Guides for UK phone shops
Written for the questions that come up behind the counter, not to sell you anything. Where something touches tax or the law, it says how the rules work and points you at the person qualified to apply them.
VAT & tax
- Do I charge VAT on second-hand phones? — How VAT works when a UK phone shop sells a used handset, when the Margin Scheme applies, and what changes on the invoice.
- What a VAT Margin Scheme invoice must show — What has to appear on an invoice for a second-hand handset sold under the VAT Margin Scheme, and the one thing that must not.
- Can I use the Margin Scheme on a part-exchange handset? — How a part-exchange handset is valued for the VAT Margin Scheme, and what to record when you take one in.
- The stock book HMRC expects for the Margin Scheme — What records you have to keep to use the VAT Margin Scheme on second-hand phones, and why the purchase side is where shops come unstuck.
Buying stock
- What to record when buying a phone from a customer — A practical record-keeping checklist for buying handsets over the counter in a UK phone shop — for your VAT position, your stock, and your own protection.
- How to check a phone is not blocked or stolen before you buy it — The checks worth doing before handing over money for a used handset, and what each one actually tells you.
Repairs
- How to price phone repairs without guessing — A method for setting repair prices from your real part costs, bench time and failure rate, instead of matching whatever the shop down the road charges.
- What belongs on a phone repair job sheet — The details worth capturing when you book a repair in — for the technician, for the customer, and for the disagreement you hope not to have.
Running a shop
- How to do a stock take in a phone shop — Why counting serialised handsets is different from counting accessories, and a routine that finds discrepancies while they are still explainable.
- Opening a phone repair shop in the UK: what you actually need — The practical list for opening a phone repair and resale shop in the UK — registration, insurance, data obligations, and the decisions that are harder to change later.