I think I said that. Selling under 30 items for instance is not regarded as a business. However, if say you were selling vinyls for years, consistently and in numbers, it would be extremely doubtful if you could argue these are my personal belongings. HMRC will take a view I am sure. All I am saying is that sellers should be wise about what they have been doing over the last few years and make decisions accordingly. The personal belongings route is a difficult one, and I am not sure it will hold much sway if the trader has consistently sold similar items for a number of years. 

I am happy with my thread responses and please remember this thread is about whether or not eBay is dead. I say no. 

I would also advise that I am a retired accountant that has had many, many years dealing with the HMRC, and I would simply advise anyone to make sure they have the correct account type and that their backdated tax returns are up to date. Recent cases have shown that HMRC assessments can be issued. My own father in law lost his business when he could not prove HMRC wrong. So personal possessions or inherited assets that you are now selling are not necessarily going to work - especially if the sales amounts are large, there is historical data on eBay, and these items all look remarkably similar eg selling the same type of item for years. Coimmon sense says its a business and it falls to you to prove it is not.

As this thread is about eBay being dead, I am not going to post any more on the tax issue. Good luck to all those traders who think they can convince HMRC that their activity online is not a business.