Email From Ebay Asking If Private Or Business Seller

moneysavingchicken

soolin wrote: »

I have finally got an email in my messages on one of my minor aco!!!!s. Havign seen the message it does make it extremely clear what the difference between a private and business account is, there is no room for any misunderstanding.

It does not clarify 'why now', and it does not clarify if this is being applied to eBay Europe-wide or only to this Kindgom.

Also to reassure someone else on the thread earlier, although contact details are required these are not shown anywhere on the listing, so there is no difference to the info already held by ebay.

Wrong re no difference in how the info is displayed, Soolin.....

All eBayers received the following eBay Announcement:

04 February, 2008


Last week we announced broad changes to the marketplace, including new rules for businesses to display their contact details to prospective buyers.
E-commerce regulations clearly state that businesses must provide the geographic address at which their business is established. Members who are operating as businesses on eBay.co.uk need to comply with this law. eBay provides business registration functionality to help sellers easily display their business details directly on the View Item page.
A number of sellers have voiced security concerns with displaying their address on the View Item page. To mitigate this, we are extending the list of permissible locations for a business to provide their contact details.
Sellers operating as a business on eBay.co.uk must clearly display their business name and geographic address in at least one of the following locations:

• 1. On the View Item page – in the Business Seller Information section

• 2. On a user’s About Me page

• 3. On a Shop’s custom page that is no more than one click from their main Shop page.

Please note:

• 1. PO Box addresses are not considered to be geographic addresses, and will not be accepted as a valid business address.

• 2. Businesses choosing to display their name and address on the View Item page must display that information in the Business Seller Information section. Displaying the name and address in the item description only is insufficient.

Regards,
The eBay Team

bristolleedsfan

Like Soolin said on numerous posts, Ebays requirements are completely seperate from requirements of HMRC.

Heres a few links on the subject of HMRC and online selling. ( There are of course DWP implications for regular sellers who are on means tested benefits)

http://www.out-law.com/page-7743

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/27/ebay_vat_robot/

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/tax-advice/income-tax/article.html?in_article_id=403156&in_page_id=77

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6354003.stm

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/guidance/selling/

To people who say its a grey area cos u could buy these items then not want them and just sell them on, to those who are on benefits, DWP and HMRC would question whether its reasonable that people on benefits are able to buy such items on a repeat basis or numerous different items that are either the same or similar.

Feedback is a give away to how many items someone sells on Ebay and so are paypal records of payments received.

People say the same thing in relation to car boot sellers, underlying principal is that if someone does more than four car boot sales a year then they are a trader because people selling their unwanted items do so on a very occasional basis.

soolin

Out of interest I tried registering my other ebay accounts..and it seems until you actually get the message to register, the system will not allow you to do so.

techno79

I've just been branded into the same group with a similar email recently as well. I refuse to upgrade my account to business as I am a private seller. I've recently sold a number of similar personal collector items (about 400 in total). I listed them individually on a 24 hour auction (I put them on 24 hour auctions as people tend to bid on things that are about to finish very soon).

Anyway, the way I've sold items is completely within the rules of a private seller and meet none of the business account criteria that ebay list on their page. However, they keep telling me to upgrade my account to business.

They refuse to tell me exactly why and what about my activity constitutes as a business account. All they say is "I have reviewed your account and can confirm that the selling
activity indicates that your account is functioning as a business...blah blah blah"

The only difference I can see between what I'm doing and other private sellers are that I've created a large number of auctions. None of the ebay pages state that this is a requirement for a business account and I doubt that this is a requirement of the EU law.

Can ebay really do this and get away with it? I seem to have been incorrectly flagged up on some of their criteria of a business account and am being forced into a corner with no other option.

PinheadSK

Wow! Necro-post!

Can eBay do it? Well, I guess it's their ball, their rules. Have you spoken to them? Do you buy things to sell on?

Sean

cyberbob

I can hear the dead waking! 400 24 hour auctions from a private seller is suspicious in anyone's book. 24 hour auctions always start to ring bells with most people. If you are a private seller I suggest you ring ebay to clarify things

StaffsSW

I missed this thread first time around, but I do happen to know of somebody who has recently been landed a £26k bill for undeclared ebay earnings, interest, penalty charges and accountancy fees for the investigation. He too "wasn't a business, just buying and selling for pocket money"...

So if anyone wants a cheap house in Warrington, I know somebody who is after a very quick sale.

Lots of storage space for ebay stock apparantly....

NathalieDay

Soolin, Do you work for ebay or what?? You are so defensive about it all! Or are you working for the tax man!>

StaffsSW

NathalieDay wrote: »

Soolin, Do you work for ebay or what?? You are so defensive about it all! Or are you working for the tax man!>

I think like many of us, Soolin makes ebay work for her...

And there is nothing wrong with paying tax, but everything wrong with not paying it when it is due. I feel rather aggrieved to be subsidising dodgy sellers and benefit frauds with the taxes that I pay.

theonlywayisup

NathalieDay wrote: »

Soolin, Do you work for ebay or what?? You are so defensive about it all! Or are you working for the tax man!>

Soolin is defensive over the rules, whether for Ebay, Paypal or Tax Man.