private seller selling lots of confectionary items....

[sharn_3757]

ebay are doing absolutely nothing about businesses trading as private sellers. Last October I reported a seller whose product is seaside rock. Still to this day theyre trading as a private seller - I even messaged them the other day and asked outright if theyre a business. One word reply 'no'.  On the 'about section they have been trading since 2007, have sold 17k items with 6585 feedback.... 'private seller with just a few thousand unwanted confectionary items cluttering up the house'

I repored them again ....and now I dont know if this is an automatic 'send' or they are actually taking the mickey but in my ebay inbox today is a discount offer on one of their packs of rock bars! 

Theyre also on etsy but thats kinda fair enough (although I dont see how seaside rock can be considered a handmade gift but anyway...fees are the same on etsy no matter what you sell)

[*knight-rider*]

Ebay might not give a monkeys, but hmrc will be next year 😉

[cobwebcottage]

So many laws being broken. 

I wouldn't entertain buying from them. They could be storing the products in the garden shed or their spare bedroom or even worse, under their bed! Disgusting and Ebay do nothing about these illegal sellers selling food 'fit for consumption'.

[tornari-group]

It is a very bad situation and eBay are not helpful. I have recently been looking for three roller shutter doors for our new warehouse and a Google search lead me to eBay, to reveal several 'private' sellers with £100 offerings. All non-complient listings, so I chose to look elsewhere, to the detriment of ALL eBay sellers, even the business sellers, as I didn't want to sift through 100's of listings. So, eBay need to sort it out, to help all buyers and genuine sellers. I also think the situation with HMRC may force eBay's hand in the near future. Let's hope so.

[the-nutwood-collection]

I was just about to buy something when I realised that the seller was a private account with 13000+ feedback - so I've saved my money for another day.

@sharn_3757 the seller's days on Etsy may be numbered.  They're having a blitz on items that are not unique, handmade or are the materials to handmake an item.  Apparently, numerous sellers have found themselves delisted. 

However, I suppose your seller may be lovingly hand-making each stick of rock in their kitchen.    

[555njp]

Fingers crossed HMRC will be on to them from next January, along with the other few hundred thousand illegal traders!

I wonder as this problem is so prolific and so often reported on this site if eBay could be found complicit with tax evasion and deliberately encouraging trading standards breaches?

It would likely only need a few cases where these perpetrators were reported yet eBay had done absolutely nothing to stop malpractice, but where happy to take the fees etc.

Playing a dangerous game maybe?

[pg_kicks]

Probably will be registered with HMRC, its eBay that need to act not wait for HMRC as majority will be correctly registered just using the loophole that eBay are well aware of but dont care enough to close.

[ett1954]

@sharn_3757   If the seller has told you he is not a business but selling food products he is lying, or more seriously, breaking the law.  To sell any food type in the UK it is a legal requirement to be registered with your local authority as a food business.

This is potentially more serious than not registering with HMRC and the environmental health officers will certainly act quickly if this is the case.  If you know where the seller is operating from you can quickly check the register which is publicly available on the Food Standards Agency website; you just need the full postcode.

If he is registered he should be displaying his food hygiene ratings.  This is also another way to check to see if he is registered and that is through the food hygiene ratings website - if he is registered he will be on it.

If you are selling food products to the public online you need to be registered, if he is not you should report him to his local authority Environmental Health Department or to the Food Standards Agency.  If he is simply reselling stock he has bought from his home then that premise should be registered as it would be subject to the necessary inspections.

There are very few exceptions to not be registered and sell food in the UK and none, to my knowledge, involve selling food products online.