Rant. "Private" business sellers (again...)

TurkishDelight

juju11 wrote: »

Chezba - no it's not ok to do that (IMHO) because if an unemployed person on benefits can pull their finger out of their a&@e to go looking to buy and sell on eBay they can most certainly make the effort to get a job and stop living off state handouts!

I am talking hypothetically about a housewife/homemaker who receives NO benefits, is raising a family whose spouse works but brings in barely enough income to cover bills etc. Hypothetical housewife is also not exceeding personal Income tax allowance per year either!

Perhaps said housewife and spouse would be better off living on state handouts but prefer to earn a living instead - even if that means supporting dole bludgers by handing over a huge amount of hubby's income in tax.

Well then maybe the "homemaker" should realise that they need a job, and possibly they should have realised this before they got knocked up :rolleyes:
Popping out kids is no excuse to be decietful and unfair.

If they are earning under their personal allowance then they should just register as a business rather than clogging up every page with crappy 99p listings that no-one will buy anyway, and that means that buyers can't find the good stuff.

juju11_2

No of course not. I am not suggesting everyone breaks the rules but just suggesting some private sellers who may buy to resell are not trying to avoid paying hundreds/thousands of pounds in tax, but just trying to make a bit extra cash, within their personal tax allowance.

StaffsSW

juju11 wrote: »

No of course not. I am not suggesting everyone breaks the rules but just suggesting some private sellers who may buy to resell are not trying to avoid paying hundreds/thousands of pounds in tax, but just trying to make a bit extra cash, within their personal tax allowance.

Ignoring the tax and allowance bit then, buying anything with the purpose to resell constitutes being a business. There is no lower limit to value or volume.

Them's the rules.

And with being a business comes legal responsibility under consumer law - outlined here - http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/business.html

cyberbob

juju11 wrote: »

No of course not. I am not suggesting everyone breaks the rules but just suggesting some private sellers who may buy to resell are not trying to avoid paying hundreds/thousands of pounds in tax, but just trying to make a bit extra cash, within their personal tax allowance.

If its within your tax limit whats the problem with registering with HMRC then? Unless you are trying to fiddle something?

juju11_2

Turkish delight - there is no need to be so rude. Re: your crappy 99p comment, eBay started out as an auction site for selling off bits and bobs not as a place for business sellers.

If I ask a genuinely innocent question can someone answer without being nasty? If I buy stuff to sell on eBay, declare it to hmrc but never exceed my £6k personal allowance, what roughly would I pay?

StaffsSW

depends how much you can offset against business expenses - there isn't a flat rate of taxation on profits so it depends on how much you earn in total from all incomes.

Moreoften than not it is financially better to be a business seller, due to allowable expenses - every trip to the PO can be offset at 40p per mile, a portion of your gas, electric, phone and internet bill can be offset, all your stamps and packaging are offset, and a whole range of other expenses can be legitimately offset against profits.

juju11_2

cyberbob wrote: »

If its within your tax limit whats the problem with registering with HMRC then? Unless you are trying to fiddle something?

Hi. I really resent that implication. I would never try and fiddle anyone. If I sold stuff brought specifically it would be very sporadically and so it has never crossed my mind to register I guess.

boombap

Just thought I'd wade right into this bloodbath with a couple of musings:

1) If you're a reasonably high volume seller - which I assume most businesses would be - don't you get a much better rate of insertion/ final value fees?

2) Re scroungers/dole bums/no'er-do-wells - not all of those out of employment are the aforementioned. Thanks to the economical mess that the country's currently in there's stacks of people who are desperately trying to find employment. Today it was announced that 75,000 people applied for the 30,000 seasonal temp positions offered by Royal Mail!

S.

RFW

juju11 wrote: »

Turkish delight - there is no need to be so rude. Re: your crappy 99p comment, eBay started out as an auction site for selling off bits and bobs not as a place for business sellers.

If I ask a genuinely innocent question can someone answer without being nasty? If I buy stuff to sell on eBay, declare it to hmrc but never exceed my £6k personal allowance, what roughly would I pay?

It isn't necessarily so that you'd have to pay anything. Some could end up with rebates.
It is worth getting advice from an accountant or direct from HMRC, who have helplines and even workshops for new businesses. Business Link also offers free helo and advice.
There really is no reason for someone buying to resell not being registered as a business.

TurkishDelight

juju11 wrote: »

Turkish delight - there is no need to be so rude. Re: your crappy 99p comment, eBay started out as an auction site for selling off bits and bobs not as a place for business sellers.

I'm not being rude- I do genuinely think that anyone who can't afford their kids should have not had them or get a job- ebaying is of course one of the jobs that perfectly suits SAHMs.

But these are business sellers- they buy bulk lots and sell at under £1 because they are incorrectly registered and get 99p listings free- this means hundreds of listings from one seller that are endlessly relisted.