Friend says I'm a "del boy" aibu?

[sallypallu]

Trying to make a bit of extra cash
I started looking on eBay at what's popular and noticed people were interested in Halloween items.
I bought some Halloween mugs from Poundland and listed them for £5 and all 4 sold.
I listed a candle from tk maxx for £10 and it sold and I only paid £4 for it.
I sold some boots I got last year in sale for £15 and I got them for £7
So far I've made £160
My friend thinks it's a bit cheeky
Is it?
Am I in the wrong?
Would you continue doing it ?
I state in the listing the brand etc so it's not like I'm not being upfront

I think you should keep your own counsel with respect to ideas like this. There will always be naysayers for various reasons, and the little comments can plant seeds of doubt which stop you from achieving things.

Good for you op, keep at it.
Take no notice of those bleating on about tax.
You're making a few pounds to help with bills, not thousands for a lavish lifestyle.
If it's good enough for the big businesses to not pay tax, then it's good enough for you.
You're doing nothing wrong, so carry on as you are.

Great idea! - how do you decide which items will sell?

I don't think this argument would hold in court. But at the moment it is not enough to worry about. I would look in your local area for cash and carrys and wholesaler. Keep regular records of what you buy, what you sell at and all selling costs, ebay is quite an expensive way to sell when you take into account their fees, paypal fees and postage charges. If you find it works well and you can make good money, go for it. Ebay is the modern equivalent of market stalls, M and S started as a market stall.

I don't think you should try what OP is doing....

Aw bless, someone doesn't know how capitalism works.

Just say cheers trig every time she starts on about it.

@Hawkins001 covered it
The personal ‘trading allowance’ of up to £1000 in earnings covers it - provided it’s not your primary income.

taxscouts.com/self-employed-tax-returns/what-tax-do-you-pay-if-you-sell-on-ebay/

But your advice on keeping records is excellent advice. Even if the threshold is never met then it allows you to prove what sales, costs and profit there was - if/when the HMRC find you then you can show that you fall below the threshold, and if there is a boom later then the earlier records cover from the start of the tax year

I mean this is capitalism, so fill your boots.

I am not sure I think you aresome kind of budding entrepreneural genius for selling some overpriced poundland mugs and old boots on ebay though. Were you showing off/ being smug in the conversation with your friend? Maybe that's why she said what she said.

@MrsU2022 I normally look on eBay what people are watching and see what they sell for
Also around Halloween /Xmas time ...for example home bargains bring out a pumkin sweet jar which people go mad for but sell out fast and always people search for them
So will grab a few and can sell on for double price bought for
Same with lush Boxing Day sales-the gift sets etc

I buy & sell and am happy to describe it as my Del Boy hobby.

When eBay was locked to PayPal I was able to leave my sales money sat in PayPal. I would buy from my bank account and my PayPal balance was ‘free’ money (though only part of it was profit) and I was using it for hotel stays and extra shopping.

My favourite cheeky buy was an owl ornament. (A friend dislikes owls, so we all send her owls, and she also owns a shop so I get them to put up for sale hoping that they will stay on the shelf looking at her)

It was second hand, dusty and still had a bit of a barcode - probably IKEA, Home Sense etc

It cost me £5.50 including auction fees, and with the barcode peeled off & a quick clean it sold may £15

Theres also the matter of underselling, I bought something for £1 and put it in the shop for £5. But people were looking at it then putting it down after reading the label.
She suggested it was looking too cheap and that I should change it to £10. Being too lazy to write out a new label I put in a 1 next to the 5 and a couple of days later it sold for £15

Lots of people will buy online rather than going to a physical shop, and are quite happy to pay more for the convenience.

Plenty of people live very rurally, don't have much time to shop, find shopping difficult (maybe they have a tiny baby or they have a disability or get claustrophobic in shops or whatever) or just don't see what they like in the shops they can get to. Those people are still perfectly entitled to want things they like, and there's nothing wrong with OP supplying that. She charges a markup to cover her time spent going shopping and the risks associated with the process (eg what if someone claims a parcel didn't arrive, or the item was broken?; what if she buys a load of "stock" and it doesn't sell?).

Morally, the only issue I'd have is with making sure you pay tax as appropriate and get the legal stuff sorted out.

Thanks I don't feel so bad now

How could this ever be a problem?!

I make about £200 pcm from buying and selling used perfume on eBay.

I buy under-priced perfume (I know the market very well) and sell on a few weeks later at a higher price.

Its never going to turn me into a mill-yon-aire (Rodders) but it’s a handy little side earner and it’s fun.