The Swap Shop UK

So, I have set up a page on FB called The Swap Shop UK.  The idea is simple: it's a mix of freecycle and ebay, so you list items that you have to offer, and people who want that item contact you directly, offer you something of theirs, and arrange a swap.  Lots of people seem to think it is a good idea, and after joining a couple of networking sites, in less than a week, I have over 150 Likes!  I just need to get more people to actually start offering things, because it is a bit slow atm.

The Swap Shop UK doesn't make any money from the transactions, and it is free to join and list your items; it just provides a platform for the transactions to take place.  There is a list of items that are banned (animals, alcohol and products, tobacco and products, adult material, fake designer things, and anything illegal, amongst others), so I need to work out a way of keeping those off from being offered.

Meanwhile, I am also looking at setting up a separate, non-FB site.  It will have higher security, and better features, and though I will be paying, personally, for the domain and hosting, I still will not be taking any money from the transactions.  Instead, if the website gets a fair amount of traffic, I will try to cover costs from advertising, so I am not out of pocket.  DH is worried about the legality, but I will have t&cs such that The Swap Shop UK is not liable for anything, and it is up to the individuals to declare (where appropriate) any gains to the HMRC.  I now have got to the point, where I want to move forward with this.  I don't think it will be a huge money spinner, tbh, because I am not charging to register, nor charging per listing (like ebay).  The idea is that you swap stuff, not cash, and in the same vein, it won't cost the individual anything to list and swap their items either.

I do want to get this going, and I have found a company that I can get hosting for £8.50/yr and a domain name for £10/yr, so if I do decide to add adverts to the site, I need to make at least £20/year, but I'd hope that would be possible.  I then need to work out how to direct any FB traffic to the new website, but hopefully that would be ok!?!