To start such a business, it is necessary to prepare documents - obtaining permission to sell Christmas trees (organizing a Christmas tree market). The departments of the consumer market and services of the city administration are responsible for issuing permits. OKEVD code 52.48.32: retail trade of flowers and other plants, seeds and fertilizers. After receiving the permit, you will be given a permit to trade Christmas trees.
You submit an application to the consumer market and services department of the city administration with a request to issue a permit and allocate space for a Christmas tree market. Usually the number of such bazaars and their location are set in advance, but you can also offer your own place.
Choosing a good location is one of the main points that guarantees a high level of sales and stable profits. Most likely, convenient places have already been occupied by those who have been working in the market for such services for several years, so you are unlikely to get them. On the other hand, “convenient” usually means points through which a large mass of potential buyers pass: the city center, places near large shopping centers and large markets.
In this case, residential areas are often not used, although they are quite promising in terms of purchases: Christmas trees are very inconvenient to carry and therefore many would purchase them close to home. It is best if, by the time you submit your application, you have already chosen the place where you want to conduct the sale; in this case, indicate the address where the outlet will be organized.
Concluding a contract for the supply of Christmas trees
Once you have the permitting documents in your hands, you can begin concluding contracts with suppliers. There are several options for purchasing goods:
- forestry;
- farms;
- wholesalers within the city.
The most common option is purchasing Christmas trees from forest areas. Now in almost any region there are no difficulties in finding forestry enterprises engaged in seasonal sales, but even if there are no such organizations in your area, you can order trees from the neighbors of the region, their delivery will not cause any particular difficulties. Even when you receive a sales permit, you can familiarize yourself with the list of nurseries that sell plants.
The minimum sales volume in forest areas is 100 trees. At the time of signing the contract, 50% of its total amount is paid, the balance is transferred during shipment of the goods. The sooner you place an order, the better, since competition in this business is not so small.
The second option is farms. There are not many of them and, most often, they can offer very small quantities.
And the third way to get Christmas trees for sale is work with intermediaries who independently enter into contracts with forest districts and take care of delivery issues. You can make a wholesale purchase from them, but the prices will be close to retail, and this will deprive you of most of the profit. Many wholesalers offer imported Christmas trees for resale; in fact, these are firs, mainly from Denmark, Norway and other European countries. The price for such a tree can exceed the price of spruce or pine grown in Russia by ten times or more, and you are unlikely to be able to compete with companies specializing in this type of trade.
Preparing a Christmas tree trading site
Tree cutting won't begin until December, leaving plenty of time to prepare your trading location.
Quite high requirements are imposed on the street trade of Christmas trees, which are discussed by special orders of the trade department of the city administration. Typically, this should be a fenced area with a mandatory sign, a guest book and a fire extinguisher. It should be taken into account that such retail outlets are constantly inspected by the State Forestry Agency, the State Fire Inspectorate and other organizations, so the seller must have all the necessary documents on hand.
It is necessary to first resolve issues related to the storage of goods. When choosing a trading location, you should pay attention to the available ready-made sites with permanent fencing or near a similar area, for example, a guarded parking lot, in a market area closed during non-working hours, etc. If this is not possible, then you need to agree in advance on the overnight rental of storage space.
It is quite possible to trade without organizing a Christmas tree market - directly from your car. This allows you to avoid the cost of renting space and its decoration. In this case, it will now be necessary to resolve the issue of storage and calculate the costs of renting vehicles. If you have a truck at your disposal, then this option will be the best solution to the problem, and besides, the Christmas trees will be in the back at all times.
Another trading option that can bring more profit is outbound trading from cars. The machine sells first in one place, then, after demand decreases, it moves to another yard. But it should be taken into account that you will receive a permit for street trading in a specific place, so such sale of Christmas trees will be considered a violation, for which a fine may be imposed, the amount of which is established by the local authorities.
