Toasties - still loving the knitwear and the chat!

[IlovePond]

I have set up a new Toastie thread, guys.

Re: Ebay

Be aware that if you report a Seller - e.g. if you come across an illegal item listing or something inaccurately described and want to report, that eBay can now pass your details onto the dodgy seller as the complainant.

I nearly fell over when I read that the other day! That’s the end of me reporting dodgy sellers then 🙀(which is presumably the whole idea !)

I hope you get the right thing back @Stravaig . I've only just started selling on eBay to see if it's any different to Vinted . I've had no issues so far and have even had a couple of queries answered by a real person on the phone. Vinted is just run by bots . I'm nervous though as I just posted off an expensive cashmere jumper and didn't check the buyer.

I've decided to return the green Selma after all, it's very big on me , the wool cotton Alix trousers arrived today . Dh said they made me look like a teletubby - they're also going back 😂

I wore the blue poplin shirt dress today (pictured upthread) it worked well with layers , thermals underneath and a wool cardi over the top. I got lots of compliments so Yay .

@Stravaig
Vinted are pretty good at this and so people don't tend to mess around as folk really look at feedback and no-one wants to lose their 5* ratings.

Also if 2 days have passed since delivery/ pick up the payment goes through and zero come back
It has made me careful not to buy things if I'm going away though

I've had cracking fun selling on Vinted, loads of lovely feedback and made a good amount , but most of my stuff was fairly new or BNWT as I lost weight.
I package new and use tissue

If I'm buying
I check feed back, study the pics carefully and ask for measurements
I also put things on £10 more than I want for them as folk like to barter .

@triggers34 @Poplinskirt All the positive experiences of Vinted on here are definitely nudging me in that direction!

@Stravaig - it used to be that if the item is returned and you find they've done something to it (eg damaged in some way) you tell Ebay and they refund you, and don't refund the buyer. Doesn't that happen anymore? I hope you do manage to sort it out eventually
Now that I'm used to Vinted, apart from not being able to speak to someone as you can with ebay, I find it a much easier platform. Mind you, I read something today which was a bit alarming: apparently if you make more than £1k selling anywhere it gets reported to HMRC and you need to register as self employed and pay tax on it. I don't understand how that can be fair if you're selling something you already paid for? Very happy to be contradicted if anyone can do so, because if it's true it totally buggers up my cunning plan of selling things I no longer use to buy new things!

Hi all, I should have a go selling on Vinted, but my DSis has put me off as she has had terrible problems with buyers on there! (Tbf, she’s had problems with eBay too 🙀)

Re: Selling on EBay and Vinted

I always Google people’s postcodes to check it’s a residential address. I won’t post to work addresses or PO Boxes or industrial units, (all ploys used by scammers!)

I also won’t sell even slightly expensive items to people with 0 feedback and/or new accounts.

Most times when my DSis has been scammed out of expensive Toast items or semi designer bags, it has been due to not checking addresses and for any feedback.

Of course, this doesn’t prevent unpleasant ‘ordinary’ people from trying it on, but it does tend to weed out the actively criminally minded!

@faustina Accepting the return request means I get to receive and inspect before issuing a refund, so if there's a problem presumably I have options. I'll call the eBay team for help at that point. I'm conserving my addled brain by not investigating further ahead than I need to! That said, the messaging is light on info for Sellers, but reminding me that I can refund right now if I wish to. So definitely skewed in Buyers favour.

I also saw that HMRC report! Don't think I've ever exceeded £1K in any financial year, but it could easily be done in a thorough and focused clear-out, and as you say, unfair to tax again on already taxed items.

I remember once seeing my all-time total sales (buried in a menu I can't find again), and it was a surprisingly large amount of money to have otherwise lost if I hadn't bothered to partly recoup by selling.

@OrangeyLemon I think the mid-90’s was a golden period for Jigsaw.

I still have really beautiful pieces in my wardrobe from that era and remember the delights of trips to their Cambridge store.

Over a whole year I think it can mount up quite easily if you sell nice things in good condition

@Stravaig - fingers crossed for you. Any dealings I've had over the phone with Ebay have been very unstressful, but as you say, hopefully you won't have to go there

@IlovePond Good tips!

So do you cancel the sale or message the buyer for additional confirmation if you think the address looks dodgy or if they have no feedback?

(I used to block people with less than 10 positive feedback score, but I think the option was quietly removed, or is broken now.)

