Sick of businesses registered as 'private' sellers

[nsa.ltd]

Anyone else fed up of seeing businesses masquerading as private sellers? I've reported around 40-50 of these accounts to the 'ebay for business' facebook account, and I always get told that they've then reported it from their end but nothing ever changes.

I mean look at this account, 3.6k items sold, and a private seller, or Hartmore Trading, they even have "Trading" in their name, 2.4k items sold, 1600+ items for sale, and a 'Private' seller. Absolute joke.

[dch2112011]

Would it be that bad if all sellers were held accountable and had to offer remorse returns? because that would be the biggest difference to private sellers.

The account need not be business or private or corporate or individual or anything else just an ebay account which had the same rules for everyone -  

The benifits would be

- level playing field for all - same fee structure 

- All sellers being held accountable for their actions -  

- No more time spent reporting businesses operating on private accounts

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Ah, but that's the problem.  They simply cannot be the same thing at all.

From the point of view of a business, there are certain things such as allowing returns, displaying business address etc that must be complied with under the law.

So having the same account to both business and private simply won't work, as the private sellers, do not have to and should not be made to, comply with those laws.

Or would you be happy as a private seller, having your home address displayed on all of your listings?  Just one example of how you would have to comply.

But at the end of the day, why should a private seller, be forced to allow returns?  You don't have to when selling anywhere else, so why should Ebay force you to.

I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure that it's getting extremely close to infringing your personal rights, to force compliance with consumer law.

[dch2112011]

Depends on how you look at it - Offering services above and beyond the minimum required is to be encouraged not frowned upon - a seller of any status has the right not to use ebay and maybe it would set a precedent for online selling which would be welcomed by consumer groups and legislators - who knows ?

It would not be easy nor without objectors but it would solve the problem you object to most which is businesses masquerading as anonymous private sellers 

Many many traders are sole traders, partnerships or ltd companies  working from home who have to display their home address, what do you suggest for them, the same risks apply ?

A private seller has anonymity which leads to a perceived immunity and encourages bad behaviour.

Accepting Remorse returns  would reduce fault returns and the associated costs, the number of chargebacks would reduce

Levelling up of fees  - who could object if you want it to be fair ? The ones taking advantage of private seller incentives ?

There are other methods - restricting private accounts to one per household, restricting the number of items sold per annum to 30  restrict the total sales value per annum to £1000, restrict the number of listings to 50 per annum -  that would work !

[the_book_seekers]

The only real solution would be for ebay to only have one account type and apply one set of policies for all 

Or make ebay legally responsible for ensuring sellers are correctly registered or face hefty sanctions. The government is looking for ways to raise money.

[dch2112011]

Yes that might work but doesn't look as though it will be voluntary on ebay's behalf - everyone lobby Starmer he's looking at ways to raise money - without raising taxes - perhaps not !

[technthread]

This is such an eBay centric topic. 

(Unless it has changed since I created my account) - If you set up a depop account you have a standard account that is basically personal or you can have a business account if you are a limited company. There is no business account for a sole trader it is literally impossible to set one up. 

I created an Etsy account, it is dormant I never sold anything but I'm fairly sure I declared it as a business account and I don't remember seeing my contact details plastered everywhere on a listing. Maybe I'm confused re Etsy and someone will correct me.

I understand the frustration on here but to be honest it's at a point now where it's wasted energy. People will do what they need to do. eBay will be finished if they lose millions of private sellers by taking draconian actions against them and it benefits nobody.

[dch2112011]

Indeed ebay have more than enough knowledge that this problem exists but do not see it as a prolem that they own -  ebay often refer to their 'roots' and don't want to move away from what they stand for nor do they want to enforce their policy as is evident from the user agreement which omits completely when you should register for business accounts  but write policy about registration.

As ebay state in the agreement 

We may choose to be more lenient with policy enforcement, and to do the right thing for both buyers and sellers.

[technthread]

Maybe they are right to think that way. If we did a buyer poll, if the seller has any reason returns accepted do you care what their account status is? I reckon 99% don't give a monkeys. 

[dch2112011]

You are absolutely correct -

A majority of buyers do not care what the account status is - they are buying off ebay in their minds !

They do not care about returns - until they need to make one 

They do not care who they buy off - until they are burned and find out it isn't ebay

They do not know their rights - until they need them then they expect more than the minimum requirement from ebay

Buyers initially trust the brand ebay not the individual seller  

How many times do you hear 'I got this from ebay ' 

Hardly ever - if ever ! does someone say I got this from seller xyz 

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Whilst I understand what you mean, forcing private individuals to go beyond consumer law and privacy laws, is going well past the post and is likely to get Ebay into a lot of trouble.

Yes, any business that is trading from home, must display their home address.  That is the law and not matter what, there is simply no way around having to do this.

