I have been tying for a few years now. I do pretty much everything from size 22 midges to Redfish flies. Id like to start selling them, but want to know if yall would have any suggestions for how to do so. Should I set up a website or something along those lines? I live in Columbia so obviously Id need to ship them and set up a payment system. Any ideas on the best way to do this?
Thanks
There’s a lot more involved than most folks realize. Once you start advertising or selling flies or lures, you’re a manufacturer & are required to pay Federal Excise Tax on what you produce. On flies it’s 10% of the sale price. However, you can also obtain a FET License (Form 637) which will allow you to buy from wholesalers without paying the tax on supplies, such as hooks and any FET tax you do pay on supplies can be deducted as long as you document them properly, so be sure to keep all receipts.
You also should obtain a business license so you can collect & pay sales taxes when applicable.
Of course, you’ll need to keep accurate records and have an accounting system so you know what your sales are & how much taxes you have to pay. FET taxes are payable every quarter, and the IRS may audit you to make sure you’re paying the tax & properly calculating it.
As far as websites, that’s a good idea. Doesn’t have to be expensive or complex, and there are free websites that allow E-commerce. However, whether you can use such a site may depend on how many different products you intend to produce as most have limits. There are also other sites you can setup sales on, such as Etsy or Ebay. Face Book, Twitter & other social media sites are good too, as they let folks know who you are & what you do. In my first tackle business, which I operated from 1989 to 2003, I used Paypal to accept credit card payments. You can set up merchant accounts too & accept credit cards and each of these systems charge fees per transaction. How you do it is up to you, but there are always costs involved.
Beyond all the legal & business stuff, for flies, a shop owner years ago told me that “pretty sells”. There’s a lot of truth to it too. Flies don’t need to be pretty to catch fish, but if you’re not selling what you tie, no one will know if they catch fish or not. Also, in my experience, folks want consistency & a value for the price. You won’t likely be able to compete with imported flies on price, so be sure what you charge is f