I have been an eBay seller for years, don’t sell on this account any longer. I was a private seller of advancing years who ‘still’ have a job and pay taxes on it.
I have always noted this wedge that is driven between private and business sellers - many business sellers believe a large proportion of private sellers are just tax evaders masquerading as private sellers. This is mostly utter bunkum, yes some are easily recognisable as sellers of often new goods or extremely high volumes of second hand items. HOWEVER - how do you define who is who?
I can only look at my situation, I’m elderly (still working and paying tax), have a vast amount of items that I wish to move on, most inexpensive and low value, too much grief to do car boot sales and possibly too specialist to sell there anyway? What have I got to sell you may ask?
I’ve got about 1000 postcards, inherited and some of my own, tour programs, tickets and music merchandise from my youth, magazines from when I drove sports cars, a collection of about 1000 Hard Rock Cafe pins - which I collected from the 80’s - a lot from eBay in the 00’s. I have an abundance of tat, old screwdrivers and tools from my late father in law, stamps from both my youth and have just been left about 5,000 FDC’s by my late brother. If I ‘could’ list them all it would amount to possibly 10k in items - but such a volume does not make me a business. Just someone who wants rid and to help pay his ‘taxed’ heating bills and try to reduce his bulging walls before his daughter throws it all in the bin! the majority of homes with garages can’t get a car in it because it’s full of stuff too good to throw and could be sold, I have 3 attics full and bursting!!!!
Now a large percentage of my items are valued at less than £2 - but obey want me to be a safe seller and insure my buyers, they also want to keep my money while the buyer ascertains the £2 purchase was not a rip off - LOL.
I’ve purchased 1000’s of items on obey over the years - most from private sellers, sadly I’d have to say whenever I have had a problem, it’s usually with a ‘business’ and NOT a private seller. This will probably rile Buisiness sellers - who in the main are good, but a large amount are NOT. Especially goods coming into the UK via third parties.
I purchased a watch from a business seller just before Christmas - expensive, ‘working’ - arrived, not working, told get a battery it will work - yes it did, but I had to go get a battery and have it fitted. They said it had been in the safe and was working - but would you send out a £700 watch, knowing it did not work - and especially when I’d asked if it was in FWO? So much for needing to insure private sellers - still laughing!
I will not be partaking of the ‘new’ rules, I started selling small amounts on FB and elsewhere with some success, all my buyers never have any issue because I’m honest, unlike the platform that eludes to being ‘free to sell’. Obey should open their eyes, these small sales create a flow of income which comes back into both business and private sellers hands and in turn gives them the platform to advertise and make further income. I think they are now killing that at a stroke, I’m off to specialist FB sites, other auction sites where I may indeed have less sales, but hey I don’t need it, it’s more a hobby than an income, more a clearance than a desperate need to make some cash. Not happening ebay, I’ll be closing my other account and saying goodbye, it was once fun here, but now too much *bleep*ing and too many blinkered professionals!
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