Ebay asking me to send VAT invoice when I am a private seller?

[smxer]

Does ebay automatically assume I am a business seller or a private seller by default? Sold some personal items and ebay asked me to send a vat invoice. I read others have had their accounts restricted so I cancelled the order and refunded the gentelman he's money. I mainly use ebay for purchases, but want to know if I can still sell privately? I'd hate to waste more of my own or anyone elses time.

[john1297576]

Whether this is a glitch I don't know, BUT selling Brand New Items is the sign of an Unregistered Business.  Private sellers are not expected to be selling Brand new items.

[smxer]

wow, so as a private seller I am not expected to be selling brand new items. Sounds like more of a bug than a feature?

[red_magpie]

You are currently selling dietary food supplements with four choices of flavour and multi buy discounts. You even show a picture of over 300 products held in stock!

That is a business activity, and requires registration as a business. Private sellers are limited to selling their own, unwanted possessions.

If eBay thinks you're a business, so will HMRC (eBay is cooperating with HMRC to identify unregistered business sellers here).

I would advise you read eBay's business seller policy, see:  https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/selling-policies/selling-practices-policy/business-seller-polic...

[smxer]

But those three flavors of dietary food supplements you see are my own unwanted possessions. I was overprescribe them and was hoping to sell them to raise money for macmillan. The offending items I was asked to provide a VAT invoice for was something entirely different. They were left over bottles of racing oil, gained from a time where I was more fortunate and could afford to have hobbies. I have no need to read the seller policy provided because again I am not a business seller. Surely if ebay automatically assumes everyone selling multiple of anything new is a fake business then they should make it so its not possible to list items in that way?