Ebay Is Conning Us

[Anonymous]

So if I sell a vinyl record to someone for £4 it will cost the buyer £4.85? What is this nonsense? It won't be worth selling small items after Feb 4th. EBay are going to lose 1000s of sellers and buyers.

[bittyboy101]

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@jokers_toybox wrote:

The thing is eBay DO want control over how you post, because while you may or may not be good at packaging stuff safely MANY sellers do not and items arrived damaged.

If people didn't think taped up in a bin bag was sufficient, we probably wouldn't see these being implemented 

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I think 95% of people who sell on eBay have the common sense to pack most items well enough so that they arrive to their buyers in  reasonably good order...

Saying that some people may pack fragile items like plates or pottery  in the best possible packaging with tons of bubble wrap and they may still arrive damaged due to some couriers staking parcels high up in HGV's and them falling down during transit causing "shock breakage"... It can happen only on rare occasions. 

But like you said, some sellers just shove items in a black bin liner and tape the buyer's name and address on it believing it will be OK !... I have had such parcels, like old electric drills and power tools arriving like this via Hermes ! / EVRi and thankfully they have arrived in one piece but only just LOL 😆    

[gemini-project]

You are conning us, you openly admit you buy to resell for a profit so are a business and not a private seller so stop complaining  about it.

[sakval]

I do not buy and resell for a profit. I do the odd Jigsaw here and there which I have purchased to complete  for pleasure. Once a jigsaw has been completed there is little point in keeping, therefore, I sell on ebay.  I would not call that a business.  I purchase jigsaws for between £10-£15 and sell for £3!

[cooksongold]

I don't think that response was aimed at you.

[johnwash1]

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@jokers_toybox wrote:

The thing is eBay DO want control over how you post, because while you may or may not be good at packaging stuff safely MANY sellers do not and items arrived damaged.

If people didn't think taped up in a bin bag was sufficient, we probably wouldn't see these being implemented 

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I must have missed the bit where ebay announced they'll be sending a rep round to help us with the packing.

smh

[jma2815]

The response was not accusing you - If you look at the top of it you can see it was a general addition to the thread, so aimed at the OP if anyone. 

[Anonymous]

Let's get this,straight once and for all. Of course private sellers can sell for a profit, most do. You are allowed £1000 before tax if you buy for profit, and if you go a bit over the tax man has bigger fish to catch than worrying about your few quid anyway. I dare say many will pay any tax due so people should stop inferring that all private sellers are masquerading as a business because the majority are not. I don't get near the £1K and much of my small profit is donated to charity from where I buy most items now anyway. Most of my vinyl has been my own and you don't pay tax on that anyway. And we are the heaviest taxed nation in Europe with the most inept Government in history so its pretty harsh to criticise people trying to make a few quid.  Sorry about the black economy. And come on, how many small  businesses are more than happy to take cash in hand?  It doesn't worry me. I rest my case.

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[sakval]

Seems not. Gets very confusing!

[sakval]

No worries

[papso22]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Let's get this,straight once and for all. Of course private sellers can sell for a profit, most do. You are allowed £1000 before tax if you buy for profit, and if you go a bit over the tax man has bigger fish to catch than worrying about your few quid anyway. I dare say many will pay any tax due so people should stop inferring that all private sellers are masquerading as a business because the majority are not. I don't get near the £1K and much of my small profit is donated to charity from where I buy most items now anyway. Most of my vinyl has been my own and you don't pay tax on that anyway. And we are the heaviest taxed nation in Europe with the most inept Government in history so its pretty harsh to criticise people trying to make a few quid.  Sorry about the black economy. And come on, how many small  businesses are more than happy to take cash in hand?  It doesn't worry me. I rest my case.

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The thing to get straight is that people who buy to sell (even from charities and to give the proceeds away), are trading and need an ebay business account to trade legally.  IT'S NOT ABOUT TAX.

Genuine private sellers rarely make a 'profit' on what they sell as it's just unwanted personal stuff they no longer need.

It's just as well that everyone doesn't have the same attitude to breaking the law that you do.

[a45heaven]

Genuine private sellers rarely make a 'profit' on what they sell as it's just unwanted personal stuff they no longer need.

Im not surprised about not making a 'profit' on ebay, despite ebay bending over backwards to entice them to the platform.

Why not save all the hassles of the platform and no 'profit' and donate your unwanted items to a charity shop- where the funds can do some good, rather than giving it to ebay?

[Anonymous]

Oh bull*bleep*. I don't break the law as I never go over the tax free limit so don't start acusing me or anyone else. most of my stuff I sell is my own anyway. Use a bit of common sense here. Why on earth go through all the hastle of listing on eBay if you're not interested in a couple of bob? Give it to charity!

Without private sellers eBay are stuffed, and bloody good too!

[goodibags]

You'd have to admit, Ebay's repeated warnings to sellers of personal possessions (e.g. to one guy with SIX items for sale) may intentionally or otherwise be scaring users off the site completely.

Fewer users = fewer sales. It's hardly a 'viable' solution.

The alternative approach is to have the correct procedures in place to investigate which businesses are masquerading as personal sellers. This costs money. Sadly, Ebay seems to have no interest in doing that. They'd much rather 'sell' a business account to anyone gullible enough to buy one.

[goodibags]

"I must have missed the bit where ebay announced they'll be sending a rep round to help us with the packing."

That must be what the 75p transaction charge is for.

[jonatjonatjonat]

Your issue seems to be you think there is some sort of grey area. As papso22 says - what you register as has nothing to do with the tax limit you refer to.

Business Seller Policy

"An eBay seller must register as a business if, for example, they sell items they have bought to resell, they make items in order to sell them, or if they buy items for their business."

There isn't a caveat that says - you sell most of your own personal stuff but then you bought a few things specifically to sell? No problem - Private Seller is fine for you.

Just setup two accounts. One business and one Private. Sorted. Or just sell your own personal items. Why do you need to buy things to sell if its only a small bit?

[papso22]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Oh bull*bleep*. I don't break the law as I never go over the tax free limit so don't start acusing me or anyone else. most of my stuff I sell is my own anyway. Use a bit of common sense here. Why on earth go through all the hastle of listing on eBay if you're not interested in a couple of bob? Give it to charity!

Without private sellers eBay are stuffed, and bloody good too!

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You are either being deliberately obtuse or you are something else.

If you buy to sell you break consumer law, and the law that forbids a business to masquerade as  private seller, every time you list something on ebay on a private account. 

Profit means to sell something for more than you paid for it.  Unless you have an appreciating item, such as a collectable,  second hand items do not sell for more than they cost new.  Hence genuine private sellers rarely make a profit.

Obviously genuine private sellers aim to make something, but not a profit.

[papso22]

I do admit that ebay are making some very odd decisions about who they tell to upgrade.

However, while ebay could do more, the fault really lies at the feet of the deliberately obtuse law breakers. 

This is the same throughout society, we need the police because people break the law, but if there were no people breaking the law, we wouldn't need the police.  We shouldn't need more police, we need fewer criminals. 

[Anonymous]

"Obviously genuine private sellers aim to make something, but not a profit."

 Deliberately obtuse? Join the club!

[Anonymous]

As an aside, we need the police to.enforce the law fairly regardless of age, sex, gender or ethnic origin. That is not happening under Two Tier Keir.

[Anonymous]

"Unless you have an appreciating item, such as a collectable,  second hand items do not sell for more than they cost new. ".

Agree. I sell vinyl records from the 59s and 60s, the greater majority of which fall into this category.

Thanks for reminding me.