|
Cigar Talk A place for cigar enthusiasts to discuss our hobby, legal cigars and related stuff. |
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
05-08-2004, 01:41 PM | #1 |
Club Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Bay Area, California
Posts: 1,931
|
Starting online cigar shop in CA - questions
I've been wanting to start my own Online cigar site.
But I havent done much and need to get the ball rolling so I have lots of questions.. also it would be great to talk to someone who runs their own online shop. current status: I have a domain name; have lined up 1 cigar maker to resell. Making a backend customer database. I'm assuming I need: Tabacco License, business license (+doing business as), anything else... questions (sorry got a lot): - I'm in California, how much extra stuff do i have to do ? (any web sites that can list it out for me) - How much is tabacco license ? - If I sell over the web to customers Outside of CA then I do not charge CA sales tax & tabacco tax, right ? - If I do sell to someone in California then I must charge them the Tabacco tax and sales tax (basically what local shops charge)? - Freebies; if someone orders a box I might want to include a couple sticks as a nice bonus; How do I keep track of these in inventory ? Do I just note the number I gave out over a period of time, or must I list it with each purchase ? How do you keep track of the freebies in regards to tax/business records ? - Cigars for Me; So I being the owner would get to order cigars order my cigars at the cheap business cost; do I need to keep track of this too ? Or do I simply order say using a different credit card ? - Travel write offs (plane/car/milage); what is a legite expense ? So if I go down to like LA (or wherever) for a few days hand out a bunch of cigars (maybe a herf?) with business cards to promote the business, can I write off everything ? everything as: Plane ticket/car rental/car milage (if i use my car), and the cigars as a loss.. so as long as I made more money than that loss I can claim it ? so if i made $3K profit on the business, but spent $2K in a promotion it's ok (so I just show 1K profit) ? - If I deliver cigars locally, can I write that off (milage) ? - If I sell cigars to a CA shop owner (e.g. corner store) then I just charge him my regular web site price, when he sells them he must charge CA sales/tabaco tax, is that right ? My expectation: I don't expect to make lots of money, My reasons are: make a little extra money on the side, buy my cigars at dealer costs(can't pass that up can I!), My girlfriend can run the business durring the day so it will give her something to do (stay at home mom) and she can make some money... I probably have a lot more questions, but lets start here. I would really appreciate any help you can offer.. |