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What a handmade jewelry business MAY need before opening day
Q: I am opening a handmade jewelry business. Which licenses, permits and registrations may apply to me?
A: This is the list that goes with a handmade jewelry business. It is the paperwork a business like yours commonly meets, and we sort out which pieces are yours. It also lists the personal license or trade license of the person doing the work, because a business license alone does not cover that.
1. Business license: A business license for handmade jewelry MAY ask what materials you use, where pieces are made, and whether you sell at markets, online or through shops.
2. Home occupation permit: A home occupation permit MAY apply when benches, tools and small torches are used at home, with limits on fumes, deliveries and customer visits.
3. Sales tax permit: A sales tax permit MAY be needed because handmade pieces are taxable goods, and craft fairs, online orders and wholesale sales to shops each count differently.
4. Professional or trade license: Bench jeweler certification: A trade certification showing the maker's skill in casting, soldering and stone setting, sometimes sought by wholesale buyers.
5. Precious metals marking rules: Describing pieces as gold or sterling silver may require accurate marks and honest labels.
6. Secondhand material dealer rules: Buying scrap gold or old jewelry to rework may require a dealer registration.
7. Materials source list: Invoices from suppliers of metals and stones may be requested to show where materials come from.
8. Fire safety review: Using a torch or kiln at home may require a check of extinguishers and ventilation.
9. Employer registration: Once people are on the payroll, you MAY also need an employer ID, a withholding account and workers' compensation coverage.
10. Company papers: A DBA, an LLC or a tax ID number MAY make sense for your handmade jewelry business, and we prepare all of these documents on this site, so everything can be ordered in one place.
One service fee covers more than one license. If you order a business license and it turns out you also need another one, for example a home occupation permit, we obtain both for the service fee of the business license. Annual tax and application fees charged by the govt are not part of our service fee: we find the applications and fill them out for you.
Why people love this line of work
Making jewelry is making tiny keepsakes: the glint of a finished bead strand or the tap of a hammer on silver feels like art in your hands. Gift buyers return for birthdays and anniversaries.
A small scene
Peregrine hammers a silver cuff for Tidewater Gem Studio and learns that the form wants materials, not metaphors.
What can go wrong
A gemstone is not what it was sold as, and a buyer sues, so an LLC protects your home.
The numbers behind it
Business code (NAICS): 339910 (Jewelry and Silverware Manufacturing). This page lists 10 paperwork items for a handmade jewelry business, and each one is marked as something you MAY need, since we confirm which apply.
Tip: Photograph each piece and record the materials and weight in a notebook before listing it.
Handmade jewelry is the only art that gets worn to meetings.
Ready when you are: start your order and we will find out what applies to your handmade jewelry business, fill out the applications and keep the paperwork moving. |