Email From Ebay Asking If Private Or Business Seller

amcluesent

IIRC, by acknowledging you are trading as a business through Ebay, you will also need to comply with Distance Selling Regulations. Notably you must publish a business contact address and allow 'no questions asked' returns of good within 7 working days for a refund.

NB Operating as a business is not necessarily bad, for instance you can claim ISP fees, heating and lighting of a room in your house as a business expense etc.

essex_chick

You have me worried now.... I use to be a consultant for a party company and i have been selling my new and unwanted stock i bought or won on ebay to clear it (i have 2 under the bed boxes full of stuff!!)
Am i now a business seller? Or still a private seller as the items are mine?

sham63

I also got the email this morning and followed the steps accordingly. I'm a personal user by the way!

This evening I have had a further message from PayPal saying that I have to enrol in their 'Expanded Use Program' because over £650 has passed through my PayPal account since 2004. They are charging £1 to my credit card and I have to enter a 'code' from my cc statement into PayPal to clear the first stage. I've already done the usual verification thing - two small sums into my bank account & a phone call - when I opened the account in 2004.

I supose I will be super-verified after this?!

Wallis0404

Hi, I've received the same message today. I understand what everyone is saying about the tax man/inland revenue etc and I have no problem declaring what I sell. But my question is if you decide to stay as a personal account with ebay can they actually do anything about that? Thanks.

RFW

Wallis0404 wrote: »

Hi, I've received the same message today. I understand what everyone is saying about the tax man/inland revenue etc and I have no problem declaring what I sell. But my question is if you decide to stay as a personal account with ebay can they actually do anything about that? Thanks.

Not sure its Ebay who will be doing the looking. As it will be easier to search between private and business seller, if I was HMRC I would be looking at high turnover private sellers first.

Can I reiterate for some other posters the best (if not only) place to ask for advice that you can accept is either HMRC or an accountant. HMRC are quite easy to talk to and helpful.

izoomzoom

My suggestion would be to register two ebay accounts - use one for business purposes and the other for personal purposes.

glossy123

I think ebay are trying to drive small sellers away - I have calculated the change in fees for my main (business) item and the fvf has gone up by 16p per item with absolutely no benefit to me - ebay are not getting the buyers in the moment, sales are low etc. etc. in fact they have done this at a time when sales have dropped off dramatically because of the business climate so you fall out of the "powerseller" range that would have given you a small discount.
I wil be trying very hard to give more impetus to other sales areas and seriously reduce ebay selling.
I have so far had one account which was mainly to sell business but also used it as am clearing house for major downsize. It's all very well to suggest separate accounts but surely one of the major points about your ebay business - and by that I mean any trading - is that buyers can see what you are like. So all of my business is on the one account - all buyers can see how good is my business product and the absolutely wysiwig of all my items - business and personal alike.
I reckon the managers of ebay are probably like the nulab government, numpties who have never had to earn a living themselves in the real world, so poor if any grasp of reality.:T

soolin

Yes ebay are trying to drive the smaller hobby seller away, that is their clear and stated intention. I have whinged about this over several threads now as it is rather a hobby horse of mine.

By moving ebay towards only large business sellers the buyers will see ebay as a real online site where they are covered by DSR and all other regulations. There will be no more muddying of the waters by having small sellers who refuse to refund and large sellers who are obliged to refund. Then the big sellers will get FVF discounts and under cut the smaller sellers which will help drive us away. Then ebay can concentrate on dealing only with the big boys which is where they make their money anyway.

So ebay may well carry less sellers, have less auctions in some categories yet have more income..great isn't it.

scorpio13

glossy123 wrote: »

I think ebay are trying to drive small sellers away........

Yes, i was thinking the very same thing.:mad:

DaisyFlower

As well as the tax man she will need to declare him income to any benefit agencies she may be claiming off. She risk a fraud investigation if they catch her.

Selling personal items is one thing, buying items to sell at a profit is a business whether registered of not.