losing job!

[johnakay]

I will be made redundant on the 6th of march and bloody glad to.
I've decided to work part time just to pay house hold bills inc food etc.#
I'm just one of the very few lucky ones who don't have a mortgage or deb'ts.
we only need about £500 amonth to live on my wife get that so I've decided to work part time and work in my shed for the rest .
currently I make grab rails/carriers for old jap bikes
its working out the cost is a stickler.
to make a grab rail complete it takes me 1 hour...
materials £7.35,chroming £10.35,roughly £5 to cover heating ,lights etc
my charge to make is 2 x £10=£20
chroming charge I just about double it as I have to polished it and that can take about .5 hour.(total £43.40) by me selling it on Ebay for £46 .
am I under cutting myself or being fair,greedy ??..ebay fees and paypal takes about £5.00 off.
some friends are saying that I'm selling to cheap. punters will only pay what they want.so far I seem to be doing ok.
ok as a hobby but being that I'm going to use it as part of my living cost,
this is the 1st time that I've gone into this outside a hobby.
so am I doing right as far as cost? thanks John

 

[bob the builder]

First what is the demand for your poduct this will give you some idea of what you can charge, then is there another product similar to what you make now that you could make to expand your range, you must sell at a profit don't forget you can stay sat in the chair for nothing, good luck...

 

[dannyweld]

how about make out of stainless instead of getting chromed, might save time or money or both.

 

[johnakay]

how about make out of stainless instead of getting chromed, might save time or money or both.

I did thought of using s/steel but the finale cost would be to high and I don't think folks will pay the cost.

 

[johnakay]

as for demand.. its steady but then I'm only selling the Suzuki range, I will be making Kawasaki,Hondas, Yamaha, and others at request.I some times I get request to make bit 'n' bobs through my personal emails. how long will all this will last that I don't know.
I need to sell 6 grab rails,or 4 or 5 carriers amonth.
I have also sold a few unchromed.
I've sold rails/carriers to all over the world, some places that I've never heard of.

 

[irondarren]

If your product is good an sellable, get your own website up and running. Get your product on there. you should be able to get a domain hosting and website for less than £40 a year

 

[Normsthename]

Hi John
Get a Website setup so that people can order the parts online.
To save costs I would just set it up so that you can accept Paypal payments.
To accept Credit Cards is a PITA, the business has to be registered and you also need a Merchant Account.
I did it a couple of years ago, and it was a right pain to get setup.
The other thing you should do is to get yourself onto every Classic Jap Forum showing your wares, and linking to your Website.
If the parts are good, word of mouth will soon get around
Don't forget that if you do start selling a lot of parts, you will need to set yourself up as a business and declare all your earnings.....

Andy

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

you should keep all reciepts as it takes very little time to knock up a spreadsheet.

For 'easy' accounts a local accountant won't charge much and will probably get you a tax refund. You can add phone bills into your accounts, and maybe one tankfull of fuel each month, etc. All of your welding/workshop materials/tools, etc. You'd be hard pushed to make a 'paper' profit so you'd not have to worry about any tax. It'd also take away any worries about getting caught out...someone local will inform on you out of petty jealousy.

Try selling multiple items on Ebay at different prices. It'll give you an idea of how much you can charge...if people will buy the item at £10 more than you're currently selling then increase the price of all of them.

If you place half-a-dozen of them on Ebay and only a couple sell then you're probably asking too much.

Trial and error, poke and hope, etc...

Regards
Peter

 

[johnakay]

thanks for your replies.
I really don't want to set up a business as such.
just want enough to keep me ticking by
in other words enough to keep the car/ motor bike legaly on the road,have 2 weeks hols a year and a little pocket money. recon on £250 amonth should be enough,
about £3000 a year how much tax would I have to pay on that if I can get it.
this does not inc part time work. hopefully get about £500 amonth after tax etc.
the prices that I've set is about the minimum I can allow any lower its not worth it.had 3 items on ebay 1 sold 2 didn't.
Ebay is a fickle market one week can't sell enough then the next nowt
up 'n' down all the time.
what ever happens..if a full time job come up and if its ok I'll take it or part time too which ever comes 1st.
I fancy a change but I don't know what as I've done welding and fabrication nearly all my working life.
don't want shifts don't mind early and afternoons but not nights.

 

[Archie]

I think your personal allowance for the next financial year is about £6500 so anything under that is not taxable.

 

[dannyweld]

I did thought of using s/steel but the finale cost would be to high and I don't think folks will pay the cost.

fair enough, always worth looking into. i need to send to england to get chromed so stainless is better for me. if your going self employed try to get your wheels and fuel through the books as they say, thats where a lot of your money will be going, good luck.

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

be aware though that if someone tells the taxman that you're earning extra it'll be down to you to prove that you've not earned £25k in the last six months. If you can't prove it you're likely to have to pay tax on it.

It doesn't take much to keep receipts and bung it all in a spreadsheet. Also if you're paying any tax at all, even for a part-time job, you can get a refund because your books will show that your 'part-time' welding business runs at a loss...

especially when you add on your vehicle, phone, advertising, Ebay costs, postage, stationery, etc.

It's money for nothing...

Regards
Peter

 

[gaz_moose]

id say dont put to many on ebay at the same time you will flood your own market.could you not put them on there with a starting price of £46 or whatever it was you said and see how they go.
is there not a forum for that kind of motorbike? could you not try and expand your market a bit? say maybe offer to do some different bikes for people for cost then use there stuff as templates for others.
if you have a decent tube bender that would do car roll cages i could point you onto a very nice little earner.

 

[johnakay]

thanks .yes I'm aware of jealous folks grassing on others.
we've got good neighbours.
I don't make it obvious in what I do.I try and keep it discreet.
every thing that I bend is done by hand so car roll cage is out.
some times I put 3 or 4 items in ebay but for different models
so are in different listings.
can the tax man find out just by checking ebay etc.
I know they have a couple of staff checking the local adverts etc every day or week.

 

[chriskelland]

Don't forget National Insurance. When I went self employed I paid at the reduced rate, judged on income, good job, I ended up unable to work for quite a while and got sick money. I decided to retire about a year ago and paid a lump sum into my N I account now I can get a maximum state pension.

Chris.

 

[johnakay]

1st of all folks I might of implied that I going self employed sorry I didn't mean like that.
what I was thinking of is if I can't get a full time job then part would do till things picked up. I must admit it was a bit of fancity on my part thinking of semi retirement. I don't think that I'm clever enough to go self employed and to do tax returns etc etc.I'll be retiring in 8 years any way the past 57 years seems to flown by so will 8 years.
I will have to look into it as far as tax goes. if they grab too much I will not bother or perhaps I can invest some into a pension funds.I'll look into that to.
thanks for your help and thoughts guy it has open these old eyes of mine..things aren't easy as it looks. john

 

[peterd51]

Hi,

it's not hard...list all of your receipts on a sheet and keep them in the same order...

list in a separate column any income from items sold. List in another column any other income, ie a part time job, pensions, government allowances, etc.

Dead easy in Excel and it adds up the columns for you, even easier in notepad or MSword.

Talk to a local accountant, you'll find them in yellow pages or maybe even advertised in your local newspaper (someone working from home, etc). For simple accounts you should pay around £200 - £300 a year but you'll get that back in tax-refunds or savings.

A good accountant will also deal with any tax/NI enquiries that you may get during the following year, mine does. And they can also advise on the best way to put money into pensions, ISA's, etc, to reduce your taxes.

It's so easy to be fully covered so if you do ever get audited by the tax-man you can prove what you've spent and what you received.

Regards
Peter