Purchasing Christmas trees
Documents you must obtain from the seller:
- tax invoice;
- waybill.
- The invoices will be checked by employees of the State Forestry Committee, so these documents, as well as the trade permit, must be carried with you both during transportation and at the trading place.
Forestry departments sell hundreds of Christmas trees wholesale. The cost of a linear meter can start from 1 dollar to 100-130 rubles per meter. The price depends on several factors: the type of plant, its height, fluffiness and place of purchase. Depending on the geographical location, prices can vary quite significantly, but this does not affect the expected profit, since the selling price is based on the purchase price, regardless of the city in which it is carried out.
The price includes not only the product itself, but also services for cutting it and delivering it to the forestry enterprise. You can do this work yourself, but it’s hardly worth saving on it.
You can also get spruce branches from the forestry department; individual branches sell even faster than whole trees, and you can get it at a nominal price or even for free.
Organization of trade in Christmas trees and fir trees
The Christmas tree markets begin in mid-December. By this time, you will need to decide who will engage in direct trading. If you have several points, it is better to hire sellers on terms of payment as a percentage of the goods sold, usually this payment is 10% of the cost of the trees sold.
Regardless of how trading will be carried out (from a car or on a trading platform), it is advisable to decorate this place to attract buyers, connect music and garlands. It would be nice if the seller is dressed in a Santa Claus costume. It would be good if, in addition to the trees themselves, you could offer crosses, and the trees would be packed in strong bags or at least tied with ribbons.
The price will have to be determined based on the purchase price and the prices of competitors. In the first week of trading, 50-70 percent of the prices paid to the leshoz can be added. If trade goes briskly, then it is quite possible to purchase a new batch and keep the price at the same level. Although a 100% markup is quite possible. The total price will be determined not so much by your desire as by the general prices in the city.
In the last days before the holiday, the price may rise by approximately 10 percent. But by the evening of December 31, the cost of unsold goods should decrease. So, after 19-00 you need to start lowering the price by about 10% per hour, at this time the seller should not be worried about profit, but the desire not to be left with Christmas trees in his hands after the end of the year.
The New Year is coming soon and many are already planning holiday expenses in advance and thinking about the New Year's table, decorations and, of course, the Christmas tree. Very soon, the bazaars and retail outlets near the bazaars will be filled with many Christmas tree sellers, and although the sales period does not last long - a maximum of a week and a half, during this time you can earn good money if you organize the trade and supply of Christmas trees correctly.
For those who want to invest in quick money, selling Christmas trees will be a good investment choice and a way to earn good money in a short time.
Live spruce is a very specific product, first of all, because the life of a live spruce is very short, it quickly loses its presentation and crumbles. But a person who knows how to properly organize trade can earn up to three thousand dollars in profit from the Christmas tree business during the holiday period.
Organizational nuances
First of all, it is necessary to take into account that in order to trade in Christmas trees, you must obtain the appropriate permit, which is issued in the consumer service departments at markets, in district executive committees or in the local city administration. The location and number of Christmas tree markets are also controlled by the city administration. Therefore, you will have to make some efforts to obtain permission to trade in a good place. Because the level of sales will largely depend on the location of the outlet. As a rule, people buy New Year trees close to home so that they do not have to carry the tree across the whole city. Therefore, it makes sense to obtain permission to organize a Christmas tree market somewhere in a residential area.
After permission to trade spruce trees is obtained, it will be necessary to enter into an agreement with some forestry department. You must have all these documents with you in full, since Christmas tree markets are subject to constant and strict inspections. The stalls with Christmas trees themselves are also subject to constant inspections. At the point of sale there must be a cash register, a fire extinguisher, a meter and a price list. It is allowed to sell Christmas trees not only in a fenced area, but also directly from your car.
It should also be noted that the preparation of all necessary permits and documents must begin in advance; some experienced Christmas tree sellers advise doing this as early as September, in order to already have the entire set of documents on hand when the New Year holidays begin.
