Retail

Stock, shelf space, shrinkage and the four weeks that decide your year. Running a shop, online and off, at one site and at seventy.

Putting your own name on it. Put your name on somebody else's product and you become its producer in law. The margin is better. So is the liability you have just accepted.
Why it is £9.99 and not £10. Charm pricing works on the goods where people compare and fails on the goods where they are buying reassurance. The law also has views on how you display it.
Selling things you can lose a licence over. The nineteen year old on your till carries personal criminal liability for the sale. Your job is to make sure she never has to guess at anybody's age.
What happens to the packaging after they leave. The cardboard leaving your back door and the packaging leaving in the customer's bag are two different regimes, and both of them now cost money.
Choosing where to put the shop online. The monthly fee is the smallest number in the decision. What costs you is the extra cut on every order, and the day you want to leave.
Choosing how the parcel gets there. A light parcel in a big box is charged as though it were heavy. Most of what an online retailer loses on delivery is decided before the courier is chosen.

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