Is it morally wrong....

salski

I dont personally think its wrong - You have helped out a charity and you have made a profit yourself. I dont see why it would be wrong? The charity would be thankful for the money they received, and you can be happy making a nice profit - I really dont think its an issue x

misskaytee

Most charity shops are already selling on ebay for themselves!

I can't help but wonder how many of you have actually been in a charity shop lately, they certainly know how to charge, and have there fingers on the pulse. All of my local charity shops would charge at least £20 for a winter coat, and only have items selling for £1 on their sale rail !

People seem to imagine charity shops are run by old dears, with a few hours to fill, This really isn't the case any more. They often have dealers who come in to price their items up for them.

Back to the original question, if you are paying the price they ask, Then i see nothing wrong with you selling it on for a profit, and as someone posted above me, its likely that ebayers are charity shops best customers!

Just a word of caution OP by doing what you have suggested you would be classed as a business, and should of course notify HMRC and register as a business. Sorry to point this out, but it is something you should be aware of

arbroath_lass

Charity shops in my area overcharge anyway so if you got a bargain, well done. There's nothing stopping the shop putting items on ebay or Amazon if they wanted. If you feel bad give some to a charity of your own choice. Or offer to list items for them a couple of hours a week? (I bet they'd turn you down).

TBH you're all (all three of you) happy with the deals you made so how can that be wrong?

MatyMoo

I personally do not have a problem with this, the charity shop is getting a regular income at a price they are happy with.

But if you think this is morally wrong why not buy at Car Boot Sales (nearly new sales or whatever) and sell on eBay?

Tixy

I wouldn't see it as a problem morally. Although I think if someone was making a lot of money doing this then it would be nice to give an extra something to the charities (perhaps even after the person had become debt free).

One thing I would caution (and I know it wasn't the point of the thread) but if you are buying things soley with the intention of selling them on ebay to make a profit then this is a business and you should be registered with the Revenue as self-employed and should be declaring your profits and paying tax on them.

Edit - sorry I hadn't refreshed the thread - I see misskaytee had mentioned this already.

Sublime_2

Of course it isn't. You've already given the charity shop its money.

complimentschemistry

I don't think it's a bad thing at all, because as they say, charity begins at home. And the charity shop where you bought the items from chose the price you paid for them, so if someone else thinks they are of a higher value well that's up to them isn't it?

Good luck paying off your debts

Trying_to_be_good

I don't have a moral problem with this, but any buying in order to sell is trading, so is taxable - be careful if you're doing this.

Norfolk_Jim

People seem quite worried about "trading" but I found the Inland Revenue were not in the least bit interested in collecting small ammounts of tax on infrequent and minor profits. Of course if you have no income, maybe a 1 income family, theres a hefty personal tax allowance to be used up before any tax became payable. How I wish we had a system where the SAHM or SAHF could gift their tax allowance to the working spouse. Just how much and how often do you intend to do this? Has anyone on here asked the IR for their definition of "trading" because it was quite a while ago when I contacted them and they had no interest at all in collecting £300 from me - would cost more than it was worth. Of course times change - but I do wonder, it's not exactly building your garage for cash in hand is it?

Tixy

Personally i wouldn't risk it, but then I deal with HMRC all the time.
I don't know how long ago you are talking about Jim but I would perhaps guess times have changed quite a bit.

There is no de-minimus level at which you would not need to register for self-employment and HMRC do pay attention to ebay sellers acting as businesses and not declaring profits. Even back in 07 there was this article on bbc news http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6354003.stm

If its the odd item then I guess HMRC are probably not going to know but you would be taking a risk that should they find out about your business that as well as back tax and interest you would also have penalties to pay.

I dealt with a client who traded for several years without informing HMRC. It was a part-time business and made minimal profits but they actually had fines etc to pay that totalled more than the profit he'd made over the 4years or so.

Even if you expect to very little and have no other earnings you should still register and complete a tax return (even if your earnings are below the tax allowance and no tax will be due). You can register for exemption from paying NI in advance if your profits are likely to be less than around £5k.