eBay Sending Out Mass Emails for Private Sellers to Upgrade to Business

Moogles44

soolin said:

Someone on a thread on the community boards has posted a time line apparently from eBay that shows how those sellers ‘invited’ to become business sellers but who don’t switch may expect to be treated.

Sept 4: Payouts frozen
Sept 4 + 30 days: Listing restrictions (no new listings)
Sept 4 + 60 days: Listings removed
Sept 4 + 90 days: Account removed

again, this is taken from another post and isn’t my original post , so thank you to the people updating in the community boards. 

Hi
so do you think this is correct? I have one business account which was the worst thing I ever did . Items never shown anymore despite perfect feedback, no offers from eBay and for the last 5 months I have actually had to pay eBay rather than earning anything. Their “business account” was honestly the death of my previously successful business. 

I opened a new private account and it was doing so well but they have just removed all my listings as I ignored the business message, hoping if I stopped listing it would be ignored.
has anyone rung them and challenged it and got it reversed?
also any other platforms good for selling items? Is deepop still very popular for clothes? 

I’m tearing my hair out with this ( must say I do declare both accounts to hmrc so it’s not me dodging them) 

soolin

Rantband said:

Soolin, I think you meant "It’s been years since I have had any offers on my business account", 

Yes that’s what I meant, sorry!

soolin

Moogles44 said:

soolin said:

Someone on a thread on the community boards has posted a time line apparently from eBay that shows how those sellers ‘invited’ to become business sellers but who don’t switch may expect to be treated.

Sept 4: Payouts frozen
Sept 4 + 30 days: Listing restrictions (no new listings)
Sept 4 + 60 days: Listings removed
Sept 4 + 90 days: Account removed

again, this is taken from another post and isn’t my original post , so thank you to the people updating in the community boards. 

Hi
so do you think this is correct? I have one business account which was the worst thing I ever did . Items never shown anymore despite perfect feedback, no offers from eBay and for the last 5 months I have actually had to pay eBay rather than earning anything. Their “business account” was honestly the death of my previously successful business. 

I opened a new private account and it was doing so well but they have just removed all my listings as I ignored the business message, hoping if I stopped listing it would be ignored.
has anyone rung them and challenged it and got it reversed?
also any other platforms good for selling items? Is deepop still very popular for clothes? 

I’m tearing my hair out with this ( must say I do declare both accounts to hmrc so it’s not me dodging them) 

I’ve not seen any person who had successfully appealed the order to upgrade to a business account (yet), hopefully if someone can point us in the direction of a thread or a forum where it has worked they will post here. However, if you are a business then I can’t see how you would have grounds for appeal anyway so even if there is a path to appeal I’m not sure what argument you could present. 

As for other places, there are a few but nothing has the reach or scope as eBay. I’ve seen a lot of mention of Depop but apparently it can be hit and miss and I don’t know if they allow businesses so you would have to check. Vinted is growing steadily and there’s a lot of turnover but again at the moment they don’t allow any business sellers. 

Moogles44

soolin said:

Moogles44 said:

soolin said:

Someone on a thread on the community boards has posted a time line apparently from eBay that shows how those sellers ‘invited’ to become business sellers but who don’t switch may expect to be treated.

Sept 4: Payouts frozen
Sept 4 + 30 days: Listing restrictions (no new listings)
Sept 4 + 60 days: Listings removed
Sept 4 + 90 days: Account removed

again, this is taken from another post and isn’t my original post , so thank you to the people updating in the community boards. 

Hi
so do you think this is correct? I have one business account which was the worst thing I ever did . Items never shown anymore despite perfect feedback, no offers from eBay and for the last 5 months I have actually had to pay eBay rather than earning anything. Their “business account” was honestly the death of my previously successful business. 

I opened a new private account and it was doing so well but they have just removed all my listings as I ignored the business message, hoping if I stopped listing it would be ignored.
has anyone rung them and challenged it and got it reversed?
also any other platforms good for selling items? Is deepop still very popular for clothes? 

I’m tearing my hair out with this ( must say I do declare both accounts to hmrc so it’s not me dodging them) 

I’ve not seen any person who had successfully appealed the order to upgrade to a business account (yet), hopefully if someone can point us in the direction of a thread or a forum where it has worked they will post here. However, if you are a business then I can’t see how you would have grounds for appeal anyway so even if there is a path to appeal I’m not sure what argument you could present. 

