How long ebay will hold back funds for not giving NI number on Blackmail.

[k3vyn.w]

Used to sell on ebay but no more as refuse to give ebay my details.

ebay is not my employer but just a selling platform, HMRC are not my employer but deal with my yearly earnings where i pay no tax what so ever after calculating my way.

so now i cut off my nose as i dont sell on fleabay anymore unless collected and cash.

Not always sold on fleabay and feedback is mostly purchases but 24 years down the drain as i fear i no longer want to be a part of ebay, i even set up another account to purchase.

So, i am putting to test small funds to see how long they hold this for, they have £12 and on hold, as far as i am concerned they can stick it where the sun dont shine as i have no issues in loosing this but just curious on how long they will actually hold, steal my money. Its Blackmail from ebay.

i have not looked to any contract but guess they have dropped it in there somewhere.

So even when you look after your yearly tax return and never paid tax as never earn enough, these clowns still ask for NI no..Blackmail.. 

Hopefully some big concern, collective will fight them in court over this, but we have no chance.

i now purchase a lot more from amazon ..

[yourshoppingsales]

eBay is ran by criminals, it's not hard to see. 1* reviews everywhere, more and more people realising its oligarch controlling this platform, A.I bans list goes on. You will always have sheeple defending them.

[elha_5518]

I know it’s old thread but anybody managed to get their fun released without providing their NIN?

[primemoredealsoup]

I am thinking of doing the same to be honest as I just had the same NI request and there is zero chance eBay are getting that information from me! I buy & sell as a hobby mainly and make a tiny profit now & then.

[theelench]

That's a very good question.  One that those who have told everyone how ebay is so safe, secure and law abiding should have an answer to.

If they're law abiding enough to hand over your NINO to surely they are equally law abiding enough to hand over the impounded cash when they close your account for non-compliance with govt. regs.?

[ephemiranda]

I haven't, after three months, and no reply to my letter, either.

[jonatjonatjonat]

Should probably refer to 

VI. ADDITIONAL TERMS FOR SERVICES PROVIDED BY ECUK

3. Settlement of Funds.

[theelench]

Thanks for that on behalf of those having funds held.

Does it mean that it's not a good read for them that you don't give a link or a quote ?

I'll try and find the relevant section.

[theelench]

I looked at the User Agreement but couldn't find the exact part that you reference.

So I searched the Community Board Content  and found several threads on the subject but again couldn't find anything that quoted or linked to exactly what ebay says it will, or can do when it closes an account for non-compliance while holding the seller's funds.

I would suggest, if this is still possible as it's been some years since I did the same in relation to a problem with PayPal, that sellers in this position phone the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and explain their "concerns" to one of the advisors.  They will take notes and give advice about how ebay should  be acting and what it is legally required to do in such circumstances.  As it's the FCA that gives ebay its licence to conduct financial services, their advice comes with some authority. 

My guess (which might be out of date) would be this.  Sellers with funds held will be required to make a formal complaint through ebay's Complaints Procedure.  If that is completed without getting the problem resolved, they can then make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). 

The FOS will look at whether or not ebay's actions or in-action is within the FCA rules and regs. under which they have been given their Financial Services licence.  If ebay hasn't, the FOS can order them to do so and if it judges the infringement serious enough, can award compensation, if it decides the seller has suffered financial loss because of the way ebay has handled the case.

[ett1954]

I suspect the information you are looking for relates to eBays obligations under:  The Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023 and not in eBay's user agreement.

eBay are responsible for collecting and relaying information when certain criteria are reached by a seller and are required to demonstrate due diligence in acquiring the information.  One of the sanctions they can use to demonstrate due diligence is the holding of funds.

The relevant information can be found at the following:  The Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023  A warning it can be a long read.  I would imagine this act's requirements would be used in any defence and negate any investigation by the FOS.

eBay have made mention of the above requirements in their customer service section.  see:  UK digital sales reporting | eBay

[jonatjonatjonat]

Here you go

https://pages.ebay.co.uk/payment/2.0/terms.html#section-vi

[*devils.advocate*]

….. These Payments Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales …...

Interesting that they only include England and Wales under the heading “Governing Law and Jurisdiction”.

There is no mention of Scotland or Northern Ireland anywhere within that section.

What happens then?

Can those who live in Scotland or Northern Ireland demand their money immediately?

[jonatjonatjonat]

That is a standard governing clause and basically states which rules and legal principles apply when interpreting the agreement. So it doesn’t matter if the user is in Scotland or France etc - the agreement in question would be interpreted using England and Wales law.

if you search for that paragraph on google you’ll find most terms include something similar.

[bish38]

It’s not such a big deal and its not eBay initiative. 

