ebay and Etsy Shops. Anyone have one?

[RogerP]

PayPal and eBay fees add up to about 15% which is the least you'd pay at a real live auction.
Gumtree (owned by eBay) is free.

 

[Inoffthered]

For those setting up shops on Etsy and Ebay, dont forget that HMRC now receives details of shop accounts and is actively looking for cases of tax evasion.
Setting up a shop will be deemed to be a business enterprise and HMRC will expect profits to be declared and the appropriate tax paid.
Some of the more successful sellers on eBay have come a cropper for not registering for VAT and the associated penalties can be brutal.
For those traders that successfully operate below the vat threshold without attracting the attentions of HMRC should remember that if they do make an enquiry, they can go back six years. If they suspect evasion HMRC will issue an assessment and then it is up to the trader to prove that is wrong. So if considering setting up an online shop it is advisable to factor tax into your profit projections.

ebay is not a business unless you set up a business with ebay as a business seller, if you are a private seller, you are entitled to earn money without being taxed because it's not income from a business, it is definitely classed as personal income, I struggle to see how this is in anyway illegal without first being suspected of fraud, you sound like an annoying tax man to me....taxman alert everyone, red alert we are being watched constantly.

Oh dear, did I hit a nerve?
Actually, I charge fees for helping people mitigate the problems they have with HMRC because, like you , they have misinterpreted the rules or taken their advice from someone else in the pub who doesn't understand. I loathe HMRC because when you deal with them on a regular basis as I do you realise that if any business operated in the same way as they do they would appear on rogue traders every week.

With regards to your concern about being watched, you are not being paranoid, I know of people who were targeted by HMRC because of local newspaper report that they lost £x,000 in cash during a burglary and it was an amount that was not consistent with his tax return.

If you are selling a few personal items that are surplus to requirements then you are correct, but if you are using eBay/Etsy/ craft fairs to sell items that are made or purchased specifically for sale then, if you are earning more than £1,000 in aggregate from your various enterprises (eBay, Easy, baking cakes, doing odd jobs) then HMRC will regard that as a trade and failure to declare will be regarded as evasion not avoidance.

Dont take my word for it, read it for yourself here.

https://www.gov.uk/working-for-yourself

You will note that there are no de-minimis levels quoted.