Selling On Ebay as a trader but the problem is I aint'!

54-46

Dear All

My first post on here and it is a question. After 14 years of collecting/hoarding (and working in the industry) rare and designer clothes I really must get rid of a lot. In fact, all.

My problem is that to sell on ebay the amounts of clothes ( and anything else that is cluttering up my life) I have to register as a comerical seller. Of which I am not.

My concern that this is not really for profit but just to clear some space. How do I stand on tax? I expect to make a sizeable amount of money however I wont be making a profit. Am I worrying about something that I should not or is this a potential problem?

Thanks in advance.

soolin

54-46 wrote: »

Dear All

My first post on here and it is a question. After 14 years of collecting/hoarding (and working in the industry) rare and designer clothes I really must get rid of a lot. In fact, all.

My problem is that to sell on ebay the amounts of clothes ( and anything else that is cluttering up my life) I have to register as a comerical seller. Of which I am not.

My concern that this is not really for profit but just to clear some space. How do I stand on tax? I expect to make a sizeable amount of money however I wont be making a profit. Am I worrying about something that I should not or is this a potential problem?

Thanks in advance.

If this is all your stuff then you do not need to declare yourself to HMRC regardless of whether ebay tell you that you need to upgrade to a business account or not.

54-46

Really? My concern is that there is some repetion in some items that would make me look as though I was a trader?

soolin

54-46 wrote: »

Really? My concern is that there is some repetion in some items that would make me look as though I was a trader?

If this is all your own stuff though and HMRC do ask you if you are trading then hopefully you can show some evidence that this belongs to you personally. Packed wardrobes, photos of some of the items being worn- anything at all that casts doubt on any HMRC investigation.

If ti is all new and in various sizes then you might just struggle a bit.

54-46

No not all of it is new. About 70% is worn although a lot is almost new in condition. This is what worries me having to get involved in anything that is going to get tricky i.e HMRC.

Horseunderwater

First off: Did you buy the items retail or discounted as a perk of your job? Do you have prices still on items? If yes and you sell item for more, then you are technically a business trader and have to have that sort of account. However, you only need to declare any net profit after all deductions are made to HMRC and if you are not earning elsewhere, then you have £7475 tax free this tax year before you need to worry about HMRC in the immediate term. But do keep good records.
If on the other hand you bought or got given them free and are just clearing space etc, and will make a net loss on all sales, but still make some money then tech you are a private seller just disposing of possessions. For now I'd go with private and see what happens.
Ebay cannot force you to upgrade. But if they think that you are selling too many items in say the 99p start category, then you might need to rethink.

54-46

Many of these have been brought by me or given to me as gifts. I have no records or reciepts of them at all sadly. Ebay does limit the amount that you put on ebay as a 'limit' came up to the amount of designer goods that I had. very frustrating as they seem to insist on upgradeing to a trader account. I need to get this all out the way very quickly.

Horseunderwater

Free listing of 100 99p auctions twice per month. I think so it may be 50 every other weekend. I am business reg'd, so have lost touch.
BIN fixed prices may be better option with a good selection of photos. I think it is one category where you get more than one free image option. You can list for 30 days for price you want and if you want can offer a best offer and set your bottom line amount of X to automatically reject any amount under X. That way you only get bothered if someone wants to offer more than bottom line, but less than list price. Perhaps sort it into different designer names and go on from there?
All this is something to think about. Consider doing opposite seasons, so if winter, sell summer stuff as people often want to go on holiday out of season and cannot get summer stuff in winter. I know one seller who makes very good income doing the opposite as I suggested.
Frances

soolin

Horseunderwater wrote: »

Free listing of 100 99p auctions twice per month. I think so it may be 50 every other weekend. I am business reg'd, so have lost touch.
BIN fixed prices may be better option with a good selection of photos. I think it is one category where you get more than one free image option. You can list for 30 days for price you want and if you want can offer a best offer and set your bottom line amount of X to automatically reject any amount under X. That way you only get bothered if someone wants to offer more than bottom line, but less than list price. Perhaps sort it into different designer names and go on from there?
All this is something to think about. Consider doing opposite seasons, so if winter, sell summer stuff as people often want to go on holiday out of season and cannot get summer stuff in winter. I know one seller who makes very good income doing the opposite as I suggested.
Frances

OP will be limited to around 3 designer items a month on a private account regardless of start price

londondealer

how about another site like gumtree??

54-46

OP will be limited to around 3 designer items a month on a private account regardless of start price

Agree with that. Just tried to relist some items tonight that did not sell and can not because I have already listed 3 top brand items in 30 days. Even though 2 of them are these items! Grrrrrrr!

If I did it that way it would take me 30 years to sell it all. I have until the new year!

It looks as though I ebay have my hands tied behind my back on this and I have no choice.

Gumtree maybe a good idea however I need maximum coverage on the internet. Sadly this is ebay.