personal to business??

[deanem72]

Just a query

I am not a business but with the introduction of BPF and Simple delivery feel that it may be worth changing my account to a business account

Does anyone have or know of a table which shows costs and benefits for a business account in comparison to a personal account?

If so please can you send me a link so I can make an informed decision

Thanks

[papso22]

An informed decision on what sort of ebay account you need is not one based on cost, it is based on what it is you do.

If you buy, make, or grow, goods to sell you need an ebay business account with all that entails, which includes being properly registered with HMRC.

If you don't then you have to have a private account, again with all that now entails.

If you are a business then it may be that the costs do not make it financially viable to trade on ebay.

[cobwebcottage]

The commission in each category you sell in will still be the same although you will pay VAT on all of your fees including listing fees. So 30p per listing will be 36p. Plus there is a regulatory operating fee per sale of 0.35% per order.

Fees for business sellers | eBay

[deanem72]

Hi Papos

I would think that cost is the main factor in anyones reasoning when choosing an account type.

I would not normally even question this or look to move to a business account if ebay had not forced both Buyer Protection and Simple delivery onto private sellers.

Simply put if it is going to be cheaper for me to sell using a business account, then I will do that

From what I have read, the benefits far outweigh the legal obligations to HMRC

[cobwebcottage]

It's never going to be cheaper as a business seller.

[4_bathrooms]

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@deanem72 wrote:

Does anyone have or know of a table which shows costs and benefits for a business account in comparison to a personal account?

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There isn't such a table but you can browse eBay's fees for business sellers.

The first thing I should point out is all the fees shown on that page do not include the VAT element so you need to add 20% to all of them.

The second thing I should point out is that businesses have to pay to list. I notice you have 124 items; that means you would need to subscribe to a basic shop for £32.40/month. This is because listings cost 36p/month without a shop; 90*36 = £32.40 (the break-even point). Without a basic shop your current listings would cost 124*36p = £44.64 a month just to list.

Then there are the final value fees - that vary per category - which are payable when an item sells. Remember, those fees are subject to VAT so "Books, Comics & Magazines" attract a final value fee of 11.88% + 36p (including VAT) when an item sells.

One final point worth mentioning is you will also be held to the same obligations business sellers are legally held to. That means your name and address appearing on all of your listings and being obliged to accept change of mind returns.     

[4_bathrooms]

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@deanem72 wrote:

I would think that cost is the main factor in anyones reasoning when choosing an account type.

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Business sellers cannot trade legally unless they conduct their sales via a business account. This has nothing to do with HMRC but has everything to do with consumer law; i.e. it is a specific criminal offence for a trader to masquerade as a private seller.

[deanem72]

Cheaper maybe the wrong word to use, whilst I understand that costs may increase to myself the convenience would also increase

I am looking at costings as a primary factor for example

If it is going to cost  30p listing + 30p FVF + percentage of sale FVF per item

Then is that cost worth while in paying to have the convenience of choosing my own postage.

I also look at the fact if someone is willing to pay the BPF on an item which increases the cost by 75p + 4% 

would I be able to increase the prices to cover the costs I would incur

If I do some quick calculations on a magazine I wish to sell for £7.50, currently it costs the buyer £8.52 plus postage, If I raise the prices to match as a business seller I would receive back £7.08. A £0.42 difference which I feel is manageable.

A £10 magazine costs the buyer £11.12, as a business sale at £11.12 the return is £9.42, a difference of £0.58

A £3 magazine costs the buyer £3.84, as a business sale of £3.84 the return is £2.85 a difference of £0.15

I understand that it is not cheaper by any means, but would accept certain cost implications for the convenience of controlling my sales the way I want to control them

[deanem72]

I understand that a business cannot act as a private seller, but a Private seller can act as a business

[deanem72]

Legal obligations are something I am happy with.  I have run several businesses in the past and am fully understanding of the requirements.

