I have been wanting to open my own pagan shop for a while now. Items I would be offering would be spell/wish necklaces, keychains small vials to put on alters, in pocketbooks, etc, all handmade by me.
Crystal necklaces/keychains, other pagan items ( not made by me) along with herbs, essential oils, incense blends, etc. and eventually adding new items as I go.
BUT i would also like to offer readings as well. I’ve been online and already know Etsy is out of the equation, but the rest of the information has my head spinning. I would also be writing a monthly newsletter with information.
Can anyone help simplify this for me, please? I’m living in the UK. I’ve had a lot of friends ( whom I have made protection necklaces for) tell me i should open a shop, so I’m kinda excited about this. Although not a fool, I won’t rush into it. I’ve already bought some supplies and inventory etc. And have a spreadsheet of what i have paid out so far. But the rest is like reading Japanese to me
TIA
Blessings to all.
oooooo just had a thought: I love candles and have made a couple in the past for personal use. Maybe I can make candles and essential oils to boot. Will have to look up how to make essential oils, if it’s too difficult or dangerous might not. Oh how I love the ideas coming to me.
Opening a shop can be an exciting thing to do, but I fully understand that it’s also a lot like learning a foreign language. I’ve got a shop myself, though it isn’t centered on Pagan or witchcraft items. I currently use Etsy, though I have had a self-hosted store with WordPress and Woocommerce before. Each option comes with their own set of fees, so that’s something to consider.
Is there a particular reason Etsy is out of the equation for you? I know the fees can be high, but I’m also in the United States, so I’m unsure if the fees are different for you since you’re in the UK.
There is also Wix, Shopify, Storenvy, and a few others!
I think the most important thing to remember, besides inventory and prices, is the legal challenges in your area. Here in the US, in my state, I have to be careful with offering tarot readings because I’m legally supposed to be licensed. There are also other laws to consider in regard to the promises or guarantees made for your products, if any. I know it’s not an exciting part of running a store, but it’s definitely an important one!
@MeganB i wouldnt be abke to sell through etsy because some iyems would be items such as dreamcatchers and alter tools that i didnt make myself.
But since reasearching things, I’ve kinda been straying away from that, since I’ve been thinking about creating spell candles, herbal incense, charm bags, maybe cotton washcloths and makeup removers that can be used over and over again and possibly even gift sets so maybe I can use etsy.
I will have to look it up but I know someone who does readings and she isnt licensed, if that is legal or not I’m not sure so i will be sure to check it out.
Thanks for the tip.
Ahh yeah, that makes sense then. Etsy isn’t supposed to allow resellers (though I see it happen all the time… ) – it’s always best to follow those guidelines in this case because you don’t want to risk your shop getting shut down.
I think it would be great to have a shop like that! Gift sets and reusable items are always a good idea, in my opinion. With the tarot readings, those laws depend on your location. In some states it’s legal, some states require a license, and some states don’t allow it at all! I know you’re in the UK so your laws are different than mine. It’s always good to double-check!
That’s pretty much what it’s viewed as. It’s not really enforced here either unless someone complains enough. There was just a case in…some other state (I don’t remember) where someone complained that a shop owner was doing tarot readings in their store. The police showed up and everything, and even though she has signs that say those readings are done as curios only and just for entertainment (to cover her legally), they said those probably wouldn’t hold up in court.
Ah! I found an article. It was a shop owner in Pennsylvania!
Here in my county in Florida, the license requirement is $3,000, plus a bunch of other rules that we have to follow if we get the permit.
To be a fortuneteller or psychic in Hillsborough County, you must:
Be a resident of Florida
Establish good, moral character by not less than five residents of Hillsborough County
Provide residence and employment histories, including evidence of other business tax receipts, if applicable, for at least three years prior to the date of the application
Have personal identification by at least a Florida driver’s license or Florida identification card
Provide officials with appropriate evidence of zoning verification
Be fingerprinted by the county sheriff as part of the application “investigation”
Provide the county with a recent photograph along with their surety bond, to be included as “a permanent part of the permit” for the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners
It does say that those religions that heal the sick through prayer are exempt, but they don’t specify which religions those are
I mean, I kind of get it on one hand because there are people out there who will take a person for all they have. On the other hand, I feel like it’s also a bit discriminatory against those of us who read tarot religiously or spiritually. I mean, in Florida, one of the big things that happened in regard to fortune-telling in general was a family swindling people out of around $40 million over the span of 20 years… so… it’s a bit like being just stuck in the middle
But then they’d also have to ban influencers, jail everyone who sells NFTs, and similar for the same logic of fraud. Lots of people make money from selling nothing, selling absolute nonsense, or simply being famous.
