Being asked to upgrade to business account

[seraphims_odditorium]

Hello, 

this is my first post so please be kind. 

just looking for advice please.

Today I received an eBay email stating : 

“

Your selling activity indicates you’re operating as a business seller.

In order to comply with government consumer protection legislation, we ask that you upgrade your eBay account to a business account in the next 30 days. If you don’t, your account will be subject to selling restrictions, as outlined in our Business seller policy.” 

but I am not & have never been a business seller. I have sold our junk basically!  - unwanted kids toys, clothes etc etc  & more recently some of my late father’s items (he collected film memorabilia). 

at no point have I made or purchased any items to sell as a profit. So I’m not sure why this is happening or what to do ? 

[4_bathrooms]

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@mike10010_11 wrote:

I make very small profits on most items, i just can't absorb the fees. 

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A business that can't turn a profit by trading legally is not a viable business.

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@mike10010_11 wrote:

I've filled a gap in the market for a while, and, have kept a lot of people's reels up and running rather than having to scrap them. I wish the very best of luck to all business sellers but if there is so much money in doing what I've been doing, then why isn't everyone doing it? 

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Perhaps that explains the reason why nobody else is doing it?

[mike10010_11]

Yeah, you're correct. I've been too helpful to too many people. I should be more selfish and spend the time on myself rather than helping others. 

[ett1954]

If it is a hobby you are doing it for your enjoyment and satisfaction; however you are trading in an illegal manner (misrepresentation) with an illegal returns policy thus depriving your customers of their legal rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

There is no reason why you shouldn't carry on but in a legally compliant way.  Hobbies at the end of the day can be expensive.

[mike10010_11]

Nah, i won't bother

[4_bathrooms]

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@mike10010_11 wrote:

Yeah, you're correct. I've been too helpful to too many people. I should be more selfish and spend the time on myself rather than helping others. 

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Your previous posts suggest you have something of a monopoly; i.e. you found a niche. It really shouldn't be difficult to compile a spreadsheet that takes into account your costs, eBay's fees and the markup you would like to achieve per item. You would use that to calculate how much you would need to increase your current prices by to keep the business viable. Assuming your buyers can't find another seller on eBay (which I somewhat doubt) they wouldn't really have much choice but to buy from you or purchase a new rod. This isn't about being kind or mean; a business that doesn't cover it's costs quickly becomes unviable. eBay's fees for business sellers are exactly that - a business cost.

Something else to bear in mind is that even if you trade legally via a business account eBay can still pull the rug out from under you without giving any reason at all. For that reason I wouldn't recommend any business to rely solely on eBay sales for it's existence.

[mike10010_11]

I had a business which i retired from when i was 41. I don't sell fishing rods and never have. I most certainly don't want to go down the road of operating and running a full time business. Let's face it, most people don't really want to work. Whether people agree or not, i have supplied a service and have been good at it. I'm more than happy for someone else to fill the gap I'll leave and I'll wish them all the luck with it. Like i say, I'm not working just to line ebay and the governments pocket. Ebay don't take a percentage of your profit. They take a percentage of your turnover. Sounds like easy money to me.

[4_bathrooms]

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@mike10010_11 wrote:

I most certainly don't want to go down the road of operating and running a full time business. 

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Whether a business is full time or not it is still subject to the same laws that govern all businesses. For the avoidance of doubt it is a specific criminal offence under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act for a trader (a business) to masquerade as a private seller. A business trading via a private account is also committing offences under the Consumer Rights Act and the Consumer Contracts Regulations but those are either-way offences (i.e. they can be treated as criminal or civil) making the DMCCA offence the most serious.

So, eBay are not just asking you to comply with their own policy; they are asking you to comply with the law.

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[mike10010_11]

I will be totally compliant, as requested by Ebay. I guess selling two items a day isn't worth being sent to jail for. Before I paid my taxes, now I'll pay nothing. Everyone's a winner.