EBay it’s the end for private sellers.

[baddie74]

Well finally after changing the format of their selling platform it seems every couple of weeks you have come up with the ultimate level of stupidity with this latest total ridiculous set of changes. Nobody is going to wait what could be weeks to be paid for a item they have sold who ever dreamt up this idea much be so far from reality as needing to push every part time seller off the site. I knew when they came up with the idea of free selling it wouldn’t be long before the idiots that run eBay came up with totally and ridiculous idea to claw back the money they have lost the whole senior management team at EBay must seat round a table all wearing clown costumes saying what is the most stupid idea we can come with to really get rid of half of our customers and the biggest clown wins with this idea and all the other yes people follow. Well I had started selling a few bits again but never again and will not be using EBay again to sell anything it has become a total joke of a company I hope your poor and flawed decisions finally catch up with this once great place to buy and sell has become a total joke.

[buffster1963]

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@dan-myers wrote:

why are you assuming that private sellers that make over a grand arnt including it in their self assesment?

---

Probably because genuine private sellers selling off their unwanted items do not need to as they do not pay tax on their sales. 

[incredible_how]

if private sellers are selling their unwanted items and not buying to sell they don't need to be including it in their self assessment

[sunshinedior67]

No seller can say what another sellers tax liabilities are. A private
seller is able to do their own tax assessment & inform HMRC they don't have
to have be a buisness sellers account. Tax liability is based on the
individuals total annual income. I'm finding that slot of mainly business
sellers ( not business owners) are making a lot of assumptions. You don't
have to a business seller to declare tax.

[buffster1963]

A private seller should not have to do a tax assessment as they are selling personal belongings. If they need to declare tax then they should be on a business account. Private accounts are not for trading. 

[lucy_farmer]

'A private seller is able to do their own tax assessment & inform HMRC they don't have
to have be a buisness sellers account. ....'

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Tax liabilities from selling stuff,  can only be based on income from trading. (that's why there is a trading  allowance; it's not called a 'flogging off your own stuff' allowance...)

If you're just flogging off you own personal stuff, you're not trading.

And you cannot do 'trading' on a private account.

HMRC don't want to see any figures from your personal sales.

(for instance ; if I sold my old dinning table and chairs to my neighbour, HMRC will not give a flying fart and do not want to know.  All ebay does *on a private account* is expand your 'neighbourhood'...!)

Edit ; forgot to mention... unless you sell one item for more than £6000! (then your're in captial gains territory and HMRC *are* interested) ..But if you sell something like that on ebay, you're either chronically naive, or the bravest person I've ever met 😆)

[sunshinedior67]

Any earnings after tax personal allowance is taxable earnings regardless
where it's coming from. I could sell £1000 eBay, £1000 vinted, £1000 Amazon
& so on. It's not just business sellers liable for tax assessments. My
point really is no seller should be making assumptions about another's tax
liabilities without having full knowledge of individuals employment status
& income.

[buffster1963]

If you are trading you are a business seller. Private sellers do not need to pay tax as they are selling their own belongings. 

[4_bathrooms]

---

@sunshinedior67 wrote:
Any earnings after tax personal allowance is taxable earnings regardless
where it's coming from. 

---

You don't pay income tax on the sale of personal possessions, monetary gifts, lottery nor other gambling winnings.

You're correct that you only pay income tax on earnings. However, none of the above are defined as earnings by HMRC.

[lucy_farmer]

'My point really is no seller should be making assumptions about another's tax
liabilities without having full knowledge of individuals employment status
& income.'

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In this case, nobody needs  to know another seller's employment status and income.

We just need to know HMRC's rules about tax liaibilities from selling stuff.

And if it's your *own* stuff  (which is all that can be sold on a private account)  HMRC don't want to know about it!

[papso22]

And we can all look at what is being sold on a private ebay account and draw our own conclusions as to whether the account type is correct or if consumer laws are being broken.

Tax breaches are not transparent, consumer law ones are. 

It basically comes down to:

If you are correctly accounting for tax on your ebay sales, but not selling on a business account, you are breaking consumer laws and ebay policies.

[vintique*violet]

HMRC don't want to see any figures from your personal sales.

Actually they will  " see figures" as ebay are reporting all sellers details ( over time) so will come under scrutiny, whether they use an " automated" system to randomly select some " accounts" to look into is anyones guess as it is a long, arduous task for every single account over all the " marketplace" platforms - just imagine the numbers and the data? 

I am assuming they ( HMRC) will cross reference accounts which are on numerous platforms and/or on benefits etc...and look at those that " appear" to have large amounts of new sales continuously which could indicate business activities ( many as we know are on private accounts) and cross reference again to see if they are either employed, or self employed or otherwise.  If people think this is just about " money laundering" to keep us safe, please think again, this practice has been going on for hundreds of years and usually by those who are " in the know" and perhaps criminally minded...not just some Joe Bloggs selling grandmas old table and chairs, or his vintage scalextric, but here we are being put under the spotlight for a few quid.  

[wintersdawn1]

• If you are selling unwanted personal possessions such as old toys or clothes, this would not be classed as trading or miscellaneous income, and there is usually no tax to pay. In some circumstances there may be capital gains tax when selling valuable items such as jewellery, this is covered in our flowchart.

