Setting up a Business on Ebay whilst employed?

anno1664

I am about to inform HMRC that I intend to set up a business on eBay and other selling sites, but I have a few questions I need to ask in regards to this, and wonder if anyone can give me some good advice.

• If I set up a business, do I have to inform eBay

• Do I have to have a shop or store to sell my wares? The items I want to sell actually sell well enough on my current set up which is extremely basic, and I am worried that if I have to set up a new account, I will loose all my good feed back, which is 100%

• Does a shop actually increase your sales

• Do fancy templates around your item actually increase your sales

• Can I still sell personal items that are not liable for tax on my site

The actual items I will be selling on eBay were initially given to me as a present. As I have now run out, I will be making them myself, hence me contacting HMRC. Since February I have made a profit of £200, so the sums are small but can be increased with a little bit of work.
Added to this I am in full time employment and on PAYE

What is the best way to proceed?
Are there any pitfalls I should look out for?

Any help will be greatly appreciated

TurkishDelight

anno1664 wrote: »

I am about to inform HMRC that I intend to set up a business on eBay and other selling sites, but I have a few questions I need to ask in regards to this, and wonder if anyone can give me some good advice.

• If I set up a business, do I have to inform eBay

• Do I have to have a shop or store to sell my wares? The items I want to sell actually sell well enough on my current set up which is extremely basic, and I am worried that if I have to set up a new account, I will loose all my good feed back, which is 100%

• Does a shop actually increase your sales

• Do fancy templates around your item actually increase your sales

• Can I still sell personal items that are not liable for tax on my site

The actual items I will be selling on eBay were initially given to me as a present. As I have now run out, I will be making them myself, hence me contacting HMRC. Since February I have made a profit of £200, so the sums are small but can be increased with a little bit of work.
Added to this I am in full time employment and on PAYE

What is the best way to proceed?
Are there any pitfalls I should look out for?

Any help will be greatly appreciated

I'm sure someone will be along to fill the gaps I can't but:

Yes you do have to inform ebay if you become a business, however you don't have to open a new account to do this, and you are under no obligation to open a shop.

This is the link to change account type: http://cgi4.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ChangeRegistrationAccountType

I have no idea about the rest, we don't have a shop or use templates and went straight from unemployed to self employed.

I would say though, as a buyer- if you have the pretty looking templates, make sure they work- I've lost count of the amount of times I've given up with a item because a script has stopped working and crashes my browser.

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/account/how-to-register-business.html

cyberbob

TurkishDelight wrote: »

I would say though, as a buyer- if you have the pretty looking templates, make sure they work- I've lost count of the amount of times I've given up with a item because a script has stopped working and crashes my browser.

Also dont get too carried away there is nothing more offputting than listings where the templates are so busy you cant work out whats selling. Simple clean templates work well. Busy ones put people off.

anno1664

Thanks for your help so far

But can someone answer question 5
"Can I still sell personal items that are not liable for tax on my site"
How do you manage this with your accounts and informing the taxman

MX5huggy

You want 2 eBay accounts, probably best if use your current one for business and set up a new one for private buying and selling.

And maybe a 3rd for business buying (if you do any) so your customers can't see your buying stuff and making a killing.

eBay allow multiple accounts Amazon do not by the way.

soolin

I agree, three different accounts. One business selling, one private selling and one buying.

Premier_2

MX5huggy wrote: »

... Amazon do not by the way.

Don't they?

soolin

Premier wrote: »

Don't they?

The rules Assuming you can find them which is near impossible on Amazon) state that any one using more than one account will have their accounts suspended.

There are often long complicated threads on the seller boards discussing what Amazon actually mean, some think it means only one account in total, but others think it means only one selling account.

I even worry because my son will be coming back to live with us after uni and has his own Amazon account, so we will have two at the same address.

The Amazon rules are actually even stricter that ebay if you find them that is.

Premier_2

Thanks soolin.

I didn't know the rule existed. I wouldn't worry too much about your son creating his own account. I've more than one amazon account and have had it for years ... and I know I'm not alone.

I can't remember why I've got more than one account. I think amazon themselves suggested I made a new account when they were trying to sign me up for something saying the existing account couldn't be converted. I didn't sign up for the special amazon thing in the end.


Edit: I think it was when they were trying to persude me to sign up for sellercentral.

I've just checked the email they sent me and it says:

...
Next, click the link below and follow the instructions to create your account. The entire process takes just a few minutes--but please create your account promptly, since this link will expire soon.

IMPORTANT: If you have an existing seller account with Amazon, you must use a different email address and nickname when creating your new account. ...

Premier_2

This is the only applicable rule I can find:

General guidelines:

• ...
• limit your selling and auctions bidding activity to a single account. If you ever find you can't log in, seek password assistance. Suspended customers will not be allowed to establish new accounts

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=3149131

That does seem to imply you can only have one account for selling (rather than buying & selling). I don't see why you can't have a different account for buying.

As I thought amazon dropped their auction formats some time ago, that part is not applicable.

Edit: or was it only valid for when amazon did have auctions, and they wanted to prevent people shill bidding from an alternative account?

anno1664

I would like to add one more question with regards setting up another account

If I set up another account for private sales, will I have to build up my feedback again or can I create a link on the new account to my business account, so that potential buyers can see that I have 100% feedback.

Will my feedback follow me from my first account