My calculations on the other posts did not include VAT , please excuse my mistake

I have done a quick calculation with vat included on a £10 magazine, buyer pays £11.12 (private sale),  Listed £11.12 (business sale) seller receives £9.14.  A difference of £0.86 

This is leading me towards a business account as overall the costs do seem to be acceptable

But cant help but wonder if this is ebays way of forcing sellers like myself to either upgrade to Business or leave 

[cobwebcottage]

Go for it if you think you it's viable. It may motivate you to list more items and hopefully sell more.

It will also give you the credibility of being a business seller which I think makes a lot of buyers feel safer. ( wait for the flack!)

A small business is a good way to make money as long as you do the other legal bits which come with it.

Best of luck.

[deanem72]

The only thing really stopping me, would be consistently finding items that would sell

The items I have listed are just my old collections from before I became ill and had to close my last business, I wouldnt even be looking at this if Simple Delivery was optional.

[cobwebcottage]

There are plenty of places you can buy from both online and bricks and mortar. I think once you change over and know you need the stock, you will find plenty of opportunities.

Not wanting to teach you how to suck eggs, but try to keep within the area you have the best knowledge. It will also help to build up your followers.

Have a sleep on it and don't do anything rash. If you are just looking to downsize your collection ( instead of increasing it) , then give the changes a go for a month as that might not be as bad as you think it and will just become the norm soon.

[deanem72]

I have already tried Simple Delivery, it was a nightmare.

As I am disabled I normally have the 'Postie' collect anything I sell.  Trying to get this done via SD just doesnt happen.  Before I would buy postage online and 2 further clicks and collection was arranged.

With SD, ebay provide the postage, so you have to go onto RM site, enter the tracking number, find the purchase, request collection, exit, repeat and finally exit once more before it accepts collection request.  Then if you are lucky the notification is sent to the 'Postie' who collects the item, there has been 3 times out of four that the 'Postie' wasnt aware he had a collection

Added to that the pricing is out of sync and they actually charge more than RM currently do for the same service

[4_bathrooms]

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@deanem72 wrote:

A £10 magazine costs the buyer £11.12, as a business sale at £11.12 the return is £9.42, a difference of £0.58

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As a private seller the buyer would pay £11.12 plus postage (when "Simple Delivery" becomes mandatory). The postage is paid to eBay so you don't have a postage cost; you receive £10.00.

As a "business" seller you would pay the following on a £11.12 + £2.70 Tracked 48 postage sale for a magazine:

Listing fee (assuming no shop): 30p

Final value fee @ 9.9% + 30p: £1.67

Regulatory operating fee @ 0.35%: 5p

VAT: 40p

Total fees: £2.42

So you would receive £11.40 but you would also need to purchase the Tracked 48 label to actually post the item. A Large Letter sent Tracked 48 would cost you £2.70 (provided the label was purchased online) so the most you would actually receive is £8.70.

[cobwebcottage]

Oh that's not good. I haven't experienced SD yet on my private account although I use Evri so I can drop off any parcels.

I really don't know what the answer is for you but if you have disability challenges then buying and selling as a business could also throw up a few challenges.

Have a good think before you make a decision because if you do sign up for a basic shop, the fees come around very fast and if you don't sell enough to cover them, them will it be worth it?.

[4_bathrooms]

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@deanem72 wrote:

With SD, ebay provide the postage, so you have to go onto RM site, enter the tracking number, find the purchase, request collection, exit, repeat and finally exit once more before it accepts collection request.  Then if you are lucky the notification is sent to the 'Postie' who collects the item, there has been 3 times out of four that the 'Postie' wasnt aware he had a collection

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My understanding of "Simple Delivery" is that if Royal Mail is the carrier the seller can opt for collection in person. Is that process for arranging collection something eBay has directed you to do rather than something that was available as an option from the outset?

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@deanem72 wrote:

Added to that the pricing is out of sync and they actually charge more than RM currently do for the same service

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That is apparently what happens if you choose to only offer Royal Mail via "Simple Delivery". I have no idea what eBay's justification for it is.