Anyone got an eBay business account ??? Does anyone actually follow eBay's guidelines on personal v business selling??

[PurpleFrog]

I have sold things on eBay for the past 6 years or so. I am not a big seller. When I got an e-mail (last year?) asking me to declare my account as a business or personal one, I opted for the personal one as that is the area where most of my transactions lie. However, I used to sell some handmade things, and although I have not done this for a couple of years I would like to start again. I know I can list them on sites such as folksy/etsy but I am not sure potential buyers would find them there as I would be listing in eBay categories where people are not usually searching for handmade things iyswim.

How many people in this position have actually opened a business account as well as a personal one ? I suppose that my feedback rating would start at zero again on that account.

When I used to sell handmade items, there was someone else selling a similar product. I notice he is still doing it and he does not have a business account. How does he get away with it ? Does eBay depend on people reporting sellers ?

I also sold some Duplo recently to a woman who obviously buys and sells truckloads of the stuff. Her account is also a personal one. I suppose she could argue that she is collecting and not trading for profit but she also sells a number of new Duplo base boards which she must buy in bulk to sell on! Should she not have a business account?

What I am trying to decide is - if I am only selling, say, a couple of handmade things a month on eBay would anyone really take any notice?

Hi PurpleFrog - eBay is a law unto themselves and imo has lots of rules and enforces them when it suits - not that I'm bitter or anything

I have a shop and reg as bis seller, costs an extra 16 per month and i sell very little through it even though had for about 2 yrs now and dsr's are 5 / 4.9 and 100% feedback fees are through the roof at moment hence the tag feeBay! - I only keep it going in the hopes I might eventually get shot of my stock

With ref to personal / business seller it all comes down to wether someone reports you or not, technically eBay policy states if you are selling goods / manufacturing (which technically u will be even if it's small scale) for continuous profit you should reg as business. You don't have to have a shop though and quite frankly I dont think it makes that much difference to your search rankings anyway you are quite right some sellers seem to get away with just about anything whereas others get stiffed

Thanks for replying atworknotworking.

Hmmm I suppose it depends what will happen if I get caught. If my account is suspended and feedback lost then it probably isn't worth taking the risk. On the other hand if I just got a warning and had to promise not to do it again then that would be OK.

I hadn't realised about the "continuous profit" bit. Does that mean I can make a whole lot of stuff and sell it all in the month before Christmas and that won't count !?

I guess I had better look at the small print on eBay's Seller Policies again.....

Chances are you will prob get away with it but if you are found out and you have an alert you will have to remove your listing or rather they do it for you and your search standing is lowered, i doubt very much that you will have your account suspended you need 3 policy breaches within 90 days I think for that to happen, it's a tricky one but if you register as a bis seller it doesn't necessarily make a difference, but you will have to have your home address on your listing's which i don't like as i sell jewellery it feels like a burgular invite, fortunately my place is like fort knox i have trouble gettin in doesn't make you feel any better though, i read on one of the ebay comunity boards that the inland revenue go through all sellers anyway wether they are registered as private or business to make sure all income has been declared, don't know if it's true or not though sounds like it might be tho.

Hmm - I have just spent a lunch hour trawling through eBay and doing some research. As I always knew, their Help pages are truly awful. I am no further forward from looking at their rules - once I eventually found them. I also looked at listings galore. The only regular sellers of handmade items that appear to be listed as having business accounts seem to be those who also have eBay shops!

So, do you need to own a shop before the account type pops up in the info about the seller ? Or is only the people who really can't disguise the fact that they are a business who have registered as one ?

I think I might chance it and sell some little bits here and there. If I get a listing pulled then it is no big deal - I will stop. I just don't want my account suspended for a first infringement. Thanks.

Depends what you're selling. If its small volume you could reasonably claim that it was a hobby, and by selling the items you were simply covering the cost if materials, and therefore not making a profit.

Yep help pages are shockingly bad, go on the community blog some really helpful guys on their will prob answer your question really quick with a link to look at too.

123andaway - I hadn't thought about that. Actually, it wouldn't be too far from the truth. Part of my motivation is to reduce my fabric and yarn stash, recouping my original costs and gaining lots of cupboard space in the process.

atworknotworking - I am a bit reluctant to post this on eBay's community forums. I assume I have to post under my eBay ID. I don't really want to tell them that I am trying to work out if I can sell handmade things without getting caught and be forced to set up a business account.

yeah c what you mean if you list your questions i will ask under my id if you want

That is very kind of you, but I think I will just go for it (in very small volume) and see what happens! Thanks again for your input. I am pretty sure now, though, that I will not go for a business account, as I didn't realise I would have to advertise my home address etc..

if posting on the ebay forums always use a posting id