Thinking of starting my own planning site . . .

[Mermaid02]

No, you were correct. The poster who corrected you was wrong.

I just did a pretend online booking for California Grill and it requires a CC and says:

I was merely stating that you do not need a CC for ALL adr's. Maybe this is a good argument for NOT starting such a business unless you are truly a professional. LOL

 

[Mermaid02]

Thank you. I appreciate you letting me know. I will remember that when friends ask me for suggestions of where to book their vacations through.

We were very happy with DU!

 

[PrincessTiffany]

When you make dining reservations, don't you need to put a credit card down for the confirmation? I have not been in years, but at some places aren't credit cards required? Would you be using your own card and hoping the clients didn't walk away and leave you with a no show fee, or would the clients give you credit card info? If someone at Disney or someplace else lifted the number would you be liable as a security breech, even if it wasn't you? I would be leery. And does WDW have a toll free number to make the reservations? You could use a lot of cell minutes up waiting on hold or spend a lot of your home phone $ to make the calls.

Once you start accepting money, you become a business with all the associated self employment taxes and reporting requirements.

Sounds like a lot of potential headaches for $40 a trip.

All of Disney's dining reservations can be done on-line now. There are a handful of ADRs and shows that do require a credit card hold. In the past, when I have booked one of the CC hold reservations, I have told the individual prior to the making the reservation and they gave me their cc number. I will check into the possible liabilites in booking the CC hold reservations.

As far as self-imployment and taxes, I believe, I have to make over $6,000.00 to have to claim the income. If by chance, I make over that amount I will let our accountant know. My husband owns two tire and automotive businesses.

Thanks for your input.

 

[ccgirl]

There are a few travel agencies out there that will do all that you were planning on doing for no charge. In addition, they will book for you and watch for discounts. If offered, they will automatically switch you to those. I think you would also be surprised at the amount of ressies that would require a credit card guarantee. All the signatures, Wishes Dessert party, luau, Mickeys BBQ etc. Also, what about the BBB? I would just hate for friends to ask you to do those and you say that you couldn't make those ressies since they require a credit card guarantee. Or...if you take their cc numbers you are responsible as well. Too much liability IMHO. If you want to keep doing it on the "down low" for friends that is one thing but I think a web site would open a whole 'nother can of worms. In addition, if you are collecting money for a service you need to pay taxes on it. I would start by making a list of pros and cons and go from there. Good luck with your decision.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Honestly, I don't think you'll get that much business. You're not doing something that most people aren't willing to do on their own, which is plan which park on which day and calling WDW Dining for advance reservations. A lot of travel agencies are also willing to do this type of detailed planning for free when they book their vacation through the agency, and anyone looking to save time likely used a travel agent to begin with. Your friends and family know you and trust your advice, and you're also doing it for free. I bet if you charged them for it, they'd very nicely tell you no thanks and then figure it out themselves.

If you really want to do it, in your shoes I'd try it with little to no start up costs, you never know...it might be worth a shot. But I wouldn't sink much money into it until you get a better feel for how much business you'll get.

Well, I don't know how much business I will be able to drum up, but in the past couple of years I have helps at least 50 people plan their Disney vacations. That was just through word of mouth and certainly no advertising. And, actually, my friends and family are the ones who told me I should be charging for the service I've been doing for free. Also, I'm not sinking any money into anything. The FB fan site is free and I also researched a number of free website hosts, so I don't think I'll be out any money.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Green Tea]

I'm not sure about that $6000 rule in terms of self employment. I think you have to report all income, don't you? Would you own a small business or be a self employed contractor? Wouldn't you would owe the full social security and medicare tax, wouldn't you? Maybe not income tax on amounts under a threshold, but if you file jointly, then all goes into one pot, tax liability wise. You probably better talk to the accountant before accepting any money. They can tell you what you ned to do tax wise.

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

If you are serious about this becoming a business, do a business plan. Layout all your possible expenses, your possible income and your goals. Get yourself a receipt book or account software to keep track of everything. Because if this does take off, you don't want to floundering come tax time.

Best of luck to you.


ps-I still Mouse House best.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

If you are serious about this becoming a business, do a business plan. Layout all your possible expenses, your possible income and your goals. Get yourself a receipt book or account software to keep track of everything. Because if this does take off, you don't want to floundering come tax time.

Best of luck to you.


ps-I still Mouse House best.

That is an excellent point! Thank you!

 

[Tina]

As far as self-imployment and taxes, I believe, I have to make over $6,000.00 to have to claim the income. If by chance, I make over that amount I will let our accountant know. My husband owns two tire and automotive businesses.

I believe that magic number is $600, not $6,000.

