Sudden idea

[Kengura]

I was going to donate used toys to a charity today, but they refused as they had too much. So I got the idea of a business model, where I could set up an online shop with a second hand toys. It would be based purely on voluntarily donated toys. And I would sell them (rather deliver locally to start with). And then donate certain percentage a month to 1-2 charities. Donations "storage" would be based in my house. I wouldn't set up a charity myself, I'd act as a sole trader. That's very brief explanation of my idea, I tried to research, but my idea of this business model seems to be rather unusual, so I wonder how legal it is to do it this way. The point is to save toys from the landfill + support the charity. I wonder if I'd have to set a ltd to pay myself or if sole trading is ok. Would love to hear from someone experienced if I am crazy, or if this idea could work. I'd probably start locally on free platforms, and accept mainly cash or bank transfers, and then see if it would be worthy to get (Accept) other payment methods.

 

[thetiger2015]

You'd start as a sole trader, to see if the idea worked.

You'd have to also research insurance and toy safety requirements. Childrens toys can be a bit of a risky one - safety marks, cleaning etc. Not sure on sale of used childrens toys, as we previously sold new items but they had lots of safety requirements and you had to know the origin of the product before placing it on sale, to ensure it didn't contain things like lead.

 

[WaveJumper]

Not sure there's anything new in the idea your business model (and that's what it will be unless you run it as a charity) is to collect second-hand goods (toys in your case) and hopefully sell them on giving a percentage of your profits to charity. My one thought / concern would be doing this probably puts you in the firing line making you liable for any safety issues with the toys and god forbid them causing harm.

Suggest if you proceed speak to an accountant on the best type of company / charity formation and an insurance broker on cost and type of cover you would require. There are many forum members on here in these fields who I am sure will offer more practical advice in due course

 

[IanSuth]

My aunt did this in the late 80's near new toys and also near new baby clothes, she did it party plan moving around different mothers in her childs playgroups houses, she did some form of deal with each host.

She stopped due to the shear volume of space needed to sort and store the stock and effort needed for amount made (plus her kids grew and she got a job again)

 

[Mr D]

You can trade in used toys. Getting given stock will be possibly the biggest limitation.
Plus you will want to check with your house insurance to be sure you aren't negating it by running a business at home.
No one cares about doing business admin at home, they do care about you storing stock there or having people come to the door.

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

I think the issue you might have would be getting people to donate toys to you for you to make a profit/wage, regardless of you donating a % to charity.

People will see it as you simply profiteering from free items, the 5% you give to charity will be insignificant to them.

 

[alan1302]

I think the issue you might have would be getting people to donate toys to you for you to make a profit/wage, regardless of you donating a % to charity.

People will see it as you simply profiteering from free items, the 5% you give to charity will be insignificant to them.

That's what I was thinking as well. If I give the items straight to the charity shop then more money goes to them so why would I give you some free stuff so you can make money from it?

 

[fisicx]

People already give to charity, donate and sell on eBay. Unless you have access to a huge number of good quality toys I can’t really see this working.

 

[Kengura]

Maybe my point was rather, to save good toys from ending in the tip(and yes profit from it a bit as it will be my time and energy running such a project). As we go to the tip occasionally, I see how much stuff gets carelessly thrown away.(we actually saved a working kids dvd player from other tip runner). I am surprised noone cares much about huge amount of mainly plastic waste. Maybe to sell all donated toys for the same amount of money per item or a few price levels according to size of the toy. And then support some sort of recycling charity. But yeah, I am slowly giving up in this idea, and will think about something better probably.

 

[clyde123]

Your idea of saving them from the tip would fail, at least at my local one.
As soon as items arrive at the tip, they become 'council property' and you wouldn't be allowed to take anything away. You'd need to - somehow - intercept the toys before they got onto the tip site.

Unless of course you did a deal with the guys who work there, some sort of "arrangement"