There is no new tax and selling unwanted personal items as a " private seller" is not subjected to the HMRC £1000 trading allowance, as there is no trading nor business activities, however they may be subject to Capital Gains Tax if of high value and a profit has been made.

 

Do I have to share information with HMRC?

From January 2024, new UK digital sales reporting rules require digital platforms like eBay to share information with them. However, this reporting doesn’t change your tax obligations.

On eBay, this should only affect newly registered accounts in 2024, which will extend to all accounts in 2025.

eBay will only report if you pass certain yearly sales thresholds:

• If your total sales on eBay exceed €2000, or roughly £1740, after fees.

• If you complete 30 or more sales transactions on eBay.

In general, selling personal items is not taxed if they’re below £6,000 and you’re not selling as part of a business.

[loftclearout74]

They're actually worse than vinted, they charge the buyer a fee which forces you to reduce your items , then even after you receive positive feedback to say the item has been received safely and the buyer is happy , you still need to wait 14 days to get paid even though you're dipping your hand in your pocket initially to pay for the postage to send the item out , I don't get it , whats the point.

[wintersdawn1]

Buyer Protection Fee - total lie, just pocketing the money

Holding private sellers money - earning interest/investing

Simple Delivery - once mandatory ebay will make money on every postage label for every item sold

Hiding listings - ebay are hiding sellers listings so they have to pay to make them visible via promotion etc.

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

Quite often people buy with funds from sales so all this will do is delay that.

[vintique*violet]

And we can all look at what is being sold on a private ebay account and draw our own conclusions as to whether the account type is correct or if consumer laws are being broken.

Tax breaches are not transparent, consumer law ones are. 

It basically comes down to:

If you are correctly accounting for tax on your ebay sales, but not selling on a business account, you are breaking consumer laws and ebay policies.

Anyone can draw conclusions, doesn't mean that they are correct... nor is it anyones business about anothers business. All we can do is offer helpful advice or ask them to research for themselves.  I get that there is discourse regarding business sellers on private accounts, and it has caused issues, but that has always been for eBay to sort out... it is their responsibility particularly as a supposedly leading marketplace and now having to follow the online selling of goods and services by the Gov rules. 

I am not aware of any law for anyone in business to hold a business account on eBay as long as they are transparent with their responsibilities , consumer law, reporting, tax etc -as far as I understand it,  it is an eBay policy and as you say that would be a breach.   Many years back businesses on eBay did not hold any different account than other sellers,  and actually had their website details in the listings ( that is if they had a website) until it was prohibited by them.  Of course any genuine legitimate business would know the regulations and be correctly abiding to run their business, hopefully. 

Ebay are not privy to business company finances/tax returns/accounting, that is between them and HMRC and it concerns me that some platforms ( not yet eBay as far as I know) but by other comments saying that platforms such as Vinted are requiring the business full tax returns ? I find it all quite bizarre and unnecessarily intrusive and people need to think what they are sharing, the reasoning, and with whom.  

[papso22]

The point is not that there is a law that says in plain terms that businesses must have an ebay business account, that law simply doesn't exist.

The point is that the only way a business seller can comply with the CCR 2015 schedule that details the information businesses must legally provide to buyers before they buy, is by having an ebay business account.

Hence trading illegally on a private account.

It's a subtle distinction that not many seem to get, and when you add all the noise about HMRC and taxes into the mix, it gets lost.

I do not agree that ebay are to blame for the abuse of private accounts, although I do agree they are guilty of not doing enough to stop it.  

People need to take responsibility for the decisions they make, including the type of ebay account they choose.

[andha-21]

@papso22 

I know this isn't thread specific but I've seen it come up on loads of different threads before and I don't know where to find it.

Seller performance metrics

Where can I find them? 

[yorkscollectables]

That has happened already. Your prediction has come true.

[lucy_farmer]

'I am not aware of any law for anyone in business to hold a business account on eBay as long as they are transparent with their responsibilities , consumer law, reporting, tax etc -...'

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Point is though;  to trade, you *have* to have a business account on ebay because you can't hold to all the neccessary consumer law rules on a private account.

You can be as transparent as you want about returns, changes of mind, 'cooling-off' and all the rest, EXCEPT for the 'having your details visible' part. You need to tick ALL those boxes to comply with the law.

And ebay will not allow contact details on private accounts.

'Many years back businesses on eBay did not hold any different account than other sellers,  and actually had their website details in the listings ( that is if they had a website) until it was prohibited by them. '

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Many years back there was only one sort of account, true. But this was when the internet in general was a bit 'wild west'.

Yes, it takes ages for governments and legislation to catch up with new developments in tech (or anything else..) But they've caught up now.

Ebay have had to bend to the new rules of online business selling or they wouldn't be able to have any businesses on their site. And they're not going to turn down a market as vast as online business selling and just remain an online jumble sale/boot sale whilst the rest of the internet roars off ahead making fortunes out of business selling.

Much as you (and me!) dislike govt. intrusion, interference and data 'hoovering', we can't stop it happening . And if it hadn't been for the OECD rules about online money-laundering coming into place (why our data is going to HMRC) I'm pretty sure ebay would have just carried on on in it's own fashion without the new worry that, soon, it may become obvious who is trading and who isn't.

And that may make it look like ebay have been encouraging law breaking....