As for other places, there are a few but nothing has the reach or scope as eBay. I’ve seen a lot of mention of Depop but apparently it can be hit and miss and I don’t know if they allow businesses so you would have to check. Vinted is growing steadily and there’s a lot of turnover but again at the moment they don’t allow any business sellers. 

Thank you for the info. It’s crazy isn’t it . 

I’ve opened up another business account now but I know thats again going to kill my business again. Annoyingly they have accepted me paying for a shop and taken money but won’t let me list anything still as I have no valid photo I’d ! So I now need to buy and send off for a passport . 

I have so much stock 😩. The people buying stuff and making me money are people from abroad on eBay but it’s £77 a month to have a shop that lists in 13 countries. So really not worth it as my stuff doesn’t make that much money.

making ends meet has never been harder , i don’t think , and it’s really like they have pulled the rug out from underneath us as eBay treats business terribly and you lose soo much money on them. And my selling dropped by like 70% after I had to get business account before . Tearing my hair out as I need money, need to work from home as I’m an unpaid carer also so eBay was perfect. 

ive found vendoo with very mixed reviews and it transfers all your stuff from eBay to other sites but costs . Gonna try Etsy for some items . I didn’t realise you could not be a business on vinted or Depop 😬

soolin

Why open and pay for a shop if you can’t list at the moment (you mention paying so I’m assuming it isn’t the free shop until the end of December offer). 

End your shop subscription , sort out your ID and then look at shops if you need one, and of course a business account can be PAYG if you don’t want a shop. 

Also, see if a driving license is accepted, I’m sure that’s how I presented my ID. A provisional, if accepted, is a lot cheaper than a passport. 

Etsy is a possibility, but the stuff you can list is limited. No brand new stuff only vintage or handmade from small businesses (unless you are from the Far East where they get round it somehow). Fees can be slightly higher than eBay but stuff stays listed for longer for a fixed price. It is all still declared to HMRC of course, but nothing to worry about if you have no other, or limited other income . 

Can I also politely point out the obvious, that if you can’t make money as a business then the business itself is not viable, and throwing money at something that doesn’t work is not a good idea.

Moogles44

soolin said:

Why open and pay for a shop if you can’t list at the moment (you mention paying so I’m assuming it isn’t the free shop until the end of December offer). 

End your shop subscription , sort out your ID and then look at shops if you need one, and of course a business account can be PAYG if you don’t want a shop. 

Also, see if a driving license is accepted, I’m sure that’s how I presented my ID. A provisional, if accepted, is a lot cheaper than a passport. 

Etsy is a possibility, but the stuff you can list is limited. No brand new stuff only vintage or handmade from small businesses (unless you are from the Far East where they get round it somehow). Fees can be slightly higher than eBay but stuff stays listed for longer for a fixed price. It is all still declared to HMRC of course, but nothing to worry about if you have no other, or limited other income . 

Can I also politely point out the obvious, that if you can’t make money as a business then the business itself is not viable, and throwing money at something that doesn’t work is not a good idea.

I opened the shop without realising I still could not list anything . I rung them and they are Lifting the restrictions as I explained my passport is being renewed and may take 3 weeks . My driving licence has no photo .. I’m old 😄

my business was extremely viable when it was on private account ( but being declared to hmrc) as they show private sellers stuff more than business sellers in my experience. I have soo much stock I have to get rid of it by selling. 

Thanks for info about Etsy. That was really helpful as I didn’t realise but some of my items could work on there still. 

I have ideas of new business ideas but need to sell all this stock somehow now .

thank you 😊 

Moogles44

Hey I think I have found a way round it. I messaged another seller of same items, but more expensive, and she is obviously a business but has private account and has not had any messages about making her a business. Anyway she reckons it’s because all of her items are sponsored so eBay gets 10% . So that’s interesting 🧐. Sponsor your items and no consequences as they are getting money so are not so fussed .

soolin

Moogles44 said:

Hey I think I have found a way round it. I messaged another seller of same items, but more expensive, and she is obviously a business but has private account and has not had any messages about making her a business. Anyway she reckons it’s because all of her items are sponsored so eBay gets 10% . So that’s interesting 🧐. Sponsor your items and no consequences as they are getting money so are not so fussed .

It still misses the point that a business is a business and needs to be registered as such. There is no work round for evading the requirements for a business to be declared as such. 

It’s also just hit and miss on eBay, there are still obvious business sellers on private accounts on eBay I see them daily, and you say yourself you have contacted one, but I suspect ultimately more batches will be required to upgrade to the correct account.