UK National Insurance number my Ebay account payouts now on hold

[night-monkey]

So, I’ve been selling mainly my old stuff on Ebay since 1998 before .co.uk got started. 
Ebay now demands my national insurance number & give a link to the HMRC guidelines which are as clear as mud.

1. Will Ebay now simply retain all my funds in their account unless I comply?
2. How is a hobbyist & de-clutter seller supposed to differentiate between their listings of old unwanted stuff & stuff deemed trading? So, if the majority of listings are de-clutter old clothing many sold at a huge loss do you split that from stuff that could ambiguously be deemed trading? or if you are notifying HMRC do you include the loss-making unwanted possessions? Or do you only include the listings and sales that could be trading?
3. If a collector wants to sell something he/she has bought but now bored with & wants an upgrade money for some other detritus is that 'trading' or is it commercial gain or indeed commercial loss? 

It appears digital platforms are NOT asking for NI numbers so why it appears only Ebay?

[*vyolla*]

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@night-monkey wrote:
So, I’ve been selling mainly my old stuff on Ebay since 1998 before .co.uk got s...

1. Will Ebay now simply retain all my funds in their account unless I comply? Yes.
2. How is a hobbyist & de-clutter seller supposed to differentiate between their listings of old unwanted stuff & stuff deemed trading? So, if the majority of listings are de-clutter old clothing many sold at a huge loss do you split that from stuff that could ambiguously be deemed trading? or if you are notifying HMRC do you include the loss-making unwanted possessions? Or do you only include the listings and sales that could be trading? 

   A private seller is one who is just selling off their own personal items such as clothes from their wardrobe, bits from their loft/garage etc. A Business seller is someone who buys or makes items to sell on.

3. If a collector wants to sell something he/she has bought but now bored with & wants an upgrade money for some other detritus is that 'trading' or is it commercial gain or indeed commercial loss? It's not trading, but if the item were to sell for over £6,000 there may be Capital Gains Tax to pay on the gain.

   It appears digital platforms are NOT asking for NI numbers so why it appears only Ebay?

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   Other platforms are asking for NINOs once sellers meet the threshold of 30 items or £1,700.

@night-monkey

[*vyolla*]

Just to add, having just had a look at your recently sold listings there's nothing there to indicate that you're anything but a private seller, so all you have to do is provide eBay with your NINO and continue to list your items same as ever.