of 18 and either own or rent your own home, you must pay council tax.
But if you live on your own, or only live with a child and no other adult, you can get 25 per cent off your bill.
Full-time students and apprentices don't have to pay any council tax.
People with a severe mental disability are also exempt, as are people who are caring for someone with a disability who is not a spouse, partner, or child under 18.
The big difference is on what you can claim as tax free expenses.
The type of things you can claim as expenses include:
- Stationary
- Phone bills
- Raw materials or stock that you are going to sell on
- Insurance or bank charges
- Heating
- Lights
- Business rates
- Website costs
You have to keep track of when you are using these costs for your business and not your personal life.
If your phone bill for the year was £200.
But £50 of that was used for business purposes.
You can claim that £50 as an expense and you will only pay tax on the remaining £150
How to get a start-up business loan
IF you need financial support in setting up your business, you can get loans of up to £25,000 to help along the way.
- Virgin StartUP offers government-backed loans from £500 to £25,000 to help entrepreneurs launching or growing a business that’s under two-years-old in England or Scotland. It has a rate of 6 per cent interest.
- The Start-Up Loans Company, which lends government subsidised loans up to £25,000 at a rate of 6 per cent.
- The Princes Trust also offers loans, up to £5,000, at a rate of 6.2 per cent.
How to sell on Facebook
Facebook is free to join and won't charge you an fees for selling your products.
And it's easy to set up shop too.
- Go onto your personal Facebook account
- Click on a tab on the left side of the page called 'Create a Page'
- Choose 'Local Business'
- And fill in the details about your business.
- Once in your new business's Facebook page click on 'Add Shop Section' underneath your cover photo
- Fill in your details about how you would like payment to work (Cash on collection, paypal, bank transfer etc)
Now you just have to post the items you have for sale on your businesses page and wait for a buyer.
Facebook is great for selling small low cost items like books and kids stuff as well as used goods like Tvs or unused games consoles.
How to sell on Ebay
Unlike Facebook, Ebay will charge you 10 per cent of every transaction you make.
The trade off is that Ebay has a much wider customer base and is built solely for buying and selling.
Ebay is best for selling new, branded or rare items.
To set up a shop on Ebay all you need is to be PayPal verified.
verification just involves sending PayPal some extra details about yourself to make PayPal and Ebay trust you are who you say you are.
- To get PayPal verified you just need to have a PayPal account.
- Go to your account and click on 'how much can you send on PayPal' under 'more about your account'.
- follow the steps there and you'll get verified.
Dad of six made nearly £4,000 flogging old CDs and DVDs
Warehouse worker Joe Kadomrezz, 30, made £3,858.16 from selling old CDs, DVDs and games to pay off his bills - and he even got enough to go on holiday with his best mate
Joe Kadomrezz needed some extra money to pay off bills after he fell on hard times in 2014
He had recently moved into his mates caravan after splitting up with his girlfriend.
To raise some cash he tried selling vinyl online but found it too much of a niche market.
"I saw that people were interested in buying vinyl so that's what I started selling at first."
"But you sort of have to know what ones will sell well if you're going to make some cash and getting hold of them could be hard work."
After seeing adverts on the TV, Joe and his friend decided to give a go.
It's an online selling platform that buys your old CDs and DVDs. Unlike eBay you're guaranteed to sell it but you also might get a lower price.
"You type into the app what CD you've got and it will give you an estimate of what it's worth," explained Joe.
"The better condition they're in the more money you might get. I could get anything from 5p to £2.50 for a CD."
It might not seem like much money, but Joe seized the opportunity to make more by buying bought cheap CDs in bulk from secondhand stores and local council house clearances.
It took him two years to make the full £3,858.16 and he's not sure how many he ended up selling in total, but reckons it was definitely in the thousands.
For all his hardwork Joe and his mate were able to pay off their bills and even splash out on a holiday.
Between the two of them the holiday cost just £800 inculding spending money.
Joe is now back with his girlfriend and moved his business onto selling retro games.
Read more about Joe's money making scheme here
More On Money
Then all you need to do is go to
Click My Ebay in the top right corner
Then click register and follow the steps there.
You will be guided through a step by step process and that will get you selling in minutes.
How to Sell on Etsy
Etsy is the home for small business owners selling unique, home made and handcrafted items.
Although not as expensive as Ebay, Etsy will still charge you feels for selling and listing your items.
Etsy will charge you just under 15p for every item you list.
There is also a fee of 3.5 per cent of the cost of item you sell when it has been sold.
To get started selling on Etsy is very simple
- Go to Etsy.co.uk
- Click on 'Sell on Etsy' in the top right corner and follow the steps there.
- you can manage payments through PayPal and other providers or use Etsy Payments
- Etsy Payments means you can manage all your payments without having to use a separate service like PayPal
- But Etsy Payments does raise the fee to 4 per cent plus an extra 20p.
Entrepreneur who lost three stone turned passion for working out into thriving gym wear business
Lucy Arnold, 27, kick-started her booming fashion firm after becoming a personal trainer and is set to make at least £250,000 in its first year
Lucy Arnold from Sheffield started her first business when she was just 22.
The 27-year-old says: "I had the pottery business for four years and it was a huge learning curve, there was a lot of laughing but a lot of tears too."
"I was working so many hours, I suddenly realised I had become quite overweight - I was 12 stone at my most, so I started working out."
Not one to do anything by halves, in a matter of months lucy had qualified as a personal trainer and set up her own training studio.
It was at this point that Lucy had the idea for her sportswear brand Lucy Locket Loves.
"I was getting annoyed there was no fun work out gear that was of good quality," she says.
"So I ended up looking into it and spoke to some manufacturers. It was really stupid designs - basically the idea was kids' prints in adults sizes, so there was ones with dinosaurs, unicorns, a space-themed one.
After spending £1,000 of her own cash on ordering 120 units, she had her first sale online within 10 minutes and by midnight had made more than £200 profit.
"It has just exploded from there."
Lucy is now estimating a £250,000 turnover this year making a £90,000 profit.
Lucy is looking at getting more staff on board and maybe even quitting personal training to focus on Lucy Locket Loves.
You can read more about Lucy's story here
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