If I sell collectibles from my collection and buy more with the money am I still liable for tax?

[mickyblu007]

Hi eBay community peeps. 

My collection is constantly evolving. I buy something, then I see something else I love and buy that but I have to sell other things to make space. Some things I do buy when I see them cheap for my collection so when I sell i probably do make a bit of a profit and this goes back into my collecting nightmare habit, rather than dipping into my wages.

My question is if I am reinvesting my money in the purchase of more collectibles am I still liable for tax? As it's a bit of a compulsion and I probably sell quite a bit it probably looks like I'm making 1000 profit but then again some items I probably sell at a loss because I just need the space. How do I offset it all especially if some things I paid cash off Facebook 10 years ago or some things I bought on eBay that I no longer have the original listing for that tells me what I paid. Some items I buy damaged and repair so have bought all the stuff to repair it. My bank account is a nightmare of funds in and out how would HMRC work it all out as all they will see is my sales info from eBay. 

cheers

[the_book_seekers]

Before you make any changes to your account be absolutely sure about your selling. Once you change your private account to a business one there is no option to convert back to private. 

[double_o_heaven]

Has anyone actually stopped and looked at what the guy is selling / has for sale?

It's a very specific - collectible - niche - and he has sold maybe 10 items in the last month and has less than that listed for sale.

I don't see a business there - that amount of sales (although some are reasonably pricey) can easily be explained by exactly what he said in his first post.  

Coupled with the fact that some of the items sold are from many years ago, this is not a business in my eyes.  

[the_book_seekers]

I agree with you. A bit confusion has been created by some of the OP's later posts, but I couldn't see business trading when I had a look at his sales. 

[rainbowtrax]

Nor me. If he's buying items for his collection then they are not stock and he is not trading. If he's buying with the intention of selling on then that's a different matter but buying an item for your collection, even if you sell off a lesser item from the collection to be able to afford it, really isn't what I'd class as a business. To me, it sounds similar to a record collector buying another copy of a record they already have in their collection as it's in better condition than their own then selling their own as they no longer need it.

[the_book_seekers]

As a book collector I have several different copies of the same title, particulary with illustrated books and different artists, but at some point in the future I am going to have sell some off because space is an issue.

The hardest part will be deciding which ones to let go.