Purchase of goods in forestry
Finding a suitable forestry is not at all a difficult matter. Nowadays it is enough to have the Internet and be able to use search engines. On the Internet there are many offers from forestries for wholesale purchases of Christmas trees. If the sale of Christmas trees is not planned in large volumes, then another supplier option is a farm. They also grow spruce and pine trees, but, unlike forestry, they agree to small supplies.
Forestry companies usually offer lots of Christmas trees up to one hundred pieces or more and require up to 50% advance payment. The cutting down of Christmas trees begins after December 15th. The purchase price of Christmas trees within a meter high is about 200 rubles, above a meter up to two - approximately 400 rubles.
When transporting Christmas trees from forestry, you must remember that vehicles with such cargo are tracked on the highways in order to fine them for poaching; in this case, the goods are completely confiscated. In order not to encounter such a problem, you need to take care of the presence of a consignment note, which should indicate the vehicle numbers and the number of Christmas trees in the back.
Trade in related products
In addition to Christmas trees, the forestry department can provide you with beautiful branches with cones for free, which sell well. This product is especially in demand among that category of the population that does not want to purchase a whole Christmas tree. In parallel with the fir trees, crosses-stands for fir trees are usually sold at points. They come in both metal and homemade wood. You can even make a dozen or two crosses yourself and sell them along with the Christmas trees. However, the demand for them is not very high, so there is no need to make a lot of them - a dozen crosses for a hundred trees will be quite enough.
The trade in Christmas trees begins after mid-December and ends on December 31, towards the end of the working day.
Separately, we need to pay attention to the question of what to do with unsold goods? After all, these unsold Christmas trees can often be seen in trash heaps near the market. However, you can try to sell the remaining unsold goods. For example, you can grind Christmas trees into dust and sell them as fertilizer to summer residents. Another option for selling unsold Christmas trees is to sell them to those who make funeral wreaths from live pine needles.
Thus, for those who want to invest in quick earnings and get a high income, sale of Christmas trees a very good investment option. The main thing in selling this specific product is competent organization of trade. If you take into account all the nuances of this business, then in a short period of time selling Christmas trees you can make a profit several times greater than the invested funds.
Trade of Christmas trees during the New Year period
Live spruce and pine trees are in demand among the population only once during the New Year period, just like snowmobiles - during the pre-New Year holidays. This is a one-time, but quite profitable source of financial profit.
How to obtain permission for such a business as Christmas tree markets on New Year's Eve, in order to sell spruce and pine trees legally?
This business should start with obtaining permits for organizing a Christmas tree market, that is, trading in live spruce and pine trees. How to obtain a permit to sell live spruce trees: the consumer services department of the local administration is responsible for issuing such documents. Code of the All-Russian Classifier of Types of Economic Activities 52, 48, 32 for trade in spruce trees, as well as flowers, seeds and fertilizers. After receiving such permitting documentation, the entrepreneur is issued a coupon for permission to trade fir trees and pine trees.
An application is submitted to the Consumer Market Department with a request to obtain a place for selling Christmas trees on New Year's Eve. Usually, the locations for such Christmas tree markets, as well as their number, are determined in advance by the administration. But it is also possible to have your own proposed place.
Choosing a good place for such trading is half the success. A good location is practically the main point in such a business. Excellent positions, as a rule, are first occupied by those who have been organizing their own business in this area for many years. But, on the other hand, there will always be places that have a high traffic volume of potential clients. These are areas near megacenters, supermarkets, markets, large parking lots and the city center. For wealthy clients, you can organize a service for ordering and delivering a Christmas tree directly to their home.
When planning a location, entrepreneurs often forget about residential areas, where there is a large purchasing power for just such goods. People will buy Christmas trees and pine trees near their homes on New Year's Eve, and you will do New Year's business.
