I have upgraded to a business account but Im still getting a 'URGENT ACTION NEEDED' message

[iglassmobilephones]

I have been told by ebay to upgrade to a business account due to my recent sales volume which I have done.

I have completed the upgrade and my listings now state I am a business seller but I'm still receiving the following message stating:

Urgent action needed ⚠️Urgent action needed ⚠️

Our records show that you need to upgrade to a business account. Upgrade before 04/09/24 to avoid selling restrictions & access a bespoke benefits package.

Why wont it go away?

[kat@ebay]

Hi @iglassmobilephones ,

Thank you for reaching out.

Once your information has been updated to reflect the changeover to a business account the banners can then take up to 24 hours to be removed.

Thank you,

Kat

[abradley001]

Hi Kat@ebay, you seem to be very knowledgeable on this subject, is it ok If I ask your advice?  I've also had the email about 'upgrading' to a business account.  It says that there is an appeals process but the link just goes to the upgrade account page and appeals information is not shown anywhere.  I tried calling CS but they were of no help.  Can you point me to where I begin the appeals process and can the process be explained,  as I've seen the messages from others that are in the same boat.

I am a private seller who does not buy to sell, make to sell or anything that meets HMRCs own requirement to be a business. I'm just moving on my own old stuff.  Thats allowed.   Yes, there has been more than 30 items sold but I'm clearing out 40 years worth of old stuff.  Why is Ebay sending out the 80% off 100 listings final value fees every fortnight if we can only sell under 30 items in total?

Thank you in advance for any help or advice you can give.

[kat@ebay]

Hi @abradley001 ,

I understand selling your own personal stuff veers more towards private seller but if you have received the email to upgrade then its likely your selling activity is being detected for business.  These exact details is not something that I or the other community guys can check or have access to. 

The appeals are done by who you get through to when you contact customer support. With the page the link brings you to, you need to go to the normal contact us option at the bottom of the page. It goes through the regular customer support.

With regards to the promotional fees discount its a fair point which I can share as feedback.

Thank you,

Kat

[abradley001]

Thank you for the reply.  The problem is that what Customer Service says that contradicts the email and say that there isnt an appeals process because the government has said Ebay has to do it. Both of those statements just aren't true, leaving Ebay users with no place to turn.  

Then they have the gall to start the call with 'Thank you for your loyalty'.  

Really!?!

[myriad*seller]

eBay have to keep an eye on sellers sales now as once you pass a certain level of sales, they have to pass this info onto HMRC who will contact you in Jan 2025

It is at this point you have to show that sales are not business sales and that you do not need to pay tax on your income from these sales

HMRC have got much more strict with eBay sellers, as many people had side hustles and made profits which they failed to pay taxes on. eBay can be held liable for this, so they are making sure they pass the liability onto the sellers who need to pay these taxes and do tax returns.

So now, once you pass a sales limit they are forcing sellers to upgrade to business and will be reporting all your sales data to HMRC in Jan 2025.

What HMRC will do with this info is anyones guess, but some people will be getting huge tax bills for their trading income

Some private sellers like yourself also get caught up in this due to the high level of sales you have made. Just keep good records and be prepared to show HMRC that these are personal items you are selling. 

[abradley001]

Thats all fine, but how do I not have my ebay account limited on September 4th?  Being put on hold by Ebay Ciustomer services is not making an appeal. If there is an appeals process it has to be transparent.

[myriad*seller]

You can't appeal as once you have made an account into a business account it cannot be changed back to private

So there is no appeal to make, your account cannot be changed, so an appeal is pointless

Your account won't be restricted as you **have** changed to a business account

eBay takes a while to catch up with the change

[abradley001]

I haven't made my account into a business account. I wont make my account into a business account.  I'm not operating a business. 

The appeal is about preventing the threatened account restrictions on Sept 4th.  It says there is an appeals process but Ebay wont tell anyone what it is or how to engage in it.

Being put on hold without being able to state your case isnt an appeal.  Some disinterested CS phone drone just coming back with a 'yeah , no' isnt an acceptable response .  Like I said any appeals process has to be transparent and give a person the opportunity to state their case and actually make an appeal.

[myriad*seller]

Apologies, I thought you were the opening poster when I replied.

