I want to sell my crafts, what do I need to do?

When I decided that I wanted to expand my little comic website into an actual craft business, I was faced with all sorts of scary, legal questions. After a whole bunch of research and aggravation, I managed to figure out what I needed. I am in no way a legal authority and I would recommend that you see an accountant. But if you are poor, like me, here are some helpful ways of getting started:

Another disclaimer: this is all information specific to Los Angeles County (even Culver City has different rules) so make sure that you know your local laws.

The first thing that I needed was a seller’s permit. It’s free and relatively easy. Click here for the forms: http://www.boe.ca.gov/info/reg.htm
I can’t stress enough that you should NOT mail in the form. Go to the office and have someone take a look at it. Even my application had some little mistakes that, had I mailed it in, would have taken WEEKS to fix. I added multiple locations to the list that I knew I would be selling at regularly so they gave me a Consolidated Seller’s Permit. Even with that, if I am going to sell at a temporary space, I need to print out the form 530-B and fill in the location information. Once a year when I send in my sales tax, I’ll also send in the form 530-B. When you are selling at your booth, you need to have the forms with you.

I also wanted to file a DBA (Doing Business As). The woman who filed my Seller’s Permit told me that I needed one because it would protect my business name (I wish I had a penguin friend). Also, if I want to get a business credit card, bank account, etc, I’ll need this. The process looked like it was going to be a pain (you fill in the form, publish a notice in a local circulation paper for 4 weeks, then send in the affidavit) so I used LegalZoom.com. It was about $120 to do that and it is currently still being processed.

Lastly, and the most overlooked, is the Los Angeles Business Tax License. You get it through the Office of Finance (http://www.lacity.org/finance/finD.htm) click on the “Business Tax Registration Certificate (BTRC) Application” You NEED to do this before you start any sort of business activity otherwise you’ll get hit with all sorts of penalties (like I did). My day job is as a contractor/1099 in video production which I started in March of 2005 and I didn’t know that I needed to get a Business License. When I filed for it in November of 07, it cost me $200 in penalties. At the same time, I filed one for my craft business and since it was filed before any business practices, it cost me $0. So I implore you to get this taken care of.

It’s all pretty dense, but if you follow those links it’ll get you a good start. You can email me (morgan(at)iwishihadapenguinfriend.com) with questions but I can only answer out of my own experience.