Reporting system

[jow1995]

Hi

Just had a message from Ebay warning me to refrain from reporting business sellers selling on private accounts. 

One seller is selling kitchen knife sets with  over 100k of sales(probably a Chinese seller)  .

Out of 14 items i reported , one was removed by Ebay .

No wonder knife crime is on the rise.

Rant over

[iglassmobilephones]

Why were you warned? What was their reasoning?

I reported a private seller who had sold £37,000 worth of phones in 3 months. Clearly not a 'Private Seller'. 4 weeks later he's still selling privately.

Today I've found a seller who sold £81,000 of phones and electronics in 3 months!! If you include his listed inventory then his total turnover is over the VAT threshold. He's selling privately, has no VAT number and yet his ebay username screams business and his entire listing is absolutely one of a business.

[ett1954]

" ..... found a seller who sold £81,000 of phones and electronics in 3 months ....." - You would be better reporting that directly to HMRC's 'hot-line'.

[iglassmobilephones]

Yes I could call HMRC but his Tax liability is not something that effects me and my business. Its his 'Private Seller' account that does because he's saving a fortune in FVF and can undercut prices of legitimate businesses. This of course has nothing to do with HMRC. 

[555njp]

I had the same issue today.

A very obvious business operating on a private account has flooded one of my selling categories with loads of products, all brand new, all with multiple quantities available and worth 1000s of pounds.
They are also undercutting legitimate business sellers because of the FVF savings.

I’ve reported several of their listings so I expect I’ll get a warning.

It seems eBay would rather we stop reporting than actually go fix this issue which is rife on the site.

And, just to rub salt the wound, the seller in question has just sent me a string of 7% off offers for the listings I looked at in order to report. Unbelievable!

[zenfre6]

Omg yes that is a perverse type of irony. 

Well the natural convergence of this idiocy is a point where all business sellers will transfer to private selling at which point there will be zero business sellers and zero FVF income, bankruptcy and the End of EBay! 

[ett1954]

".... "Tax liability is not something that effects me and my business. Its his 'Private Seller' account that does because he's saving a fortune in FVF and can undercut prices of legitimate businesses."

If you have calculated that his income means he should be VAT registered then even if he is registered with HMRC and has a VAT number he has a legal obligation to display it.  A call to HMRC would solve the problem of him being registered as a private seller as they take non-compliance of VAT rules extremely seriously.  This is one area where HMRC would take interest in a business seller being registered as a private seller.

[555njp]

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@zenfre6 wrote:

Omg yes that is a perverse type of irony. 

Well the natural convergence of this idiocy is a point where all business sellers will transfer to private selling at which point there will be zero business sellers and zero FVF income, bankruptcy and the End of EBay! 

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Indeed, and believe me I’ve considered it. But I just know if trading standards ever do wake up to what’s happening on this platform, it would probably be my account they made an example of….! 🤨

[bravergrace]

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@zenfre6 wrote:

Omg yes that is a perverse type of irony. 

Well the natural convergence of this idiocy is a point where all business sellers will transfer to private selling at which point there will be zero business sellers and zero FVF income, bankruptcy and the End of EBay! 

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I think you are failing to allow for a particular group of business sellers - the honest ones who either follow the law and eBay rules, or stop selling on the site completely.

These - the ones that you might think eBay would actually WANT on their site - will simply go elsewhere or go out of business.

eBay's persistent efforts to encourage dishonest behaviour, and to drive honest sellers off their site, is mind-boggling.