I got some lovely things then @AmIPatience but nowadays it seems more formal.. or something.. not sure what!

I do cancel @Stravaig - I then politely message saying I can’t post to x,y,z type of addresses, etc. Most times I have never heard anything back, but twice I have had nasty messages back/libellous feedback! I try to rise above it and then block the user.

I don’t sell much, so it’s not happened often, maybe five times, with a couple of vile responses and the rest silence!

@faustina

I don’t think the new HMRC selling rules apply to the scenario you are describing.

I think they are going after small businesses using Ebay / Vinted etc as a selling platform and not declaring the Income.

I guess if you started buying and reselling items. with a profit of more than £1k p.a. the new rules might affect you, but not just if you selling your own clothing.

I do have a friend who buys items through Vinted and Charity Shops and who makes quite large profits reselling them on Ebay, she will probably be affected.

This may help

www.gov.uk/government/news/no-tax-changes-for-online-sellers#:~:text=There%20are%20no%20new%20tax,with%20HMRC%20from%20January%202025.&text=People%20selling%20unwanted%20items%20online,Customs%20(%20HMRC%20)%20has%20confirmed.

@IlovePond I'm making notes, thank you!

@OrangeyLemon

The issue I have with Jigsaw now is the flimsy fabric, poor quality manufacture, weird designs and the fact that I am only 5’ 5”. The trousers have acres of spare length, the coats dust the floor etc. etc.

I mentioned it to the store manager in my local store recently and she said I was not alone. She said there is a lot of focus a.t.m at trying to return to basics and deal with some of those issues.

@AmIPatience - thank you very much and phew! That is much clearer and in that case I can stop worrying. This is the article I read which seems to suggest that anything over £1k will incur tax.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jan/11/new-uk-tax-rules-on-side-hustles-like-ebay-and-vinted-may-lead-to-nasty-surprises

My understanding is that online selling platforms have to report anyone who either makes £1000 or sells 30 items in 1 tax year.
This is so HMRC can identify professional traders selling on these platforms to avoid paying tax.
It is not going to tax people selling their own things I.e having a clear out!

My top Vinted tips
ssdrezypxf type names and no feedback-scammers
Never use RM always evri or a tracked service
Get things delivered to a pick up point
Check things in daylight and turn inside out
If people don't answer my questions I don't buy
post promptly

I should also add that, unless I am selling something for under a fiver, (sadly, often the case 😹), I pay for 48 hour tracked.

Only last week someone claimed they hadn’t received an item I had posted ages ago. I was able to prove delivery via tracking, together with a pic of her taking it in, (thanks, RM😹).

I always send via RM myself - yes, they’ve lost a couple of things, (and, yes - of course they were the items DH posted for me without tracking 🙈), but I find RM the best of a bad lot!

Aaah the last time I checked it was RM 2nd class not tracked.

I still only offer evri as I can walk 1 minute to the shop at the end of my road, the PO used to be there but I have to drive now and I can't be bothered.
Always get things sent to pick up as they do just chuck on the doorstep

Thanks @Poplinskirt - so long as it's fine to keep selling my own things and instantly squander the money on more things then I'm relieved!

I offer Evri or Royal Mail - not yodel as the drop off point here isn't secure and a parcel I left there 'disappeared' - and the person. who said always turn your buys inside out before accepting them - this is a very good point and something I didn't do with my first vinted buy - If anyone remembers my anguished posts on here about how to remove huge deodorant stains from a Margaret Howell t-shirt.

Only last week someone claimed they hadn’t received an item I had posted ages ago. I was able to prove delivery via tracking, together with a pic of her taking it in, (thanks, RM😹)
Was this ebay or Vinted? @IlovePond

On Vinted the transaction would be completed automatically 2 days after delivery anyway which is why I like it.
No faffing about

It was eBay, @Poplinskirt -yes, Vinted sounds a lot better from that perspective!

I like inpost when I buy / sell on Vinted.

I had two terrible experiences using impost when selling on Vinted. The items went missing and I lost would not investigate for a month. They were very difficult to deal with. So I will only use RM.

I have a new love from the new season - the striped smock top in brick. I was out for coffee earlier and saw someone wearing it, and it looked great. I assumed it wouldn’t work on me because I am short with a bust, but she was bustier than me and not particularly tall, and it looked great on her.
Thus new drop has a real feel of old Toast to me. By old I mean about 10 years ago, not back in the beginning Toast, and that was an era of Toast I really enjoyed.