Selling in France

Started by Enchanted Cobwebs, September 27, 2011, 09:14:55 AM

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Enchanted Cobwebs

I eventually will move to France (hubby is french and we intend to retire there in the next few years) I'm thinking that I should explore some french sites to sell my beads to try out and hopefully build up before we move but I cant find any and wondered if any of our French members can recommend a site?
Now I can play all day as I retired from the 'proper' job....
http://www.enchantedcobwebs.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/EnchantedCobwebs

MyPrecious

Hi,

This is the equivalent of Etsy in France : http://www.alittlemarket.com/

Hope that helps! :)
Kathy

My website

Enchanted Cobwebs

Thank you, I will have a look and hubby can help me with translation

Thanks
Helent
Now I can play all day as I retired from the 'proper' job....
http://www.enchantedcobwebs.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/EnchantedCobwebs

★★Terri★★

Thank you for asking the question.  We are planning to make the move ourselves in the next couple of years as well.  I shall study this site very closely.

Can I move the thread along a bit and ask our French members for advice on how they set up their businesses in France?  Unlike the UK where any Tom, Dick or Harry can set themselves up as a business at will, it's a quite complex procedure in France - you need to be registered with the appropriate organisations and get a Siret number otherwise you will be breaking the law.  Do bead makers register as artists?  My understanding is that artists can only produce items that are not functional and jewellery, wine stoppers and the like would be functional items.  Would buttons be a functional item?

Any advice will be most welcome ;D

JaySpangles

We have found shops wouldn't buy our lampwork bracelets to sell on as we are not registered in France.  A good friend was selling them casually for cash but her husband put a stop to it as they could be fined if it became an issue.  I found lots of information about registering by Googling, but haven't done anything further about it.

Enchanted Cobwebs

there is a useful forum http://www.expatforum.com/expats/france-expat-forum-expats-living-france/
I have asked a few questions re healthcare and had lots of helpful replies

From what I understand we need to register at the Mairie and somewhere else. It takes a few months in all to set up and we ran out of time this time we were over but will look into it when we go again in April. I dont believe its that painful as a friend of mine managed it ok and as Claude is French I'm hoping we wont encounter too many problems

I plan to try selling in the market that comes to our town specially as our house is on the market place, there are several other artisan type people selling hand made items though thankfully no one else doing beads at the moment! I will also have a go at the usual Ebay and Etsy along with alittlemarket.com. Its got to be better than my 'proper' job!   

Now I can play all day as I retired from the 'proper' job....
http://www.enchantedcobwebs.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/EnchantedCobwebs

★★Terri★★


I was just wondering what the experiences of the bead makers are.  I've used some of the expat forums and they are not necessarily as friendly as this one.  And people to often just don't read what you have written and reel off loads of Acronyms (is that the right word) and don't explain things well other than to complain  that France is a nightmare.  (makes you wonder why they chose to go and live there ???)

I know a bit about Auto Entrepeneur, and Micro Enterprise.  A bit about the legal status such as Enterprise Individuelle and EURL.  But would you register with the Chambre de Metiers et de l'Artisan or the Service de Impots des Enterprises?  The Service de Impots des Enterprises seems to be for writers and artists.  I read about someone who registered with them as a stained glass artisan and set up under the Auto Enterpeneur scheme.  All went well until she listed a sold item as a lampshade or some such and everything went pearshaped.  All the time she only made and sold wall hangings she was an artist (non functional items) anything else with a function and she stopped being an artist.  Apparently it cost her a fortune to get it sorted out.  On the other hand the Chambre de Metiers et de l'Artisan seems to be for those employed in craft such as plumbing, hairdressing, etc, etc.

As I said before - it is very complex compared to the UK and getting it wrong can prove to be time and expense comsuming.

Enchanted Cobwebs

You are right, does sound more complex than I'd realised!

I'd also be very interested in views of our French forum members and their experiences
Now I can play all day as I retired from the 'proper' job....
http://www.enchantedcobwebs.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/EnchantedCobwebs

JaySpangles

My son and DIL live in France permanently. They run a chambres d'hôte. When they started they set up a French company but it the paperwork was such a nightmare they went back to being an English company using her mothers UK address as a base. But they don't sell anything nor is it craft related. I don't know any artist/producers but we are going over next week so I will ask my neighbours if they have any info.

Enchanted Cobwebs

I will ask hubby to check with his family and post what ever I find out too
Now I can play all day as I retired from the 'proper' job....
http://www.enchantedcobwebs.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/EnchantedCobwebs

Enchanted Cobwebs

they are saying to register as auto entrepreneur, set both of us up individually then reconsider if either business takes off. It means we wont need to charge TVA and looking at the limits I doubt we would EVER exceed them! more details on this website
http://www.lautoentrepreneur.fr/
Now I can play all day as I retired from the 'proper' job....
http://www.enchantedcobwebs.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/EnchantedCobwebs

★★Terri★★

Look into the legal status carefully - I think (and I may be wrong) that as an AE you will be taxed on turnover, not your profit - ie your 'personal income' is your turnover.  This is fine if you just 'sell' your skill but not if you have materials to buy to make the item you then want to sell, or even pitch fees at the market and don't forget the travelling expenses etc.  You might be better off going for the Micro Enterprise - it's more complicated to set up (Auto Entrepeneur status is an attempt Sarko to try to make the admin easier and get more people working legally) but is generally considered the better way to go.  Also be aware of the difference between Enterprise Individuelle and EURL - I believe with EURL you limit liability to the company.  As an EI you could potentially be liable to any debt incurred by your 'company' to the point that your home could be taken unless you could prove it is not a part of the company.  If you work from home it could be a problem to legally seperate the workspace from the home.  And you will still need to register with the appropriate organisation and deal with whatever they demand as proof of your training or expertise before you can get your SIRET or SIREN numbers - you simply cannot trade without these.

Enchanted Cobwebs

Think we best just go back to the Notaire! Probably best not to set up till we move then otherwise we will have to produce evidence of trading when we are not

Oh well, least we have a copule of years to sort it out, never imagined it could be that complex but after signing in every concievable corner on every page when buying the house, then the polava with the wills I guess I should have known better!
I'm Irish, we dont tend to (or we appear not to) make things so complicated. Remember when we got married and Claude went to the French consul it took ages, had to produce so many documents. Went to the Irish Embassy and it was 'ah sure what do you call yourself now' an 'ah thats grand' Claude said then he'd rather be Irish! But...we dont have the weather
Now I can play all day as I retired from the 'proper' job....
http://www.enchantedcobwebs.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/EnchantedCobwebs