It’s the Government which requires this information and if eBay doesn’t comply they will be punished.

you get cut some slack for a fair amount with the tax man every year as a private seller.

it used to be 1k but I’ve read its now 3k.

there is no NI blackmail. eBay is just a platform where we can sell and lets be honest ,there’s nowhere else like it. 

Be positive and be part of the solution.

eBay has taken turns for the worse lately and I’m with you all the way. I’d say don’t throw the baby out with bath water. I’ve been so F@#$%^ off with it that i stopped completely and then all i did was complain here on the forum just like you.  People like us need to be part of the solution which will no doubt require persistence and patience. It’s rough at the moment.

[lucy_farmer]

'You get cut some slack for a fair amount with the tax man every year as a private seller.

it used to be 1k but I’ve read its now 3k.'

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you are a *genuine* private seller (i.e. just selling off your own personal possessions) you get all the 'slack' in the world!

By which I mean there is *no* limit to the amount of personal stuff you can sell off...unless you manage to sell a single item (or a collection- like stamp/coin collection or a tea set etc...) for more than £6000.00. That'd bring you into 'Capital Gains' territory.

(Mind you, I can't imagine selling a 6 grand object on ebay...😱. too terrifying for most normal mortals!)

The £1k limit you mention is the 'trading allowance' . If you trade, sell or run a small business and didn't make more than 1k, you wouldn't have to pay tax on it.

It's not a 'flogging your own stuff' allowance 😁

(And it's not 3k *yet*..... it's being considered as a future 'trading allowance' limit, but not for another 2 or 3 years)

[sml192]

---

@lucy_farmer wrote:

(And it's not 3k *yet*..... it's being considered as a future 'trading allowance' limit, but not for another 2 or 3 years)

---

It isn't a proposed increase to the 'Trading Allowance'.  It is a proposed change to the threshold at which a full Self Assessment is required. 

[theelench]

Thank you.

But I still can't see anything there that answers the question:  "How long will ebay hold funds for not giving a NINO when asked?"

The best answer I could come up with was from a Community Content search where a member (who is usually pretty reliable when it comes to the workings of ebay) thought it would probably be 180 days after the account was 'restricted' from selling (i.e closed as a selling account).  But again they were not able to give a link or quote from the relevant part of the U.A.

Digging a little deeper I looked at the U.A "Getting Paid > Payment Holds"  where three reasons  for Holds are given, one of which is "Compliance Holds".  All ebay says is that if payouts are put on Hold due to a Compliance issue, the seller will be notified by email and may be asked for further information.  There is no mention that I could find of how long ebay says it will hold the seller's funds for.  Or when they will be released.

[ett1954]

"How long will ebay hold funds for not giving a NINO when asked?" - I doubt there is a hard and fast time unless there is a legal position here, and only a suitably qualified lawyer, such as a financial or contract lawyer, can probably answer that.

If the request is for a NINO is not met I would imagine eBay would hold the funds, if legally allowed to do so, until HMRC confirmed that they were satisfied that eBay had fulfilled their due diligence requirements under The Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023; otherwise eBay themselves could be at risk of facing financial penalties under the act.

A private seller would be best asking the question through Citizens Advice who may be able to arrange a free session with a suitably qualified person.

I realise many on these threads recommend making a complaint to the financial ombudsman however this has been tried with the request for photographic identification under the KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements of payment processors and these have been dismissed by the ombudsman on the basis that eBay are following their legal requirements.  I would imagine the result of any such claim on the NINO request would fail on the same basis.

[jonatjonatjonat]

I believe it may be indefinite. The NINO is required which eBay make clear in their policy pages. 

while not the same case, the below may be of interest…

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-3973335.pdf

i accept there may be other cases that find in the complainants favour. But in all honesty, unpicking terms and conditions gets to a point it’s a waste of time here.

if someone does not want to give their NINO and eBay hold their funds then they should follow the complaints process up to the Ombudsman.

only then may they get a definite answer to this.l (if they respond here of course)

[theelench]

Because of the lack of anything specifically saying otherwise, that you, I, or anyone else has been able to offer as an alternative I begin to think you are correct, that is, an indefinite Hold on payouts until the NINO is given to ebay.  

Surely that is robbery, pure and simple ?  All private sellers, who are unwilling to give ebay their NINO, must now ensure that they do not breach either of the 30 items or £1700 per annum thresholds.  Because if either is breached they must then hand over their NINO or lose their money, because ebay will never pay them unless they do so.

It may be legal, but it is definitely not transparent to the average private seller and something that should be investigated further.  Along with several other practices that that ebay engages in that place private sellers at a dis-advantage when compared with its treatment of business sellers, such as allowing allowing businesses to operate anonymous private buying accounts.

Any investigation of ebay sellers needs to be far wider than just businesses operating on private accounts  by HMRC.  The whole question of mis-representation by businesses operating on private accounts needs to be investigated.  As does ebay's position in this web of deception.