Selling goods into Spain before moving out.

I am looking to start a business supplying goods to (mainly ex pats to begin with, mainly because my Spanish is still rubbish) Spain from the UK. Now, some of the goods will be electrical and obviously have 3 pin plugs, they will also usually have English instructions. Will this be an issue? I ask because I know of someone that opened a toy shop in Spain and had to spend €000's having instructions translated. Whilst selling into Spain from the UK, will this apply to me? I don't think it does really. I realise that when funds allow and I do move out then yes, I would be expected to be able to provide the correct plugs, instructions, etc.

Also, in the UK you have to have a pet shop licence to keep/ sell anything live. I assume this would also apply in Spain? Would I go to the Town Hall as I would go to my local council to apply for this licence? In the UK, I am able to licence my garage to sell my livestock and am inspected by the council and their vet. Would I be able to convert a garage in Spain or would I have to get a commercial unit?

Thanks for the input

Mark

If I remember correctly EU law states that it must have the correct plug fitted . I recenly bought 2 Uninterrupted power supplies, both different makes for our computers & both came with complete leads for either UK or europe. I assume you just throw the other one away. What an absolute waste of money & how does that stand with saving the planet !

Regarding labels the law is that it must be in the language of the country. Lidls, Aldi, & Iceland all put there own stickers on products that do not comply, although Aldis have a tendency to miss some out.

I understand the thing about language if I were selling within Spain. The customers will be purchasing from a (currently) UK company with items shipped from the UK, therefore so long as they are made aware of the plug situation it shouldn't (hopefully) be a problem. Thing is, the electrical items all have moulded plugs, so a spare lead isn't an option. I suppose I could source some 3 pin to 2 pin adaptors and provide them with the goods in much the same way a s goods arrive to me in the UK from Hong Kong. Ideally I could get them to buy a gadget into which you place the bare wires after cutting off the plug and therefore running the equipmet off the one plug which the customer would need to fit.

Mark

Hi Mark - when I first arrived I bought some phones from a British shop on our urb and they came with British plugs on.  He simply put a free adaptor into the box although I don't know if that complied with the law or not.  The hassle was outweighed by the fact that the instruction manual was in English.  He also supplied an adaptor to the spanish phone socket.

If you are selling over the internet or through a UK catalogue then I don't think you would have to provide anything in Spanish.

 Thanks Claire 

Mark

If you buy table lamps from Dunnes they come with UK plugs, so can't see that there is a legal issue!

Depending on what electrical goods you are talking about, this may not be an issue.  We have bought numerous electrical items for our new home and most have come with a thick booklet giving instructions in several languages - microwave, toaster, blender, coffee grinder etc, as well as larger items such as TVs.

Sue

All sounds good so far. They are not big electrical items, mainly heaters, pumps, etc for aquariums. Some come with multi translations, some don't.

Just need to find out about the possible licensing and working from a converted garage if possible?

Thanks

Mark

Hi again Mark - licensing issues are dealt with by the Town Hall and are very different from what we are used to.  Some Ayuntamientos have a decent website and enquiry page so you could pose your question there - or get someone local to go in and speak to the planning officer.

I wanted to know about licences for an art gallery in a converted barn and they just about had a fit - said I could not run any business other than a farm in a farm building!  This was despite the fact there are farms falling into ruin everywhere.  However, I was told that in neighbouring Murcia province there would be no problem!

Good luck!

Mark, near where we live in Spain there's a shop called Discount Electrical Appliances selling goods from the UK with 3 pin plugs on, also slightly damaged goods, washing machines etc, with a slight to worse dent (sometimes).

http://www.roundtownnews.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21671&Itemid=31

Maybe you could ask them .. phone numbers are at the bottom of the article.

 Hmmm, their new website that was going to go live in December isn't working . Won't ring them from the UK, but may give them a bell when next out. Thanks More.

Thanks everyone else too for your input 

Mark

I know this is a bit of an old thread but just seen it. Selling goods in Spain and then having then shipped directly from the UK caused a friend of our problems last year as he didnt look into the warrranty side of things. A customer purchased a TV which started playing up after a few months and then completely shut down, they contacted him and he contacted the UK supplier but because he had shipped it outside of the UK the cover was void and he had to fork out for a replacement. I read somewhere that play.com (who can have some great deals on eletrical items) would not ship to Euroland because of different electrical sytems and warranty issues related to this.

Of course this is just from info from my friend and seeing stuff on net about play.com.