Selling on Unique Crafts

Join our amazing community of UK based crafters and makers.  We keep things simple and affordable.  You spend your love and time making beautiful creations so we believe the money you earn should be yours.

We just charge an annual membership fee to be part of the Unique Crafts community.

This membership fee is £15 per month.  You can either pay monthly or if you would prefer to pay the annual fee in a lump sum then we will give you 2 months free and you only pay £150 - a £30 discount.

For your membership fee you will get:

• Your own shop – an online store ready to fill up with your handcrafted items, which you can personalise with your own banner or use one of our templates

• Unlimited listings
• 5 photos per listing
• Fast and friendly support – based in the UK we aim to answer all support issues within 24 hours.
• Access to a private Facebook group – you’ll become part of a community of like-minded crafty people.  Share information and tips and support each other to be the best we can be.
• Shop and Google analytics integration – keep track of your views and which items are performing the best
• You’ll be a member of a market place solely dedicated to hand crafts.  We won’t allow anything produced on machines, or in factories.  Even knitted goods must be produced using needles not knitting machines.  Where a tool is vital such as sewing machine or electric saw etc that’s fine.
• When you sell something the money will go straight into your Paypal or Stripe account.
• Our site is designed to maximise discoverability on search engines and is optimised for Google.  We are committed to marketing and advertising the site to maximise your sales potential and will use the membership fees to do this.

How Does Unique Crafts work?

It is an online marketplace where you can have your own shop and list your items for sale.  When you sell something, you receive a notification and the payment goes directly into either your Paypal or Strips account.  You then send the order to the customer.

What Can I Sell on Unique Crafts?

You must be a self-representing artist, crafter, maker and must be resident in the UK.

We check each registration and require makers to send photos of their creations and a short video of them performing their craft.  The products must be handmade/handcrafted by you through a craft practice.

You Can’t Sell

• Items that infringe copyright
• Assembled items such as gift baskets that have mass produced items in them.  Baskets with hand made items are fine
• Printed items except if it’s your own artwork
• Industrial items produced in factories
• Vintage/preloved items
• Handmade items you do not have permission to sell or that you haven’t personally made
• Adult content, swearing or pornographic items
• Illegal, hazardous or dangerous items
• Non handmade/homemade food stuffs
• Human or animal parts with the exception of leather or feathers provided they are legally sourced.  Human or animal ashes may be provided to the seller to incorporate into handmade items
• Plants and seeds unless it is a wreath or corsage
• Music and film
• Alcohol
• Nicotine, e-cigarettes, e-liquids
• Hate or bigotry
• AI generated items or artwork

Sales Policy

The sales contract is between each individual ‘seller’ and the ‘buyer’.  Unique Crafts provides a service to facilitate that contract but is not responsible for it or its fulfilment.

Selling – All sellers agree to abide by the Consumer Contracts Regulations

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/contents/made

This legislation protects the consumer when buying over the internet or by mail order and applies to UK sellers.

Unique Crafts aims to make it easy for sellers to comply with this legislation and consumer law, however, all compliance is the responsibility of the seller.

Sellers must post items purchased within 3 working days  of receiving payment unless otherwise clearly stated on the product description OR if the buyer’s identity and/or address cannot be authenticated, in which case sellers must notify the Unique Crafts staff by opening a support ticket or emailing us at …………

All items must be received by the buyer in under 30 days unless you have agreed a longer term in writing (e.g. email) with the buyer.

Buying – You must pay for items purchased by you, unless the seller has made a clear typographical error or you cannot authenticate the seller’s identity. You and you alone are liable for paying the seller if you commit to buy an item.

Please note that if your order is being posted outside mainland UK, you (the recipient) may have to pay custom or VAT charges and a handling fee. The seller is not responsible for any charges or fees that may incur.

Returns Policy

In using Unique Crafts, sellers agree that the buyer has a right to  terminate the contract and return the item even if the item is not faulty in any way (this is the Consumer’s right in law).  They have the right to do this up to 14 days after receipt of the items and a full refund including the cost of the outgoing postage must be made within 14 days of receiving the returned item(s) or within 14 days of the buyer providing evidence that the item(s) have been returned (e.g. proof of postage) whichever is sooner.

Unless the seller has stated otherwise, the buyer is responsible for paying for the cost of return postage.

Please note: Unless faulty, the following items are non-refundable:

Items that have been personalised, items bespoke or made to your specific requirements, items which deteriorate quickly (e.g.food), personal items sold with a hygiene seal (cosmetics, underwear, swimwear), in instances where the seal is broken.

Cancelling a Transaction

The buyer must inform the seller if they wish to cancel the order and they must do this in writing (email is sufficient).  Get in touch with the seller by clicking on the ‘Contact’ link on their shop page or send an email.  Their email address will be in the confirmation of order email, the notification of shipping email and on your Paypal receipt.