However, there are ways of using an alternative address, such as the registered office for a company, does not need to be the same as the home address.  You can use an accountants for instance.

A private seller does have some anonyminity, right up until the point of actually selling something.

Then, they have to provide their name/address in order for the sale to go ahead.

Forcing private individuals to accept change of mind returns, is a little over the top don't you think?

Can you imagine buying something at the local car boot, then taking it back next week to get a refund?

And no, that is literally no different to expecting a private individual on Ebay to accept a return.
Buyers are protected anyway, under the money back guarantee and if there is an issue, can then return it.

Yes, fees could be the same.  But actually, forgetting about the various boosts to private sellers, the fees are generally cheaper for business sellers.

Private sellers in the main, have a flat rate of 12.8%.

If your a business, then that fee can actually be as low as 5%, depending on the category your selling in.

Yes, there is the issue of the likes of clothing sellers getting zero fees etc, but this hopefully should give a boost to the site overall, by bringing in more sellers/buyers.

The last few methods you mention, I can see the first working partly.  ie. restricting the number of accounts.

But if it's only restricting the actual accounts in the household and not the total sales etc, it won't make much difference at all.

The others will have some effect, but they also will have a detrimental effect as you are then restricting legitimate sellers as well.  

There is no simple catch all solution to this at all.

But I would suggest that Ebay take a look at Amazon's playbook for this kind of stuff.

There are very few issues for business sellers masquarading as private sellers.

How have they done that?  Easy, they do not allow more than one account.  To sell "New" items unless registered as a business.  

And they do a proper check into the account holder.

[txt.ltd]

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@dch2112011 wrote:

You are absolutely correct -

A majority of buyers do not care what the account status is - they are buying off ebay in their minds !

They do not care about returns - until they need to make one 

They do not care who they buy off - until they are burned and find out it isn't ebay

They do not know their rights - until they need them then they expect more than the minimum requirement from ebay

Buyers initially trust the brand ebay not the individual seller  

How many times do you hear 'I got this from ebay ' 

Hardly ever - if ever ! does someone say I got this from seller xyz 

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Yes. Buyers on eBay are customers of eBay, not customers of sellers on eBay. Sellers are also customers of eBay.

[potters_uk]

One other point to consider is.  Most of these people who trade under a private account are doing it to avoid certain fees, thus maybe giving them a slight advantage over business accounts. But, the issue mainly discussed on here is concerning consumer laws.

What if someone opens a private account as a business but does adhere to those laws. If they do then the only wrongdoing is breaking ebay rules. It's not going to cause attention unless the customer decides to persue the consumer laws for some reason or other. Just because someone trades on a private account doesn't automatically mean they are breaking any laws in place, their only transgression being circumventing ebay's listing fees.

It's not ideal but their is no clear cut way of making accusations. 

And no, I don't have a private account.

[4_bathrooms]

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@potters_uk wrote:

What if someone opens a private account as a business but does adhere to those laws.

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It isn't possible to do so. It is a specific criminal offence under the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations for a trader to masquerade as a private seller. Private accounts state "Registered as a private seller" on all listings which would constitute a specific breach of the CPUTRs.

That isn't the only offence nor the only regulations that are breached if a business sells under a private account but it is the most serious offence. 

[therenewalworkshopltd]

And not that I've dug through it properly, but I'm pretty sure that it's against Ebay rules as well.

It is basically false representation.

[4_bathrooms]

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@therenewalworkshopltd wrote:

And not that I've dug through it properly, but I'm pretty sure that it's against Ebay rules as well.

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At the bottom of every policy page:

"Activity on eBay is required to follow this policy, the eBay User Agreement and all applicable laws"

[therenewalworkshopltd]

I was thinking more along the lines of a specific exclusion.  But that works.  🙂

[goldfoxtrading]

Yes I'm sick of it to. Items I've regularly been selling for good money have gone down in price as I'm being undercut by private sellers who don't have to pay any fees. There's blatantly more business sellers registered as private sellers on Ebay as there are genuinely registered business sellers. It's become a joke. I've given up my shop subscription from the 1st of December and during 2025 running my listings down and probably giving up on Ebay altogether. Plus when it comes to returns this doesn't exist for private sellers.

[janitia]

Yes really  - bothers me that you wouldnt get the same protection by buying privately than any business security.  People must lose sales by doing this?  Is it tax avoidance or a chance to opt out of responsibilities?

[psycho_comics]

i agree they are taking the mick. i paid taxmAN LAST YEAR .33.800 TAX. I HAVE JUST COME ACROOS ONE ITS ON HIS PRIVATE SELLER PAGE 81K TOOK ITS A JOKE 

[psycho_comics]

NO YOU DONT. HAVE TO ALL YOU ASRE DOING IS DUCKING THE VAT WELL THEY NOW WILL NOW AS EBAY WILL FORCE YOU ONTO AS BUISENESS ACCOUNT