Would you like to embark on an entrepreneurial adventure and become a restaurateur aboard your food truck or an itinerant merchant in your store on wheels?
For this project, it will be essential to have an itinerant merchant’s card, especially if you want to sell outside your commune of residence. Here’s some advice on how to go about obtaining this compulsory card, the documents required and the associated costs.
Steps to obtain a travelling salesman's card
Do you already have your own vehicle, or would you like to invest in this equipment to expand your geographical area and take your offer on the road in other towns in your region? Your priority is to obtain your traveling salesman’s card.
The travelling salesman card in brief
Before you learn about the steps involved in the card application process, here’s a reminder about this authorization. Thanks to this document, you can travel outside your city of business domicile to carry out your activity as a shopkeeper, craftsman or restaurant owner.
Your company’s registered address is the municipality you entered when registering your company. It may be your business headquarters, your home address, or the address provided by a domiciliation company.
Would you like to expand your offer and take your business elsewhere with a converted truck? This card is mandatory. If you hire an employee to use the truck for your business, he or she must also have a copy of the card. This official document is valid for 4 years from the date it is issued to you. A fee of 30 euros is required to start the application process.
With this document assigned to your company, you’ll be able to hit the road in your specially equipped vehicle and offer your products and/or services for sale with peace of mind.
If you need help fitting out the truck of your dreams, and transforming it into a food truck, pizza truck, grooming salon or even a small mobile hairdressing salon, Ecomag’s advice will come in very handy. We are experts in fitting out and selling vehicles for mobile businesses. Our aim? To offer you a tailor-made solution to create the perfect vehicle for you to rapidly expand your business.
Once we’ve thought through your project in detail, we’ll do everything we can to fit out your chosen vehicle and offer you a turnkey mobile business!
How to apply for a card
What are the various steps involved in obtaining your traveling salesman card? Here are the steps you need to follow, by contacting the relevant CFEs : the CCI or the CMA.
You need to contact your CCI, your Chamber of Commerce and Industry, to take the necessary steps, especially if you’re a retailer.
In the case of tradespeople, you’ll need to contact your CMA(Chambre des Métiers et de l’Artisanat) as soon as possible to begin the application process. The main trades concerned are
- Florist ;
- Couturier ;
- Shoemaker, etc.
Contact your CMA or CCI to fill in the CERFA n°14022 form. Once completed, simply send it by e-mail, post or on site, as you prefer.
An online platform makes it easy to apply and track the progress of the process once you’ve submitted the completed form.
Established itinerant traders or restaurateurs looking to diversify their activities, or entrepreneurs starting out on their own, will also need to submit documents to be considered for the card. We’ll be taking a closer look at the documents and conditions required to obtain a “carte de commerçant ambulant” later in this article.
Response time
It usually takesone month to obtain the card. If you still haven’t received the paper document, contact your CFE to obtain a provisional certificate. This is valid for one month, and allows you to wait before receiving the definitive card you need for your business.
If you haven’t received a reply within 2 months, the authorization has certainly been refused. Contact the organization in charge of this process to find out why. A simple document may be missing to validate the application.
Documents and conditions required for application
When you apply, you need to send other documents for the merchant card, in addition to the CERFA n°14022 form.
Documents to be compiled
The documents required to apply for this card are as follows:
- designation of the itinerant activity;
- Proof of address less than 3 months old or, in certain cases, a certificate of address;
- a copy of the manager’s identity card;
- two passport-size color photos of the company director;
- And finally, the company’s K-bis extract.
These administrative formalities are essential if you wish to proceed with your application.
Conditions for obtaining this authorization
To become a traveling salesperson, you need tohave already defined legal status as a craftsman, shopkeeper or micro-entrepreneur. Without this status, you can’t apply. You are not required to have premises in which to carry on your business in order to apply. You can become an itinerant merchant directly, without owning or renting commercial premises. All you need is a registered address.
If you would like to be exempted from the requirement to have an itinerant trade card, you should know that this is possible in certain exceptional cases. Shopkeepers and craftsmen moving around the town where their business is based don’t need to apply for an itinerant trade permit. They are free to use their itinerant trade vehicle in this town without any specific authorization of this type.
Card renewal costs and assistance available
You know how much it costs to apply for your first itinerant merchant’s permit, but how much does it cost to renew? If you don’t know, this authorization must be renewed when it is no longer valid after 4 years.
The cost of renewing your itinerant trade card is 15 euros , so you can continue to operate your business legally. We at Ecomag would like to share with you a few tips to make this renewal as easy as possible. As this request is not automatic, you need to take a few steps to receive your new authorization.
To do this, you need to contact your CFE to make the request, and fill in the form to renew your itinerant merchant card. It is possible to apply online, but please note that not all CFEs offer an online solution. You need to go directly to your CFE’s website to find out how to apply.
The online renewal process is quick and easy if you have all the necessary supporting documents at hand.
It’s best not to wait until your card expires before renewing it, otherwise you may forget to do so and have to apply for a new card. This is more expensive and takes longer. A renewed “carte de commerçant ambulant” is often available within 15 days.
In a nutshell: the travelling salesman's card
Whether you’re in the process of setting up a new business or diversifying your existing one, a travelling salesman’s card is essential if you want to do business outside your local area. Fortunately, the procedure is simple, inexpensive and accessible to all itinerant traders, whether restaurateurs, craftsmen or shopkeepers.
By following the steps described in this article, you’ll be able to launch your business on the road with peace of mind. And if you need a fully-equipped, approved vehicle to bring your project to life, Ecomag can support you from design to delivery of your turnkey mobile business.
