Am I doing anything wrong

toffee'n'tom

Not sure if this is the correct place to post but would be grateful if anyone could advise if I'm doing anything wrong.

My partner and I are directors of a limited company which we established 18 months ago. We invested in land and are building houses. It's an uphill struggle financially and to keep a cash flow we have bought and sold cars which is something my partner does in his own separate business. The cars are all bought legally through the company from a local dealer. All purchases and sales are recorded and go through the company accounts and we pay vat/tax on any profits.

To boost sales I have joined local car sales groups on Facebook and posted the cars for sale. I use my own personal page. I tried to create a separate business page but found I couldn't. Our company is called for example ab developments (old town) Ltd. I have started every post on Facebook with abd car sales so as to not mislead anyone that it is a private sale. I give my partners contact number and the sales site where the cars can be viewed.

Can anyone tell me if we are doing anything wrong or illegal. I have been employed in a very responsible job for over 30 years and I would never knowingly do anything illegal or deceitful and would stop immediately if that was the case.

Many thanks

getmore4less

If they are being sold through the OH business why is that called ab develpment and not ab car sales?

I don't think there is anything wrong with how you create your leads as long as the sales side is clearly trader and you are prepared for the resonsibilities that come with that.

Guest101

toffeentom wrote: »

Not sure if this is the correct place to post but would be grateful if anyone could advise if I'm doing anything wrong.

My partner and I are directors of a limited company which we established 18 months ago. We invested in land and are building houses. It's an uphill struggle financially and to keep a cash flow we have bought and sold cars which is something my partner does in his own separate business. The cars are all bought legally through the company from a local dealer. All purchases and sales are recorded and go through the company accounts and we pay vat/tax on any profits.

To boost sales I have joined local car sales groups on Facebook and posted the cars for sale. I use my own personal page. I tried to create a separate business page but found I couldn't. Our company is called for example ab developments (old town) Ltd. I have started every post on Facebook with abd car sales so as to not mislead anyone that it is a private sale. I give my partners contact number and the sales site where the cars can be viewed.

Can anyone tell me if we are doing anything wrong or illegal. I have been employed in a very responsible job for over 30 years and I would never knowingly do anything illegal or deceitful and would stop immediately if that was the case.

Many thanks

It sounds like you're deliberately misleading potential customers.


Of course you can create a Facebook page, or a website, and use that to advertise.


Whether people realise it's a commercial sale, not a private sale, is the important part. The reason you're asking is you are aware of the regulations which mean if you were a private seller, you could sell anything you like - caveat emptor, however if you sell as business you must comply to sale of goods act, consumer rights etc.


Illegal? - possibly, depends on what you do when or if confronted


Deceitful? - as I say it's easy to set up a Facebook page, so in my onion -yes.

toffee'n'tom

getmore4less wrote: »

If they are being sold through the OH business why is that called ab develpment and not ab car sales?

I don't think there is anything wrong with how you create your leads as long as the sales side is clearly trader and you are prepared for the resonsibilities that come with that.

Thanks for the reply. They are being sold through our business - ab developments with the facebook ad starting abd car sales. I have only advertised the cars bought by our joint company on facebook.

Although all the cars are displayed on the same site his cars are not sold or advertised through our joint company. We have deliberately kept everything separate.

Guest101

toffeentom wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. They are being sold through our business - ab developments with the facebook ad starting abd car sales. I have only advertised the cars bought by our joint company on facebook.

Although all the cars are displayed on the same site his cars are not sold or advertised through our joint company. We have deliberately kept everything separate.

Yes so people aren't sure if buying from you, abd cars or ab developments....

toffee'n'tom

Guest101 wrote: »

It sounds like you're deliberately misleading potential customers.


Of course you can create a Facebook page, or a website, and use that to advertise.


Whether people realise it's a commercial sale, not a private sale, is the important part. The reason you're asking is you are aware of the regulations which mean if you were a private seller, you could sell anything you like - caveat emptor, however if you sell as business you must comply to sale of goods act, consumer rights etc.


Illegal? - possibly, depends on what you do when or if confronted


Deceitful? - as I say it's easy to set up a Facebook page, so in my onion -yes.

Sorry. I may be reading your reply wrongly but it sounds as if you;re accusing me of some deliberate wrongdoing?? Believe me, I would never, ever do that, because of the person I am, my family, my reputation and my job.