It’s good if by the time you start registering your business activity, the place will already be chosen. In this case, the documentation must indicate the address of the Christmas tree outlet.
Where can I get Christmas trees and pine trees for sale?
After receiving permits, you can enter into agreements with suppliers of this product.
There are several points where you can buy spruce and pine trees:
- farms;
- city wholesalers selling Christmas trees;
- forestry
The most popular option for purchasing spruce trees is forestry. Each region has its own forestry department that sells trees. If there are none in the immediate area, you can place orders to a neighboring area. As a rule, there are no problems with delivery. At the initial stage of organizing a business, when preparing documents, you can already familiarize yourself with the lists of forestries and nurseries that sell such plants.
As a rule, in such farms, the minimum volume of trees sold is one hundred pieces. At the time of signing the contract with the supplier, you must pay at least half of the total cost of the purchased trees. The remaining amount is transferred after shipment of the goods. The sooner the order is made, the better.
The competition in this business is quite high, and continues to grow every year, especially with the arrival of private individuals, without permits, documents and individual entrepreneurs.
Option two is farms. There are not very many of them, but they are the only ones where you can buy good spruce and pine trees in small quantities.
The third option is to work with intermediary wholesalers. They themselves enter into contracts with farms and undertake transportation themselves. But their prices are much higher, so you won’t be able to get a lot of income working with such companies. Some suppliers resell foreign Christmas trees, or, to be more precise, fir trees. They are imported, as a rule, from Denmark, Norway and other European countries. Prices for such New Year trees are of course higher than for local Russian fir trees and pines, so they are not competitive.
Preparing a Christmas tree trading site
The trading place can be prepared until December, then the cutting down of trees and their delivery begins. Preparing a place for selling Christmas trees requires compliance with a number of rules. These rules are stipulated in special orders of the trade management of the city administration. The retail outlet must be fenced, there must be a sign, and there must be a book of complaints and suggestions. A fire extinguisher must also be available. Compliance with such parameters is constantly checked by the State Forestry, the fire safety inspection and other various authorities. The seller at each point must have all the permitting documentation for trading in coniferous trees - spruce and pine.
And naturally, the issue of storing the goods is decided in advance. When choosing a location, attention is paid to fenced areas near the retail outlet, perhaps these will be guarded car parking lots or the same area of the nearest market during non-working hours. If there is nothing like this nearby, then you need to think in advance where the spruce and pine trees will be stored at night.
It is possible to trade without organizing such a site as Christmas tree markets; for example, you can trade directly from your car. This method allows you to avoid the financial costs of renting the territory and its registration. But you definitely need to resolve issues with storing goods and calculate all costs for renting a vehicle. If you own your own truck, this method is the most profitable in such a business. By the way, you can store Christmas trees right inside the body.
Another way to trade Christmas trees is through a mobile retail outlet. The car moves from place to place throughout the pre-New Year period. But there is one problem: permission for such trade can only be obtained for one specific place. Trading in the rest of the other territory will be considered a violation of the law. A fine may be imposed, the amount of which is determined by the city government.
Organization of purchase of coniferous trees - fir trees and pine trees
Documents that the seller has available before starting to sell pine and fir trees:
- invoice from the tax office;
- waybill;
Such invoices, as well as permission to organize trade, are checked by employees of the State Forestry Committee. Therefore, they must be at the place of trade, regardless of its type: stationary or away.
The organization of the purchase of fir trees and pine trees begins with forestry enterprises, which sell fir trees and spruce trees in bulk, with a minimum quantity of one hundred pieces. The price per linear meter of such coniferous wood is from thirty rubles to one hundred and thirty rubles. The cost depends on several factors: type of plant, height, fluffiness, place of purchase. Geographic location greatly influences the price of a product. But this will not affect the final profit, since the retail price will be equivalent to the wholesale price in the given region.
The price of each tree includes not only its real price, but also the cost of cutting down and transport delivery. You can save on this if you do everything yourself, but it's not worth it.