I mean, even that insane $40m case there is nothing compared to the amount lost to NFTs. Bored Ape has $630m in circulation. NFTs have about $8b in circulation. A literal grift isn’t illegal.
Then there’s the whole thing with prosperity theology/gospel. And even those churches that don’t follow it, we see their priests living in lavish homes and driving fancy cars. What more do they give people other than spiritual words to live by? What gives?
And all of those things are okay because of the “perceived value” of the thing being sold by the individuals buying it or giving money to it, right? So it’s fine for someone to donate 10% of their income to their church in exchange for lines from a book being read to them, because God is recognised by the state. But it’s wrong for us, because our deities aren’t recognised.
The only reason they’re policing tarot readings and not everything else just seems like a matter of its history and association with witchcraft. It’s a load of crap.
(And my latest reading for myself told me to call crap out more bravely. )
For the UK we are covered by The Fraudulent Mediums Act which up until 2008 we were ok but then this was repealed, so alot of tarot readers here, and healers, physics in general have disclaimers so they don’t get sued under the consumer protection act now.
The disclaimer normally says, this is for entertainment purposes only.
Here’s an example of a typical disclaimer from one of my witchcraft books bought here
I do the same, with this at the bottom of every product:
All my services are purely for entertainment purposes only. They are not replacements for professional physical or mental help and cannot be considered as legal or financial advice. What you do with any messages received from me is ultimately your decision.
Etsy itself would have a problem with my readings and take them down if I claimed otherwise. Although, it’s true – I haven’t spent years in university training to be a psychologist and I don’t claim to be one.
@MeganB Will do, I’m just researching right now. With the holidays coming up I have enough on my plate. But definitely want to get it started sometime early next year.
Oh yes, you’re absolutely right. It’s a real slippery slope when things like this come up. I feel the same thing about NFTs and everything else you mentioned. I think you’re probably right. They only police it because it doesn’t fall in line with their Christian worldview - everything in that such as the church and Bible and whatnot, even when they make millions and don’t even hide it. It’s not “from their faith” so they don’t like it
And you did a wonderful job!
Well, I wish you all the luck when you decide to hop in!
I’ll do my best to simplify the concept, but it will break your brain because it’s so insane.
NFT stands for “non-fungible token.” It’s that thing where you can “own” a digital something, like an image or sound clip. There’s an NFT that’s a sound clip of Snoop Dogg saying a couple of words, for example. It uses the blockchain (what cryptocurrency uses) to verify the “legitimacy” of these items.
So, when we download an image off the internet, we get a copy of that image, right? Now imagine instead that your copy of that image has some unique string of characters hidden behind it that makes it “unique” and “yours.” That’s an NFT.
Now imagine that some of these things sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
So, what can you do with them? They must have some super amazing use in the world, right? Nope. Can’t do anything with them, really. Brag and show them off, hold onto them until you can sell them for more than you paid. They’re like super expensive collectable trading cards, except they’re digital.
Ok I sort of get it. Digital copyright? So you can make money with NFTs but not with tarot, or am I totally misunderstanding this. , which is ok, it’s why I could never run a business, hubby said I’d give everything away
) – it’s always best to follow those guidelines in this case because you don’t want to risk your shop getting shut down.
It’s not really enforced here either unless someone complains enough. There was just a case in…some other state (I don’t remember) where someone complained that a shop owner was doing tarot readings in their store. The police showed up and everything, and even though she has signs that say those readings are done as curios only and just for entertainment (to cover her legally), they said those probably wouldn’t hold up in court.