When contacting the seller, please state the order details, date of order, username/email address you used to order, item name, quantity and price.

DO NOT send the cancellation to Unique Crafts you MUST send it to the seller.

The seller will contact you to arrange the return of the goods.  Unless the goods are faulty, you are responsible for the return postage costs.  The seller is entitled to deduct money from the refund if the  item shows evidence of use which diminishes its value.

  Sellers must provide a full refund of the cost of the item and any postage costs within 14 calendar days of receiving the returned item(s), or within 14 days of the buyer providing evidence that the items have been returned (e.g. proof of postage), whichever is sooner.  If the goods have not yet been sent then refunds must be provided within 14 days of the receipt of the notification of cancellation.

Return of Faulty Goods

The Consumer has the right to return goods if they develop a fault within 6 months of receipt of the goods.  Depending on the circumstances, they may be entitled to a refund (full or partial), a repair or a replacement.

Please contact the seller to inform them of the fault so they can try to sort the problem out for you.

Lost Items

If the item has been posted but is lost in transit, the seller should provide a refund or re-deliver the same item.

Please contact the individual seller to report a lost item.

If you have not heard from the seller within a few days of contacting them or you need any other assistance, please let us know by stating as many details about the order as possible and we’ll do our best to help.

If they do not respond within a reasonable time, you should claim for a refund from Paypal (go to Paypal’s help page on Claims and Disputes) or from your credit/debit card provider – please contact your bank and ask about Chargeback on the transaction.

How Do I Contact the Seller about an Item or Order?

On Unique Crafts you are buying directly from an individual seller who is usually the designer of the product that they are selling.

Please contact the seller directly if you have questions about an item on the site such as:

• Can you make this in a different colour?
• Can you make this in my size?
• Do you have more of this item available?
• Can you ship to me?
• Do you offer gift wrapping?

You can do this by clicking the Contact icon on the shop page.  You will be prompted to log-in or register with Unique Crafts

Question About an Order

If you have placed an order and have a question, for example:

• Where is my order?
• When will my order be posted?
• My order hasn’t arrived
• My order has arrived damaged or broke
• I have received the wrong item

Please email the seller directly as they are best placed to rectify the problem.  If the seller does not respond then email Unique Crafts support and we’ll do our best to help.

https://www.gov.uk/online-and-distance-selling-for-businesses

Regulation around certain types of goods

All Unique Crafts sellers must comply with UK product legislation, including the following:

• General Product Safety Regulations
• Toy Safety Regulations 
• The UK Cosmetics Regulation (or EU Regulation 1223/2009 Cosmetics Regulation for sellers in Northern Ireland)
• Furniture and Furnishings Fire Safety Regulations
• The Hallmark Act 1973
• Nickel in Jewellery Regulations
• Food Imitation Safety Regulations
• Food Hygiene Regulations

In all cases you should make sure your work complies with the above legislation. If in doubt contact your local trading standards office.

The two most common queries we receive in relation to product legislation are:

Cosmetics

• If you want to sell handmade soaps, scrubs or bath bombs you MUST ensure your products comply with the UK Cosmetics Regulation , even if you only intend to sell on a very small scale. This remains the current legislation covering the production and sale of soap in the UK. The aim of the legislation is to protect the public as well as the maker.
• Cosmetics are defined as "any substance or preparation intended to be placed in contact with the various external parts of the human body with a view exclusively or mainly to cleaning them, perfuming them, changing their appearance, correcting body odours, protecting them, or keeping them in good condition" as stated in the The Cosmetics Products (Safety) Regulations 2008. This covers bath bombs, scrubs and soaps that are allowed for sale on Folksy. 
• If you sell cosmetics you should contact your local trading standards office to find our how you can comply with the regulations (which covers use of different ingredients as well as labelling). 

Toys

• A toy is "any product or material designed or clearly intended for use in play by a child of less than 14 years of age" as stated in The Toys (Safety) Regulations 1995. You should contact your local trading standards office to clarify what you need to do to comply with the regulations (there are a couple of different routes you can take both of which require certification).
• Toy Manufacturers and their responsibilities

Homemade Food 

• If you are planning to sell your homemade food, please contact your local Council for advice on the rules, as laws vary depending on where you live and how regularly you sell.
• If you intend to make an income from your homemade food, it is likely that you will need to register your kitchen with the local authority (this is free to do) and take a simple course in food hygiene.