In forestry you can purchase individual branches for sale. They are cheap and in some cases even free. They sell faster than whole trees.
Christmas tree markets begin to function by mid-December. By this period, you should decide on distributors at retail outlets. If there are many retail outlets, then wages to sellers are calculated as a percentage of the goods sold. As a rule, this is ten percent of the total cost of all trees sold.
A place selling fir trees and pine trees can be decorated for the New Year, it doesn’t even matter whether the point of sale is stationary or mobile. To attract customers, you can include music and colorful garlands. The seller can be dressed up in a Santa Claus costume. Additional parts are needed, such as crosses to stabilize the trees, as well as packaging material in the form of ropes and bags. It is also possible to sell New Year's paraphernalia, Christmas tree decorations, snowballs, ribbons, garlands of various types, etc.
The cost is determined based on the purchase price and based on the prices of competitors in the area. In the first week of selling coniferous trees, you can add up to seventy percent of purchase prices. If the trade is successful, then a new batch of goods can be purchased. In this case the price may remain the same. Although in exceptional cases a markup of up to one hundred percent is possible. But still, the maximum price will be limited by the prices of the city and competitors.
The general city price for New Year's trees in the last days before the holidays can rise by ten to fifty percent, because everyone wants to buy a Christmas tree. But on New Year's Eve the price drops significantly. Therefore, after seven in the evening on December 31, the price should be reduced by ten percent, or even more. And so on every hour. The main thing in this case is not financial profit, but the complete sale of all products (spruce and pine, decorations and stands) before the onset of the new year. Americans have figured out how to use illiquid Christmas trees after the holiday.
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What is needed to obtain the right to trade
By mid-December, the consumer market department of the district or city administration is already determining street locations for New Year's Christmas tree markets. If you intend to trade on the central streets of the city (a more crowded, and therefore more profitable place), it is better to submit an application in advance, then the authorities will take your request into account when determining trading locations. The application indicates a request to allow the sale of New Year trees at a specific address.
Typically, a trade permit (coupon) is issued in a short time, even on the day the application is submitted. The issuance of these documents is carried out in accordance with the procedure approved by local governments. Along with the permit, do not forget to take the standard agreement form with the forestry enterprise. In the administration you can also find a list of nurseries (forestry enterprises) that grow and harvest Christmas trees.
Forest documents
At the forestry enterprise, you pay the cost of the trees and take a receipt to present to the forestry department, which is usually a division of the forestry enterprise. The cost of a Christmas tree includes the costs of: searching for marketable trees, the work of a lumberjack, delivering the trees to the forestry office, taxes and expenses for maintaining the forest area where felling took place.
Along with the trees, you need to pick up the receipt from the forestry department that you used to pay for the trees.
Please note: the forester must make a note on the back of the receipt about how many and what kind of trees they gave you.
You can save money on lumberjack work by cutting down trees yourself. A logging permit is available to everyone. However, forest management is possible only with a logging license. This is stated in Art. 42 of the Forest Code of the Russian Federation.
Usually the forestry department has a felling ticket, and on its basis it issues an order for a small release of standing timber or a forest ticket.
The ticket specifies the location of the forest fund site, the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the supplied forest resources (fir trees, fir trees, pines, spruce branches), their cost, and the timing of the work.
Responsibility for illegal logging
You can’t just come into the forest and cut down the trees you like. For deforestation without permission, administrative and criminal liability is imposed (Article 110 of the Forest Code of the Russian Federation). The temptation to cut down unnecessary trees (for example, write out 50 trees on an invoice, but cut down 70) should be avoided in advance. You simply cannot take out the excess.
The fact is that to transport spruce, pine, spruce branches, a warrant is required, as well as a receipt for payment for the spruce with a round seal from the forestry department.
All documents must indicate the date of issue, number and size of trees. And if the quantity specified in the order does not coincide with the real one, you will violate forest legislation.
