@pg_kicks wrote:
There is no disadvantages to being a private account compared to a business, well you might not get invited to an ebay event but all the talks are put on youtube anyway. With being a private account you will most likely get a good promo not a 10% black friday that you need to fund 6% yourself but 80% off FFV, you dont need to accept returns and eBay dont close your account down, even if they are given a list on a silver plater. The only time they will act is it you get close to 85k then you could just have multiple accounts, even if you needed different IP addresses it would still work out cheaper.
You also get 1000 free listings as a private seller (business sellers have to pay for every listing, regardless of whether it sells - and a shop, which gives you a number of free listings, costs money anyways, so the listings aren't free), you don't get stung with VAT on the fees (meaning that, even if the category rate is lower for a business, it may be more once you've added the VAT onto both the variable and fixed portions), and - most crucially - you don't have to let the entire internet know where you live and what your email/phone number is.
I remember recently reading a thread on this very community whereby a seller on eBay got a phone call (on Christmas Day!) from a potential buyer, which of course they got through the business contact details. I would NEVER be sharing my personal email address, personal telephone number or residential address for all to see, as some people can use this information incorrectly and cause way more hassle than it is worth for even a reasonably large sale (let alone small to medium amounts of sales).
This is why, if you're looking to be a business on eBay, you should have:
1) a disposable phone number, such as a random PAYG number in a burner phone - so you can use that instead of your main phone number that you use on a daily basis (too many spam numbers etc? just get a new SIM and update, etc);
2) a disposable (of sorts) email address purely for eBay stuff (and by eBay stuff, I don't mean main communications, I mean just to fil the business seller box in). You could go for a custom domain, or you could just use a separate free address, which can be dumped if it gets spammed too much.
If you don't have a bricks and mortar business address (i.e. it would just be a residential address), I'd also be looking for an address that you can use that isn't your own (so that the whole Internet doesn't know exactly where you live). Works address? Address of a storage locker (if you have one/rent one out)? That'll do.
Of course, none of the above concerns actually matter if you have a large enough eBay store to warrant some sort of external premises, such as a bricks and mortar shop, warehouse, etc, because you can use that address, a custom/professional email address (that is used for eBay and isn't personal), and you'll probably have a business/work's phone number too.
Remember - STRANGER DANGER!!!
