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

wik

Thank you Chezba, I was starting to worry that I was doing something wrong after reading this thread!

DaveAshton

bylromarha wrote: »

The business sales on my personal account get declared to HMRC.

Fair enough then, you're doing nothing wrong legally in a tax way, just ebay-legally.

Sugar_Coated_Owl

Apologies, I misread the post, sorry to blyromarha.

RFW

stevew8975 wrote: »

Regardless of the taxation issue, selling as an undeclared business is against UK & EC consumer law. It's for the protection of the consumer, rather than for the benefit of the business, although there are business benefits to be had.

As a buyer, I'd feel much more confident, and being willing to pay more, knowing that when I purchase from a registered business I have more rights in the event something did go awry.

Given that this site, MSE, is fundamentally about the interests of consumers, I don't think that was the most prudent of confessions to publicly state...

There's an interesting point there that most people buying on Ebay don't know the difference. There is a layer of protection from Paypal across all sellers, but most buyers assume they are "buying from Ebay" rather than a no (ok, less) comeback private seller.

kprigg

juju11 wrote: »

Hi kprigg.

May I ask you what you actually pay to hrmc annually? Understand if you'd rather not say. Thanks.

Hi, I dont pay anything as I earn less then £6000. I have an exemption certificate so i dont pay NI either. This means that Im not entitled to certain things (ie maternity pay) & others which I cant remember what, but as Im receiving child benefit my state pension is fine. x

sequence

I am am a business seller on a private ebay account (yes I am registered with HRMC). I use the free 99p listings alot, so I'm guessing Dave reeeeaaallly hates me!!! You can always report these people if its worth your time...

Oh well :rotfl:

JustLittleOldMe_2

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/molly-dolly02/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p4340
So is someone like this a business seller? they are on a private account. is that ebay 'legal'?
quote- MUCH OF WHAT I SELL I'VE GATHERED FROM CAR BOOT SALES

custardy

look at their level of sales,hardly having a clear out of personal items

Nice item but a shame the toy smelt of cigarettes natabox82 ( 185) 28-Sep-09 12:34
Reply by molly-dolly02 (29-Sep-09 00:05):
Sorry cannot vouch for habits of previous ownership Contact wld have been welcom
ELC HAPPYLAND AIRPLANE PILOT PASSENGER FIGS CASES SOUND (#220482013598)

so not their item

DaveAshton

sequence wrote: »

I use the free 99p listings alot, so I'm guessing Dave reeeeaaallly hates me!!! You can always report these people if its worth your time...

Oh well :rotfl:

I'd only hate you if you supported Ipswich Town (or Leeds, after tonight's result) Yes, it annoys me a bit, but as long as your paying tax (and therefore have the same overheads as "proper" business sellers), I don't mind as much.

I emailed ebay about the whole "private business" issue, and they replied with

ebay_CS wrote:

Dave, please be assured that the eBay system automatically blocks sellers which are selling on the business level from further sales if they reach the "business sales" threshold. Unfortunately, we can't
disclose this treshold because it would then allow the sellers to keep
sales just below that and avoid being detected by the system. However,
we can assure you that if the seller's account reaches the business
sales threshold, they will surely receive an email from us to upgrade
their account to business and if they fail to do so they will be blocked
from selling.

Thanks again for taking the time to tell us about this. We really
appreciate your feedback, it helps us keep eBay a safe and fun place to
trade.

Kind regards,

Gerry Sidewinder yep, he of the fantastic name again :T
eBay PowerSeller Team

So it seems they have a system in place, although I've never seen or heard any sign of its implementation (I'm surprised no-one's started a thread on here about it, if it exists. Something along the lines of "I'm tidying out my house, and ebay don't like the amount I'm selling"...).

EmmEve

kprigg wrote: »

Hi, I dont pay anything as I earn less then £6000. I have an exemption certificate so i dont pay NI either. This means that Im not entitled to certain things (ie maternity pay) & others which I cant remember what, but as Im receiving child benefit my state pension is fine. x

you may find you are entitled to maternity allowance. i get it and was in the same situation you describe. If you have an exemption certificate you can still claim it :j