Responsibility for illegal logging is provided for in Art. 8.25 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (administrative) and Art. 260 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Illegal logging is any method of separating a tree from its roots without a permit (logging ticket) or in violation of its conditions.
The specific amount of the fine depends on the damage caused to the forest fund. Illegally felled trees are confiscated.
Organization of a retail space
The requirements for organizing trade in the Christmas tree business are very strict. Each retail location must be equipped with an information sign indicating the trading organization.
At the end of the sale, sanitary cleaning is carried out. A Christmas tree seller must have a price list, a measuring stick, packaging material, a guest book and a fire extinguisher. Representatives of Rosprirodnadzor, Gospozhnadzor, Rosleskhoz, police (including environmental police), and forestry workers regularly carry out raids on sales points.
Therefore, sellers must have invoices (warrants) from the forestry department and permission to trade.
Receiving money from the public
Outbound trade is retail trade for cash outside the location of a stationary store.
Should street vendors always make payments to customers through cash register systems? Let us turn to clause 3 of Art. 2 of Law No. 54-FZ. It allows not to use a cash register when trading at markets, fairs and other areas designated for trade, as well as during small retail trade from trays.
This does not apply to shops, pavilions, vans and other retail places that provide display and safety of goods. The latter are required to use cash registers. Apparently, a fenced-in Christmas tree bazaar should still be classified as a trading place that ensures the display and safety of goods. Therefore, CCT will have to be used.
clause 2 art. 14.5 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation Non-use of cash register equipment in cases established by federal laws, use of cash register equipment that does not meet the established requirements or is used in violation of the procedure and conditions for its registration and use established by the legislation of the Russian Federation, as well as refusal to issue it at the request of the buyer ( client) in the case provided for by federal law, a document (sales receipt, receipt or other document confirming the receipt of funds for the relevant goods (work, service), -
entails a warning or the imposition of an administrative fine on citizens in the amount of one thousand five hundred to two thousand rubles; for officials - from three thousand to four thousand rubles; for legal entities - from thirty thousand to forty thousand rubles.
New Year's holidays are considered perhaps the most profitable period for entrepreneurs working in a variety of fields. It is quite logical that many of them have at least once thought about selling Christmas trees on the street, because this income, even if it is seasonal, promises to be more than substantial. In addition, such trade does not require obtaining numerous permits and licenses, as, for example, in the case of alcohol or pyrotechnics. In just a few days, an entrepreneur can receive up to 3 thousand dollars, which is undoubtedly a very good additional income.
Necessary equipment
To sell such a product you will not need to purchase special equipment. However, such a business always attracts the attention of regulatory authorities, in particular, the State Forestry Agency and the State Fire Safety Inspectorate. To pass the inspection without problems, be sure to purchase and store the following tools at your point:
- Saw;
- Roulette;
- Axe;
- Fire extinguisher;
- Packing material (usually rope).
It is not necessary to fence a retail outlet, but it is still better to clarify this issue with the local administration. Some strongly recommend that entrepreneurs drive posts and wrap them with rope around the perimeter of the sales area, thereby creating visible boundaries.
Where to organize the sale of Christmas trees?
Of course, perhaps the main guarantee of your success will be the correct choice of location for your point. An unsuccessful choice, on the contrary, is guaranteed to lead to the loss of money, because the unsold goods will no longer be able to be sold. The most profitable places are traditionally considered to be in markets and near large shopping centers. There is a high probability that they are already occupied by entrepreneurs who have been engaged in this business for more than a year, but you should remember that, first of all, you need a passage place, and it can be located in large residential areas. They are not very involved in this trade, although they are more than promising.
Where to buy spruce?
If you plan to sell fir trees, pines and fir in bulk on the street, you will definitely need to find a reliable partner from whom you can purchase goods at a reasonable price. You should start concluding contracts immediately after receiving permits, while the search for potential sellers should begin even before completing the documentation.
