Should I open a new account for trading?

Wings_of_Ambition

Hi all,

I've been a personal user of eBay for several years, selling my own unwanted goods for pocket money. Have recently taken advantage of sales and have bought quite a lot of stock with the sole purpose of selling on eBay. I believe this means that the income from this new trading is taxable.

My personal account has a 100% feedback (only about 60 transactions, but still)... and I was wondering whether it would be advisable to open a new account for the trading, to keep the figures separate. My only concern is that buyers are less likely to purchase from a new account with a relatively low feedback score.

If I do open a new account, would anyone recommend writing something in the first few auctions, linking to my personal account feedback page to show that I am a regular seller with good feedback, with a short explanation as to why there are two accounts?
Or perhaps it would be better to list the current high-value items I have, on my personal account, and just deal with the tax figures as and when I get to them?

Thoughts appreciated

Cheers

Wings

Smart_But_Casual

Wings_of_Ambition wrote: »

Hi all,

I've been a personal user of eBay for several years, selling my own unwanted goods for pocket money. Have recently taken advantage of sales and have bought quite a lot of stock with the sole purpose of selling on eBay. I believe this means that the income from this new trading is taxable.

My personal account has a 100% feedback (only about 60 transactions, but still)... and I was wondering whether it would be advisable to open a new account for the trading, to keep the figures separate. My only concern is that buyers are less likely to purchase from a new account with a relatively low feedback score.

If I do open a new account, would anyone recommend writing something in the first few auctions, linking to my personal account feedback page to show that I am a regular seller with good feedback, with a short explanation as to why there are two accounts?
Or perhaps it would be better to list the current high-value items I have, on my personal account, and just deal with the tax figures as and when I get to them?

Thoughts appreciated

Cheers

Wings

Very much swings and roundabouts.

I changed my personal account to a business account but open another personal account just for buying.

My advice, FWIW, is that unless you intend to sell a regular amount is just to keep it as it is.

gymfiend

My understanding is that once you start selling items purchased for the purpose of selling on for profit, you're supposed to open a business account? I'd just switch the one you have, and open a new one for personal use [presumably you'd build up a bit of buying feedback before selling on there again?]

StaffsSW

Convert your existing account into a Business account with this link - http://my.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MyeBay&CurrentPage=MyeBayPersonalInfo&gbh=1&ssPageName=STRK:ME:LNLK

You may as well trade off the back of the existing good feedback - setting up a new selling account means you may well find some paypal payments being held for 21 days.

Wings_of_Ambition

One further question. As I intend to sell quite a lot of my own clutter as well as stuff I'm trading, have decided to split it into two eBay accounts. Is there any issue (taxwise) with using the same PayPal account for the two different eBay accounts?

Cheers

Wings

StaffsSW

No issue as long as you can keep track of them yourself.

I found it was easier to open a second paypal account linked to my business bank account. I managed for about 18 months juggling money in and out of of one personal bank account and a vast collection of receipts and invoices.

It is much easier administratively to keep them completely separate though.

I do still sell some personal items on my main selling accounts though, just for the extra traffic, and also if they are higher value items, such cameras or phones.

jumbojuice

i think another reason why people have two accounts is that they dont want people seeing what you are buying on your business account whether that is for personal use or to sell on for profit!

wheresmydoshat

am i right in thinking u can't have two business accounts ? not unless the other on is in someone else's name

bo_drinker

How do you set a 2nd account up. I occasionally see badly listed items buy them and relist properly but as some people look at your history they can see what you have done and may be put off buying. I tried to set one up a while ago and no joy, can't remember why though ?? Thanks

StaffsSW

You just need to register instead of login to ebay - you need a unique email address and user ID, but otherwise every other detail can be the same.

soolin

wheresmydoshat wrote: »

am i right in thinking u can't have two business accounts ? not unless the other on is in someone else's name

You can have as many ebay accounts as you like as long as all the details are valid.

I have more than one selling account registered as a business.