Food Standards Agency
Food Hygiene - A Guide for Businesses



You can find more information on your legal responsibilities as a seller and manufacturer here www.gov.uk/guidance/product-safety-for-manufacturers

3. GDPR, personal data and marketing information 

The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) is a UK law tailored by the Data Protection Act 2018. It came into force on 25th May 2018 and applies to all businesses operating in the UK that process personal data. If you have have an online shop selling goods within the UK or to the EU, you collect and process personal data (such as a customer’s name, email address and postal address), which means the GDPR applies to you. So whether you are a sole trader, a limited company or just a hobbyist just selling a few of your products online, you MUST comply with the regulations.

As a seller on Unique Crafts you agree to comply with General Data Protection Regulations. These include:

• Only adding customers to your mailing list if you have their explicit consent. You can contact your customer about issues related to their order but you must not contact them about anything else, send them marking information or add them to any mailing list unless they have opted-in to any further communication (through any channel - phone, mail or electronic). 
• Understanding what data you have and where it is stored. As a Unique Crafts seller, the personal data you collect will probably be: Customer’s name, Customer’s postal address, Customer’s email, Customer’s username on Unique Crafts, Recipient’s name (if applicable), Recipient’s postal address (if applicable).
• Making sure any personal data you store is secure. You have a responsibility to make sure the data you collect is safe – both online and offline.
• Only using personal data for the specific purpose you have collected it for. In the case of a purchase, that would be: delivering the item(s), emailing confirmation of the order, emailing the customer with delivery details for that order, and storing for your financial records. You must not use the personal data you have gained from that order for any other purpose or use that data to contact them about anything unrelated to that particular purchase.
• Deleting someone’s personal data if requested. Under GDPR everyone has the right to be deleted from your records and database – this is known as the right to erasure or ‘the right to be forgotten’. Individuals can make a request for erasure verbally or in writing. You have one month to respond to a request. You will need to delete their data from all your records as well as any third-party service providers, such as your email service. If a customer asks to be erased from Unique Crafts, we may also contact you and ask you to delete them from your records and any databases. In both cases, if you need to retain information about an order they have placed with you for your business or legal records, you can still do that but you will need to anonymise that data so there is no way of identifying the person (eg their name, email or postal address). Read more here https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/right-to-erasure/
• Paying the ICO Controller Charge fee - if required. Any business that processes data may need to pay the ICO a data protection fee (unless they are exempt). This is also called a Controller Charge. Check to see if you should be registered with the ICO here https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/register/self-assessment/

Read our article on GDPR for more advice and information http://blog.folksy.com/2018/04/17/gdpr-need-independent-designer-maker

V

Tax Guide for sSllers

← Selling 1: Before you set up your shop

1. Trade or hobby?

The first question you need to ask yourself is “Am I trading?”

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) have specific rules to determine what is “trading”. In a nutshell, if you are “carrying out a trade with a view to making a profit” then you are indeed trading.

You might think that purely by registering on Unique Crafts (or any other trading website) that you are trading, but it is not quite as simple as that.

If you merely using Unique Crafts to sell on items you have made at cost (i.e. you enjoy making items as a hobby and sell surplus items at the cost price of the materials, or at a loss) HMRC are unlikely to view this as a trade. If, on the other hand, you are making items for the express purpose of selling them for a profit then this is likely to be considered trading. Your local tax office will be able to provide more guidance on this.

2. Legal responsibilities

When you first become self employed you must register with HMRC for both income tax and National Insurance purposes. You need notify HMRC as soon as possible, and no later than 5 October following the end of the tax year in which you started your business.

For National Insurance purposes you must notify HMRC within 3 months and for VAT it is when you breach the annual turnover limit (or if you expect to breach it within the next 30 days).

For information on how to register as self employed please visit:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/register.htm

You can also phone 0845 915 4515 for advice on how to register with HMRC when you start a business, basic information on Self-Assessment, National Insurance, VAT and record keeping.

Alternatively, contact your local tax advisor – details of individuals and firms registered with the Chartered Institute of Taxation can be found at www.tax.org.uk

Another useful resource is the Gov.uk website https://www.gov.uk/browse/business which includes advice on managing and financing your business as well as tax.

The Hallmark Act 1973

If you are thinking of buying or selling something made of a precious metal on Unique Crafts, it is important that you comply with The Hallmarking Act 1973, which requires all precious metals sold in the UK to be hallmarked (with some exceptions). This process independently validates the precious metal content of the item. 

Failure to comply with the Hallmarking Act is a criminal offence.

Items to be exported may be exempt from hallmarking depending on which country they are going to.

Further information:

A comprehensive guide to Hallmarking, including downloadable guidance notes, from the British Hallmarking council:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/british-hallmarking-council

A summary of current Hallmarking legislation from Birmingham Assay Office:
http://assayofficebirmingham.com/legislation/current-legislation

The four UK Assay Offices:
London Assay Office
Sheffield Assay Office
Birmingham Assay Office
Edinburgh Assay Office