Seller's Permits

[fanartist]

I was at AOD this year (Aug 4-6th 2006), and I met someone in the artist's alley who offered to share a table with me.

When I asked about seller's permits, he said that you didn't need one for the artist's alley and it only applied to dealers.

This guy was actually in the industry, so I took his word for it.

And in another point, almost everyone in the Artist's Alley are selling fanwork of some kind. I just found it odd that since fanart is technically illegal to sell, getting a legal license to sell illegal works was somewhat... ironic.

I don't know the exact mechanics of the seller's permit, so I think I'll need some clarification on this.

[ip136]

Let me take a stab at this...

A seller permit doesn't ask you what you are and are not selling other than the general idea. Are you resale? Manufactoring? Wholesale?

An Artist row person needs to have the permit just in case the 'cops' come by. It is more or less a safety precaution so that the county/state gets tax money out of it. If you look at it this way: You pay taxes on the products you make, but no tax on the things sold out of making that product, the state loses money. How? A 2 oz. block of Fimo clay (As I'm finding) can make about 4 - 5 miniature figurines. That being said, they want tax on 4 figurines that are $5 each, than a single 2oz. block of Fimo clay that only costs $2.50 each. In turn, when you have a permit, you don't pay for any tax on your supplies as long as you present your permit.

So... you need the permit as a requirement, and as I understand it's the same thing with any other larger Convention. The artist alley heads shouldn't be allowing people to enter into a table unless they present that permit. It isn't like it costs you more than the tax on your own items - Which in a $5 cost I would just consider that it already includes tax that way... But the permit is free and only takes like.. an hour's worth of your time to get it.

Now, what a dealer needs is different as far as I know. They need a seller's permit - yes. But they more importantly need a business liscenece which actually costs money to purchase.

Also, generally, a seller's permit is needed by a lot of people by law, but many ignore it. A perfect example is say a person decides to hold a garage sale. If they hold more than 3 during a single quarter (Like, for the entire summer) they are actually by law required to get a seller's permit and must pay taxes on the items that are sold. People just don't think or really do anything about it with garage sales.

So in short, you do need a permit... even if you are selling fan art, the art is still created by the artist, based on someone else's idea. I also do notice that there are fewer and fewer people that do a lot of fan art and many try to focus on created characters and illustrations. Regardless, as far as I understand, as long as the artist is selling their own created art, then it is still theirs devoid of copyright issues. Now.. if someone took an Amano painting and made copies of it and tried to sell that as their own work, THAT would be copyright infringement. I think also if someone just reproduces a piece and it is exactally like an official artwork, that is also considered a copyright violation.
Otherwise, all doujinshi would be illegal as well because they are using characters that are not the artist's own, ya know?

[slifertheskydragon]

you speak of great wisdom. this has helped me greatly.

... now one last q- where do you get a seller's permit, and do you have to be 18?

[Kabuki]

you can find the seller's permit here

http://www.boe.ca.gov/info/reg.htm

i kinda need help on filling out the form myself. in my case, other than just selling at fanime i do commissions on the side throughout the year but i don't do it very often. so how would i go about filling the form?

[ChibiSerenaChan]

i read over the form too just recently and i want to know how i'm supposed to be filling it out.

[Sachiko]

Since there's a thread dedicated to seller's permit inquiries, I guess I'll put my questions here too, as I'm rather new to all technical things they ask for in the form.

Am I supposed to put "FanimeCon" for #3 (Name of Sole Owner, Corporation, etc)  in the form x_x? Also, there's a lot of questions pertaining to the "business" the permit is for. I am honestly not sure how to fill those out.

[Aya Brea]

Since there's a thread dedicated to seller's permit inquiries, I guess I'll put my questions here too, as I'm rather new to all technical things they ask for in the form.

Am I supposed to put "FanimeCon" for #3 (Name of Sole Owner, Corporation, etc)  in the form x_x? Also, there's a lot of questions pertaining to the "business" the permit is for. I am honestly not sure how to fill those out.

They have a page of instructions that goes with the form called "Tips for Filling Out Your Application." Read it carefully (it talks about groups of items.)

Items 2-8 are for *your* business' information.  For most freelance artists like me, you would put down your own name for #3 (or name of someone over 18, if you are under age.  That person would HAVE to apply on your behalf and according to the Fanime rules, have you as an employee.... don't even get me started on Workers' Comp problems with those rules and you'd also have to get a Federal Employer Identification to legally have employees and most people don't have that handy... but I didn't make the rules...)

The Fanime information goes in Item #79-#82

I'll try and help, but I am not a tax professional and even I'm not too sure about everything in section36-55 (for people who don't run a regular business year round.)  This does not constitute as tax advice.  For that stuff, please call the Franchise Tax Board...

I sent in my form already, but if they kick it back, I may have to go to the office and get it taken care of that way... -_-

[Kabuki]

do i also have to put my BF in there (ie: employee?)? he doesn't have things to sell and he just wants to watch over my stuff if i leave the table to go to dealers.

[Aya Brea]

do i also have to put my BF in there (ie: employee?)? he doesn't have things to sell and he just wants to watch over my stuff if i leave the table to go to dealers.

I have the same question.  I have a friend who's just going to sit with me.  She's not going to sell anything, but she's just there.  I really would hate calling her an employee since it opens up a whole other can of legal worms and I'm not really paying her.  I can see it multiple ways of going about it (calling them your business partner, employee, or simply volunteer.)  The question is how does Fanime want to go about keeping track (if at all) of your other friends at the table.  

And this may also come up, what if you're sharing a table with someone who will be selling something?  Do they have to come up with separate seller's permits?  To obtain the table first and complete the table buying transaction, can we just first submit one seller's permit with the payment and then just present both permits at the convention?

[Kabuki]

any help or answers on this question? n_n;;

[Tetsunai]

do i also have to put my BF in there (ie: employee?)? he doesn't have things to sell and he just wants to watch over my stuff if i leave the table to go to dealers.

I have the same question.  I have a friend who's just going to sit with me.  She's not going to sell anything, but she's just there.  I really would hate calling her an employee since it opens up a whole other can of legal worms and I'm not really paying her.  I can see it multiple ways of going about it (calling them your business partner, employee, or simply volunteer.)  The question is how does Fanime want to go about keeping track (if at all) of your other friends at the table.  

And this may also come up, what if you're sharing a table with someone who will be selling something?  Do they have to come up with separate seller's permits?  To obtain the table first and complete the table buying transaction, can we just first submit one seller's permit with the payment and then just present both permits at the convention?

Concerning friends, just sign-up for a "General Partnership" seller's permit with both of your names on the form.

As for the latter question, my friends only needed one permit in the past. Things just get troubling if you intend to sell non-tax exempt items cause then you have to pay taxes.

[Kabuki]

my questioned has already been answered through PM. i was told that if a friend is just gonna hang with you and has nothing to sell but watch over your stuff does not have to be included in the form just as long as i have a permit for the table.