 

[klj27]

I also agree that you will need to report all income. I run a home business and rarely end up with profits over $6000 per year, but I definately pay taxes on my income. Don't forget that you pay about 15% (guessing right now) in ss taxes when you are self employed in addition to the regular federal income tax.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

I believe that magic number is $600, not $6,000.

I got the $6,000.00 amount off of the State of Alabama Department of Revenue site.

http://www.ador.state.al.us/incometax/itfaq01.htm

But, I will call my husband's accountant to double check the info and make sure I am intrepreting it correctly.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I believe that magic number is $600, not $6,000.

That's what I thought. Good luck OP! It'll take some work but I hope it works out for you. I would be too afraid of getting someone who wants to change their ADR's every other day because of something someone told them or they saw online or wanted you to "request" a bunch of things and get upset at you if those "requests" don't happen. But I'm a worry wart

 

[NatashaDisneyCM]

Honestly, I don't think you'll get that much business. You're not doing something that most people aren't willing to do on their own, which is plan which park on which day and calling WDW Dining for advance reservations. A lot of travel agencies are also willing to do this type of detailed planning for free when they book their vacation through the agency, and anyone looking to save time likely used a travel agent to begin with. Your friends and family know you and trust your advice, and you're also doing it for free. I bet if you charged them for it, they'd very nicely tell you no thanks and then figure it out themselves.

If you really want to do it, in your shoes I'd try it with little to no start up costs, you never know...it might be worth a shot. But I wouldn't sink much money into it until you get a better feel for how much business you'll get.

I totally agree with this. Anyone on here can do all this stuff. and everyone I know does do all this stuff! that is the fun of it!! I have done stuff for free for people, but unless you are a true professional travel agent, I would go to AAA before going to someone like us!

 

[PrincessTiffany]

That's what I thought. Good luck OP! It'll take some work but I hope it works out for you. I would be too afraid of getting someone who wants to change their ADR's every other day because of something someone told them or they saw online or wanted you to "request" a bunch of things and get upset at you if those "requests" don't happen. But I'm a worry wart

That's all a definite possibility! lol! But, I'm afraid I'll kick myself later, if I don't give it a shot. Also, I haven't done anything yet, just seeing if I can make it a reality. I'm very appreciative to everyone for their comments and suggestions.

 

[Tina]

Actually, I had that number wrong. Its not $600 (that is the 1099 requirement). Your limit for self-employed is $400. That is from the IRS site.

I also looked at the State of Alabama link you posted. I don't see anything on there stating that a business making less than $6,000 doesn't have to report their income. Maybe I missed it?

 

[PrincessTiffany]

I totally agree with this. Anyone on here can do all this stuff. and everyone I know does do all this stuff! that is the fun of it!! I have done stuff for free for people, but unless you are a true professional travel agent, I would go to AAA before going to someone like us!

But, I've had people call me who had a very bad experiences with AAA and with local TAs who didn't have any real knowledge of Disney. One local TA told my neighbor she could get her on a wait list to stay in the castle! Also, some people don't like TAs because they "own" your reservation and you have to go through them to make changes. Most people could plan trips the way you and I do, but won't because they don't want to spend their time on the Disboards and keep up with all things Disney, as we do. I think it all comes down to convenience.

Again, this is just my opinion and experience that I'm going by. I might start a Fan page and have no interest at all except from my Mom and my best friend :-0

 

[klj27]

I would look at irs.gov for tax information.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Actually, I had that number wrong. Its not $600 (that is the 1099 requirement). Your limit for self-employed is $400. That is from the IRS site.

I also looked at the State of Alabama link you posted. I don't see anything on there stating that a business making less than $6,000 doesn't have to report their income. Maybe I missed it?

It was under the personal income portion. But, again, I'm no tax expert and will definitely check with our accountant before I do anything. Thanks for checking, though.

 

[antsss]

People have actually told me I should start a business doing this exact thing. My DH mentioned it again last night because this week we received an email from a friend who has a friend going to Disney and they wanted advice about what attractions they should focus on for their DD5. They came to me because they know I know a lot about Disney. And last night we were with other friends (who have a DD who is 1 1/2) and we started talking about when they should go and what things they should consider. I just started tossing out ideas, advice, tips...and they were amazed.

I think there's such a huge amount of info involved in a Disney trip that we (who keep up with Disney news and who are reading and sharing discussion boards like these) take for granted all the info we've amassed in our brains!! I can't imaging starting from scratch with no knowledge of the hotels, parks, etc.

All these factoids and details make a very big impact on the success of a trip...IMHO that is!!

Good luck with your venture!

 

[ElliePeters]

Sounds like a great idea, go for it!