Changing from a long time private account to a business acount.

[tommytwoholes]

I've been selling on ebay for many years, mostly my own stuff or things given to me. 

The last few years however, I have been starting to consider my hobby as part of my regular income. I have built knowledge and now feel I'm ready to make the step up to a business account. I have a full time job and a second job which I'm now hoping to be able to give up to do the ebay selling more regularly.

I've never had a business or been VAT registered and wondered if those that have made the jump could advise me. 

Is it a simple process and what should I expect cost wise? 

Any help would be gratefully received. 

[cbclassicbuyer]

You don't need to register for VAT unless your annual turnover is over £90k, even as a business or a sole trader. There is lots of info on HMRC website about starting up as a sole trader. 

[tressygirl]

If you've already registered with a personal account but would like to upgrade to a business account, here's how:

1. Go to Account settings in My eBay.
2. Select Personal information. 
3. Select Edit next to Account type. You may be asked to sign in again.
4. Select Confirm to upgrade to a Business account.
5. Specify whether you operate your business as a legal entity or as a sole proprietor and select Continue.
6. On the following page, enter your business information such as name, contact information, and returns policy. Then select Save.

Probably best to use a PC / laptop for this,  and not the app or mobile browser.  Chrome seems to work best on eBay.

@tommytwoholes 

[*vyolla*]

I would upgrade this existing account (as it has some feedback) to a business account.

Then create a new private account to list your personal items on. Just sign up again with the same details but a different email address (each eBay account requires its own unique email address).

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/account/signing-ebay-account/signing-ebay-account?id=4191&st=3&pos=5&que...

So much easier for accounting then.

You have to complete a tax return once your sales hit  £1,000 in a tax year. The £1,000 turnover figure is the Trading Allowance for small business sellers - it's the yardstick by which anyone who is a business seller must complete a self assessment tax return. They need to declare income to HMRC once they reach £1,000 worth of sales. They may not be taxed on £1,000 if that's not profit, but they have to complete a tax return.

[susapric-68]

All the info you really need is on the HMRC site, once registered you will get an ID to use on the site for your declaration each year. Keep a track of ALL inc and outgoings to do with the business and that's all you really need to do. As you have 2 jobs you will be taxed on all profits.

Would hold back on giving up the second job until you know you can make what you lose.

Just noticed you have a 98.6 rating, I would keep this account as a private account and open a new business account, one more mark down and you will end up paying extra in fees that would hinder your new business

[moldosgifts]

The very first thing to do is is inform HMRC 

And did you ask for that negative to get removed its a false positive, someone who selected wrong level, I am sure if you ask ebay  would remove it. but maybe to late now.

Upgrade account on ebay it a simple click of a button, but be minded it cannot be reversed.

What business account avoids is the BPF, simple delivery and you get you money as the buyer pays and not have to wait up to 21 days normally 2 days but can be much longer.

What you do get is fees. and your listing renew not just rollover like you do on a private account.

Shop is not a business on ebay anyone can have a shop.

[tressygirl]

@moldosgifts  wrote:    And did you ask for that negative to get removed its a false positive, someone who selected wrong level, I am sure if you ask ebay  would remove it. but maybe to late now.

Unfortunately,  it is far too late to ask for it to be removed.  Anyone reading it can see the buyer selected the wrong feedback option, but unfortunately it does bring the 100%  feedback % down.

At least it's in the last section of the 12 months table and soon will fall off to register the feedback back to 100%.

[555njp]

Once you convert to a business account, consider opening another private eBay account for buying and/or selling off personal possessions. Ideally this will be linked to a separate bank account to make accounting easier but it’s not essential.

Costs will depend on your volume and if you choose to open a shop or just pay as you list.

Each listing costs 30p plus VAT (36p).

FVFs for business sellers vary across catagory but are roughly 15% without any promotions.

I typically pay 11.9% FVF plus 0.35% regulatory fee plus 30p transaction fee, all plus VAT but get a 10% (of the 11.9%) FVF back for being a top rated seller.

Personally I would start without the expense of a shop and see how it goes. You can (and should initially) talk to an accountant who will probably save you their first year fees by reducing your tax liability. There are a lot of things you can claim that you may not be aware of, particularly on start up.

Also they will advise if you need to pay additional NICs which, as you are already in full time employment is unlikely, but it depends on how much you are already contributing.

Not sure how much they charge these days as I do my own, but  accounting fees are a fully deductible business expense.

Depending on time, cost and your background you can certainly do your own accounting and returns for HMRC. Basic online sales type businesses as a sole trader are very simple to do but that’s up to you.

Another thing to watch out for, as you are already employed and presumably paying tax at least at the lower rate? Your earnings from eBay could take you into the higher tax bracket.

Or, if you are already in the higher bracket, all your eBay profits will be taxed at 40%.

With the current state of selling on eBay (please have a good read of the issues on these boards) it would be prudent to consider selling on another platform too. It depends what you sell but generally sales on here are certainly not what they used to be.

I wish you every success though and good luck.

[moldosgifts]

No harm in asking even if the answer is no

[tressygirl]

No harm at all, but if my little grey cells are allowing me to remember correctly,  you have to ask within a 30 day period for it to be removed looks like this one is between 6 months - 12 months old.

It is a shame , as it's a positive comment left in error on a neg , I'm sure too that a feedback revision  sent, ( too late for that too now !)   the buyer would have obliged.

@moldosgifts 

[moldosgifts]

It is a shame but i got one removed and it was 3 months old id tried the automatic way that a bot looks at went around the houses finally go it removed, probably persistence and just to shut me up but did get one removed out of time. This was a few years ago now when cs could remove them. and that was a positive left as an neg.

Been here since 2005 never had a real neg till this last 12 months when cs cannot remove them. unless that's changed again.?

One a lie they admit was a lie but still didn't remove it another was a process not followed.

[moldosgifts]

Usefull links for you.

Become a sole trader: Register as a sole trader - GOV.UK

Check if you need to tell HMRC about additional income - GOV.UK

Setting up - GOV.UK

[magpiecorner1]

Depends what you are selling and how quickly you get going.  If you don't sell more than £1000 turnover (taking account of some trading allowances) by 5 April 2025 then there is no requirement to register as a sole trader and no requirement to declaring sales or profit from these sales for the tax year 2024/25.

Even if you don't know if you are going to exceed this amount - there is no requirement for registration as a sole trader until October 2025, so everything can be sorted retrospectively if you go over this amount. 

You might also want to consider opening a small limited company, depending upon your selling strategy and your tax position.

Best advice would be first to read everything on the HMRC website, including some of the specialist sessions, enrol for any coming up, and then book a couple of hours with an accountant who deals with small businesses.  You could do it the other way around, but then the accountant would have to explain a great deal more, but either way a decent accountant is worth his weight in gold, even if you don' t end up using one for your business at least use one for advice before commencement, though it would be daft not to unless you are very au fait with small business accounting.