A Question about Business Account Address ?

[addmhat.18]

Recently I have decided that its time for me to create business account as i wish to start self-employment however one of the things I have come across is that the address will have be public for business accounts.. (for example the address will be made public in the business seller information section of listings)

so here some of my questions:

- Is they any other option that ebay will accpet for an address (instead of me using my house address and they do not accpet PO BOXS)

- how can I convince my parents if they is no other choice (yes i live with them)

-  What do other sellers use as their base of selling...

your advice will be very great to hear and will help a lot...

[magpiecorner1]

I've used my home address for over 20 years without a problem.

Many years ago when I had a B2B business I used a local business centre.  That might be an option if you don't get much post to do with EBay.  Never cost very much, and I also used them as a telephone service, which you wouldn't need.

Good luck with your new venture.

[hull_media]

Your return address would need to be your home address anyway, so a buyer would still have access to where you live.

I've had many angry buyers and scammers etc. over the years and never one had someone use my home address for anything malicious.

I think legally you're pretty well covered from anyone doing stuff like that anyway.
To answer your main question. most sellers do just use their home address. There are very few ebay sellers that also have a business premises. It's just not cost effective, especially when you're starting out.

[shirtsnthings1]

You are right to be dubious with regards to home addresses being displayed.

There are multiple reports of home addresses being illegitimately registered as businesses with HMRC by foreign entities.

I personally see no reason why Ebay feels the need to have our personal addresses plastered all over listings at all and I think the people replying to you so far here are incredibly naive to the risks it poses.

[Anonymous]

Ebay have to show address by law for a business account.

[shirtsnthings1]

I am aware.

[papso22]

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@shirtsnthings1 wrote:

I am aware.

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Which means you do know a reason!

[*vyolla*]

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@shirtsnthings1 wrote:

There are multiple reports of home addresses being illegitimately registered as businesses with HMRC by foreign entities.

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It's a massive issue in the UK and nobody in government seems to be taking any notice that residential addresses are being used to register bogus companies. They usually just block register loads of them by postcode. It's a ticking time bomb.

Follow this chap for an amazing explanation and daily updates on new registrations:

https://twitter.com/greybrow53

[ile136yz]

You could check with Citizen's Advice regarding what problems could arise in running an online Business from your parents address (that you live at).

Check if their House Insurance covers an on-line business,  for storage of you sales goods.

Also consider would it affect your parents income if their house is being used as a Business.

It is best to know all facts before you start.

[superchallenge]

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@addmhat.18 wrote:

- Is they any other option that ebay will accpet for an address (instead of me using my house address and they do not accpet PO BOXS)

I've always used a PO Box for my business address without a problem. 

[shirtsnthings1]

I had read somewhere that HMRC was "cracking down" on this, however this was around Sept last year I think?

I've heard nothing since.

Thanks for the link, it's nice to know there are people raising awareness of this.

I think Ebay should be raising this issue on their sellers behalf, it is a safety issue and something that they should be taking seriously.

[*vyolla*]

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@shirtsnthings1 wrote:

I had read somewhere that HMRC was "cracking down" on this, however this was around Sept last year I think?

I've heard nothing since.

Thanks for the link, it's nice to know there are people raising awareness of this.

I think Ebay should be raising this issue on their sellers behalf, it is a safety issue and something that they should be taking seriously.

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It's nothing to do with HMRC, the fault lies with Companies House. 

It's nothing to do with eBay either.

Nobody is cracking down on this, every now and then a high profile case comes along and illustrates that Companies House is useless. This is the most recent one, just a couple of days ago and a different variation on the foreign companies being registered at people's residental addresses, but still pretty terrifying that this is allowed to happen:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68156910

[shirtsnthings1]

I had a friend fall foul of this recently, it was an incredibly exhausting and drawn out process and was enough to make her stop selling.

"Next month the body will get new powers to tackle fraudulent registrations, but tougher checks will take longer to introduce."

Maybe some hope? Although I won't hold my breath.

[handstitcheruk]

You can get a Virtual Office Address with a mail forwarding service for returns / business mail for under £100 for a year.

If you have your own business website, you have to display an address and this cannot be a PO Box.

[btr.style · Accepted solution]

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@ile136yz wrote:

You could check with Citizen's Advice regarding what problems could arise in running an online Business from your parents address (that you live at).

Check if their House Insurance covers an on-line business,  for storage of you sales goods.

Also consider would it affect your parents income if their house is being used as a Business.

It is best to know all facts before you start.

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There aren't any problems with selling from running an online business that way really. The only thing is general home insurance probably won't cover business stock (some insurance could.well be void as business stock is seen as a risk). 

It won't affect any parents income as the OP would be classed as a sole trader. You can have multiple sole traders at the same address. It would count as income but only as an individual (no different to someone living with family that gets a job on PAYE in a shop). 

I guess there's other rules with running a business from home that won't apply such as liability insurance if having customers into the home or paying council rates (which again, only applies if you have customers attending the property. Online mail order only doesn't apply). 

[notstopbuying]

I was wondering could I ask a deeper question based on your reply, as I would like to use a office address for my returns, but I work from home, plus the returns address I would like to show as my business address details on eBay, as I would not wish for my home to become a potential burglar target.

So in an ideal world, my ebay business account details for registration is my home address, but my detailed address as shown eBay business seller details to the public would be my virtual office address.

Is that possible ?

[notstopbuying]

I was wondering could I ask a deeper question based on your reply, as I would like to use a office address for my returns, but I work from home, plus the returns address I would like to show as my business address details on eBay, as I would not wish for my home to become a potential burglar target.

So in an ideal world, my ebay business account details for registration is my home address, but my detailed address as shown eBay business seller details to the public would be my virtual office address.

Is that possible to do?

[carbubbleuk]

Bumping this as I do not want my actual address on display to public for similar reasons. 

[papso22]

There are a couple of issues here:

The first is whether the business address shown to buyers is one where they can actually contact you by post, if so, then that should satisfy Consumer Regulations. 

The second is whether ebay's systems actually allow a 'virtual'address in the business contact details that differs to the other addresses on file.  I don't see why not, I think you are allowed to have up to 5 different addresses.

So what matters is whether the address in the business details displayed on a listing meets the requirements of legislation, and then whether ebay will accept that.

You need to check for yourself.

[1956glyn]

Something else that needs to be taken into consideration.......IF someone wants to run a business from say a Council House this is usually prohibited in their tenancy agreement.

Best to contact the Local Authority to check or maybe get their permission to do so if they are willing to give it.   To my knowledge the same applies to Housing Associations too.