If I am doing anything wrong I will stop immediately. I am advertising the cars with the company name. Viewers are directed to a car sales site. All purchases and sales are recorded and vat/tax paid - no cash is pocketed.

I did set up a face book page called ab developments but it was disabled within a couple of days. Apparently I can't have a personal account and a business account from the same IP address and I have to have a personal identity - not called ab developments.

I made a company facebook page from my personal account but I can't join groups from that page.

If anyone can point me in the direction of who to call to check if we're doing anything wrong please do. Trading standars? Would they be able to help?

toffee'n'tom

Guest101 wrote: »

Yes so people aren't sure if buying from you, abd cars or ab developments....

ok - so if i start the ad with ab developments ltd then that would be ok?

Flyonthewall

toffeentom wrote: »

My partner and I are directors of a limited company which we established 18 months ago. We invested in land and are building houses. It's an uphill struggle financially and to keep a cash flow we have bought and sold cars which is something my partner does in his own separate business. The cars are all bought legally through the company from a local dealer. All purchases and sales are recorded and go through the company accounts and we pay vat/tax on any profits.

To boost sales I have joined local car sales groups on Facebook and posted the cars for sale. I use my own personal page. I tried to create a separate business page but found I couldn't. Our company is called for example ab developments (old town) Ltd. I have started every post on Facebook with abd car sales so as to not mislead anyone that it is a private sale. I give my partners contact number and the sales site where the cars can be viewed.

You should be able to create a business page. When logged in (as you, on your personal account) go to the black arrow (it points down) at the top of Facebook in the blue banner, on the far left (next to your name, home, find friends links and the black icons). It gives a drop down menu. Select create page.

Select local business or place and it'll give you a page where you can fill in the details and click to create it. Then when you post on the Facebook selling page you can select to sell under the business page name.

Anyone can create a page.

So long as you're telling people in the ad that it's through the company I don't see that you're doing anything illegal, it's just not ideal.

Guest101 wrote: »

It sounds like you're deliberately misleading potential customers.

Deceitful? - as I say it's easy to set up a Facebook page, so in my onion -yes.

It might be misleading to some, it's obviously not deliberately misleading as OP tells people the company name.

It is easy to set up a Facebook page, but OP did try. Not being able to do something doesn't make it deceitful. It's not set up as well as it should be, that's all.

Flyonthewall

toffeentom wrote: »

They are being sold through our business - ab developments with the facebook ad starting abd car sales. I have only advertised the cars bought by our joint company on facebook.

If cars are being sold under the abd car sales then you need a page for that. If they're being sold under abd development you need a page for that and to stop stating abd cars sales in the ads. That's just confusing.

Potential customers may know they're buying from a business but it's not clear what business (even if the two are both by you).

toffee'n'tom

thanks Flyonthewall.

I have followed your instructions. Created a business. Listed it in the company name with the company address and telephone number (all mine). Chosen vehicles and auto sales. But I still can't seem to be able to ask to join groups in that name? I only seem to be able to join in my personal name.

I don't want to sell from my facebook page. What I want to do is sell through local groups but in the company name. Am I able to do that?

thanks

Guest101

toffeentom wrote: »

Sorry. I may be reading your reply wrongly but it sounds as if you;re accusing me of some deliberate wrongdoing?? Believe me, I would never, ever do that, because of the person I am, my family, my reputation and my job. - I'm suggesting what someone from a completely neutral perspective might think.

If I am doing anything wrong I will stop immediately. I am advertising the cars with the company name. Viewers are directed to a car sales site. All purchases and sales are recorded and vat/tax paid - no cash is pocketed.

I did set up a face book page called ab developments but it was disabled within a couple of days. Apparently I can't have a personal account and a business account from the same IP address and I have to have a personal identity - not called ab developments. - That's because you tried to set up a personal account as a business one. Just create a 'page'

I made a company facebook page from my personal account but I can't join groups from that page. - Not sure why not? But you could have a professional facebook profile, not use your personal one.

If anyone can point me in the direction of who to call to check if we're doing anything wrong please do. Trading standars? Would they be able to help?

As I said, if I saw an advert from you, directing me to site a and paperwork from company b, I'd run, not walk away.


It is so unprofessional.