Most often, entrepreneurs choose one of three options:
- Forestry. It is from forest districts that Christmas trees are most often purchased. Today they can be found in almost any region, but even if yours turns out to be an exception, you can order a batch of goods in a neighboring region. Transportation, as a rule, does not cause any special problems. If you don’t know where to find such enterprises, when filling out the documents, pay attention to the list of nurseries with plants that are purchased specifically from forestry enterprises. Remember, the further you are from the city, the better the quality of the product and the lower the price. However, it is worth considering that the size of the minimum lot sold in forest areas is 100 trees. By signing the contract, the entrepreneur pays half of the amount, and the second half must be paid directly at the time of shipment. The date of the order also matters - the sooner you complete the transaction, the better for you, because competition in this business is quite fierce.
- Farms. If such farms are located near the city, it is there that you can purchase small quantities of goods (you should not count on large deliveries from such enterprises).
- Wholesalers. Intermediaries allow the entrepreneur to get rid of all the worries associated with finding suppliers and transporting trees, however, when buying a large batch of goods in bulk, your markup will be very small. This will deprive you of most of the possible profit, that is, if you have such an opportunity, you should purchase spruce from other partners. In addition, suppliers may offer you imported wood, but its cost will be 10 times higher than the market price, and it is unlikely that you will immediately and without serious investment be able to become one of the outlets that target wealthy buyers.
Profitability and profitability of the Christmas tree business
An active businessman can earn up to 3 thousand dollars in 8 days of the holiday rush. However, this will not be so easy to do.
According to the latest statistics, during this period forestry enterprises earn from 10 to 20 thousand dollars from Christmas trees. The total market volume is estimated at between 0.5 and 0.7 million dollars. Consequently, such trade cannot be called a big business, but rather a source of additional, relatively large and quick income. As a rule, nurseries sell trees at prices ranging from 50 cents to one and a half dollars per linear meter. The retail price is 30-40% higher than the wholesale price. Thus, your revenue will directly depend on the original price and batch size of the goods. Typically, they earn up to $500 a day at the Christmas tree market, and the profitability of the business as a whole ranges from 15 to 25%.
This amount can be significantly increased by opening a whole network of similar points. However, experienced entrepreneurs who have a sufficiently large amount to invest can bring such an idea to life.
Required documents
The sale of Christmas trees on the streets is regulated by government organizations, which means that your point must meet all existing requirements, and you, in turn, must have on hand all the documents confirming the legality of the activity. In addition, you must be registered as an Individual Entrepreneur (registration of a legal entity is also allowed, however, as a rule, it is simply not necessary for small businesses).
First of all, you need to decide on the location of your point. If it is located on the municipal market, you need to contact its administration and request permission to trade (many experienced entrepreneurs note that this option not only makes it easier and faster to complete documents, but also usually brings more profit to the owner). By renting space, you can start trading.
If you want to sell Christmas trees in a residential area, the entrepreneur will need to contact the district administration (it’s better to call and only then go) and fill out the appropriate application. You also need to find out in what form the plan of the place where your point will be located should be presented.
So, permission to trade has been received. What other documents will an entrepreneur need for his activity to be completely legal?
When purchasing a consignment of goods, you will need to receive an agreement and an acceptance certificate from the forestry department (all documents must contain information about the exact number of trees purchased). All these documents, if necessary, will need to be presented to representatives of supervisory authorities.
Thus, in the event of an inspection, you must submit the following documents for review:
- Permission to trade from the administration or market;
- Consignment note;
- Tax invoice.
In addition, your location should have a sign indicating its profile (check this issue with the administration). Prices (not necessarily exact) should also be written on them. Any sheet with information, for example, individual entrepreneur number and telephone number, must be signed by you.
If you hire a seller, be sure to draw up a transfer and acceptance certificate - this will help avoid theft.