It is probably purely down to the amount of sales you have made, the value of which has meant that this triggers eBay to send your sales data to HMRC (it's new legislation to prevent money laundering and tax evasion). I think it is £7000 total in any financial year. eBay/HMRC will contact you in January for more details, and to see if you need to file a tax return.

It seems that eBay are forcing anyone who hits the HMRC notification limit to register as a business now. There isn't any way to appeal this once you pass the sales limit. Maybe in future eBay will accept written proof of HMRC that they have decided you aren't a business as proof that you don't need to register as a business on eBay, but until then, there is no way to get prevent eBay forcing you to register as a business.  

[myriad*seller]

Too late to edit previous post

**Correction**

The HMRC notification is triggered after sales of £1,700 (or 30 items) are made, not £7000. 

Explained here

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/account/regulatory/sales-reporting/uk-digital-sales-reporting?id=5454&st...

You have exceeded this limit by a long way, so you have triggered the "register as a business" alert on eBay's end. 

[bubblesworth]

Hi. Did you get anywhere with your so-called 'dedicated appeal' against becoming a business seller? I'm having the exact same problem. I'm so clearly a private seller, it's ridiculous, all it needs is for someone to take a look at my sold/for sale items - its blatantly household junk/old kids stuff!  Ebay displaying a link to a 'dedicated appeals process', which then just takes you to the normal useless customer service line, is a joke!

[abradley001]

Honestly, I've been putting off. I havent had the motivation or spare mental/emotional bandwith to try and deal with another clueless phone drone.

I wondered about trying to contact Ebay Concierge as I was invited on that scheme for being a regular buyer of stuff,  but I'm not sure if its even still a thing or if I've been surrepticiously uninvited as others were.

I might try and get Ireland CS on Tuesday morning, on the other hand I'm wondering if the reason no one knows what the appeals process is yet is because they haven't put the account restrictions on yet so noone can appeal until its in place?

I'm not confident that Ebay even cares and think that they will play dumb on the 'appeals process'.

I will not falsely declare myself as a business to please some Ebay algorithim,  and frankly if this is how they treat ebay users who have been registered for over 20 years, then they can all eat a bag of Richards.

[habergham-eaves]

Ive just spent a good half hour with ebay customer service trying to get some sense from this. In my case, after a great deal of explaning and confusion, it turns out that if you have another ebay account, which is a business account (which I do), then ALL ebay accounts in my name must be changed to business accounts. Even though my private account is clearly, blatantly, 100% used for selling old kids clothes, books, computer games we no longer play, other household junk. Apparently this is not ebay's rule, but down to "the legislation in your country". I imagine this is almost impossible or at least very difficult to verify, although I havent tried yet. I too will not be swapping to a business account, if I face selling restrictions I will not use it for selling in the future.

[habergham-eaves]

It would appear I'm posting from my business account, not my private one. You'll have to trust me when I say my other account is used for private stuff!

[abradley001]

Its not the legislation in our country though.  Thats just the horsecrap they try to fob you off with because they are unwilling to take a fair or nuanced look at each case. Presumably because its too much work.

Theres no excuse, its just appalling customer service.

[bubblesworth]

Agreed, I strongly suspect that's the case. Unfortunately there comes a
point where you realise you've just reached a dead end with customer
service, and you have to accept youre not getting any further.

[myriad*seller]

Customer service just tell you anything they like to get you off the phone

It isnt legislation

But eBay will make all the excuses in the book to make you change to business now, as they get more fees

Unless you comply, you will be banned from selling, it's their site, their rules unfortunately

Nothing you can do, they are a private company that make their own rules

If you don't agree, your only option is to close your accounts 

There is no "right" to sell on eBay

[bubblesworth]

Yes, I understand there is no "right" to sell on ebay, I never once
suggested there was. They provide a wide reaching selling platform, I don't
expect to use it for free. I am happy to play by the rules, but surely the
rules should make sense and be fair? A business account for business stuff
(no problem, I'm complying with that), and a private account for private
household stuff. I fail to see why it can't be that simple. I can only
conclude that they are doing it to get higher fees out of me, which only
makes me want to avoid using ebay for my private stuff as much as possible.
I'll start using Facebook Marketplace more, and see how that goes.

[alfreda-0]

I'm having the same problem as you guys, just had this notification pop up today, not a business.  What are the potential repercussions of me falsely registering as a business just to remove restrictions?  Am I going to subject to registration/subscription fees, fines even?
Need an actual appeals process, this is a dead end...