Buyer Fees Postponed Until February 6th

[valueaddedresource]

Just a heads up - Ask eBay on X/Twitter is saying Buyer Fees have been officially postponed until February 6th and they are working on getting policy pages update and a public announcement posted.

[tressygirl]

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@doumind_7 wrote:

Well if they have introduced the fee on electrical goods, someone posted this on washing machines, I can't find any difference in any that I've just checked out.

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I think they're implementing  it on electronic items first,  not electrical items.

Laptops ,  Macbooks etc.   all seem to have this fee added,  as they're ending in odd amounts,  32p / 75p etc .

[papso22]

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@tressygirl wrote:

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@doumind_7 wrote:

Well if they have introduced the fee on electrical goods, someone posted this on washing machines, I can't find any difference in any that I've just checked out.

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I think they're implementing  it on electronic items first,  not electrical items.

Laptops ,  Macbooks etc.   all seem to have this fee added,  as they're ending in odd amounts,  32p / 75p etc .

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Well spotted!

[theelench]

I know it's not an ebay fault and that all sites are in the same boat as this is a legal requirement for them all. 

But my point is that it hasn't become a requirement because private sellers, selling their own possessions, are being dis-honest or evading tax.

It is business sellers at fault.

Neither ebay nor HMRC have bothered to tackle THEM.

Now ALL private sellers must decide whether to give up their NINO or stop selling over a problem that was not caused by them and that has nothing to do with them.

[cspurchasing]

Yes - as I posted above re: incongruous pricing in the Electronics category for MacBooks from private sellers. I'm actually finding it really off-putting, as I suspect many will. We are so used to seeing rounded figures when browsing items with a view to purchasing.

I wonder if someone will set up an online calculator for private sellers who choose to absorb the 75p / 4% / 2% fees, and display the more relatable (to me at least) rounded figures.

[doumind_7]

Yes but you don't pay tax on selling your persona possessions. But how do you prove that it was yours originally or you bought it from Jo Bloggs?  Indeed I'd like to know that if I buy something how long do I keep it before it becomes a personal possession anyway? HMRC are not going to bother with any of this as you say.

[theelench]

True, but I must now be able to prove that I'm not trading and prove that I'm only selling my own possessions.

Something I wouldn't have to do if either ebay or HMRC had weeded out the crooks before the problem became so widespread and a blanket measure was needed.

Would someone who had sold a collection of old glassware or even a few thousand stamps over a decade even have become a 'suspect' if either of them had come down hard on "private" sellers selling pallet loads of new goods years ago?  If they had and there were now far fewer dubious private sellers, would there even be the necessity for all the genuine private sellers to give ebay a NINO?  I doubt very much that any evaded tax would have been worthwhile chasing.

But I and those like me are now suffering the consequences of their inaction.

RE.  How long you have to own something for it qualify as a personal possession. 

I've read on here, several times, that HMRC recognises something as a private possession if the owner has had it for over six months.  How true that is, I don't know.  The idea possibly comes from an interpretation of "The Badges of Trade" which are said to be the guidelines HMRC uses to assess what is "trading" and what isn't.

[valueaddedresource]

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@game_raid wrote:

£10.32 showing in the breakdown now. I am also seeing some listings without the 75p being added @valueaddedresource 

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Thanks @game_raid I'm seeing that now too both on that listing and on most other private items I'm seeing across other Electronics categories, so it looks like they are finally figuring it out.