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eBay Issues

Started by Desert Phone Guy, July 10, 2020, 05:40:55 PM

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Desert Phone Guy

I just had a conversation with Ebay regarding this Managed Payments policy for sellers they are beginning.  After several direct questions, I finally got  my answers.

Is Managed Payments mandatory?  YES

Do I have to provide a Checking Account Number and a Social Security Number to sell on ebay in the future?  YES

If I am a buyer, can I still pay for items via Paypal?  YES

I don't know if many of you sell on ebay, but I for one do not like this policy and will be looking for other selling venues. 

Seems like Ebay has become self serving, and  has forgotten the small sellers.

Any other experiences or opinions to share?

Doug Rose

Steve I gave up on eBay 2.5 years ago after selling for almost 20. Paypal decided a 1099 was to be sent to certain states, MA was one of them.

IRS scared me even though I did declare everything.

I now sell on CL, audience is much smaller. People do not show and want it for nothing. Good part is my sale price is all mine. I do have many repeat customers.

I also have many excuses why the did not show  >:(

CL is a seller friendly place to live, just a lot more laid back  ;D...Doug
Kidphone

Desert Phone Guy

Am thinking of selling on Etsy... fees are lower, and seems to be a happy place...

Also facebook marketplace...

Used to do a lot of phone shows, but living in AZ now, not many near me.


Doug Rose

I am not on Facebook, but Janet is. I found a few nice things for me.

As long as you take PayPal, Big Brother is watching you, not matter where you sell....Doug
Kidphone

Key2871

I stopped many years ago because e bay told me i HAD to use PayPal for all transactions.
A friend in the ATCA told me they could control their end better that way in regards to refunds if nessisary, they would simply pull the money from my account.

And I saw this coming, I'm surprised it's taken this long to happen.

In my opinion there cutting their throats but frankly what little I buy on eBay it doesn't matter to me if they go down.

I will not give any place such as e bay my SS number or bank account numbers.
KEN

Babybearjs

I won't sell on Ebay, too much trouble!
John

Key2871

It is now.. But I haven't sold on there for better part of twenty years. It was a bit of a hassle then.
I was selling some extra T keys for payphones, and they decided to pull my auction down because I was selling something that could breach payphones security.
I emailed them and said these will not open a phone unless the primary locks are unlocked.

EBay said I need to put that in my description to avoid future issues.

I said payphones are like bank vaults.
Unless you have a cutting touch your not getting into them.
KEN

.....

I quit selling on eBay years ago. They're nothing but money sucking parasites.

Jack Ryan

I don't have access to the local selling haunts. If it isn't on a list or eBay, I can't see it so I can't buy it.

The issues with tax etc that people are complaining about and blaming eBay for are being driven by government. Governments see a loophole in the tax gathering regime and they are forcing eBay and others to collect tax for them. When they are done with eBay they will move on to the next popular platform.

(This applies to VAT in the UK and Europe, GST in Australia and NZ and sales tax in the US).

Moving to a small obscure selling platform might save some fees - for now - but you will often not make the sale price achievable on a larger platform like eBay.

Jack

countryman

"Here" I can't complain either. The regulations are quite transparent. I can sell used goods occasionally on eBay trouble free. As soon as a seller sells items repeatedly, income tax and VAT apply like they would for a brick store business. That's only fair.
eBay does not collect these taxes, but in doubt they classify sellers as business and require a firm adress.

A problem can occur for collectors though, if they trade items frequently but not for profit.

tubaman

Quote from: countryman on July 11, 2020, 02:20:42 AM
"Here" I can't complain either. The regulations are quite transparent. I can sell used goods occasionally on eBay trouble free. As soon as a seller sells items repeatedly, income tax and VAT apply like they would for a brick store business. That's only fair.
eBay does not collect these taxes, but in doubt they classify sellers as business and require a firm adress.

A problem can occur for collectors though, if they trade items frequently but not for profit.

Ditto. I sometimes baulk at eBay and Paypal's fees, but they are providing a service, and where else can I get a national or global audience for selling things. Most of the eBay issues I've had are with other sellers not describing things honestly, and in all cases I've either come to an agreement with the seller or eBay has sorted it quickly and efficiently.
I only sell personal items that I no longer need, but if did this on a small business scale then I would fully expect to pay tax on any profits.
Don't get me wrong, eBay isn't perfect, but I don't know any other platform that comes close for usability or audience coverage.
:)

Babybearjs

oh, I forgot to mention..... EBAY is located in Campbell, California and Paypal is in San Jose..... BOTH in silicon valley! since the chinese pretty much own California, you can guess who controls ebay and paypal....
John

countryman

According to the German Wikipedia article 86% of the eBay shares are free float and the founder Pierre Omidyar is the biggest shareholder with 7%. Can't see an overwhelming influence of anyone else (besides the fact that a high percentage of free floating shares encourages a short-sighted business policy)?

Here in Germany a lot of private trade with small items went to "eBay classified ads", it might compare with Craigslist in the US. It's free, but you won't get any service either in case of difficulties. These classified ad sites are more a national thing it seems.
Taxes still apply for business and the taxmen have a look into classified ads, too ;-)

19and41

I'm glad there are plenty of folks who will do business on EBAY.  Here it is pretty much the only game in town.  There is nothing locally available on craigslist and Etsy is difficult to effectively navigate.  If I ever decided to sell on ebay, I'd set up a separate account for paypal to play with.  I'd never trust them with access to my primary accounts.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

TelePlay

As of at least this year as a buyer on eBay, eBay is adding my state's sales tax to my purchases so I assume when someone buys one of my listings, the buyer is charged the sales tax for the state in which they live. Tax charges is right on the eBay invoice and on the PayPal transaction as well. This makes it much easier for me at tax time in that I don't have to figure out how much I bought on eBay or directly from non-eBay sites that did not charge sales tax. Now, only about 1 in 20 or 25 purchases do not include sales tax so that is the pruchase and amount I have to keep a record of to add to my State tax return. There is a line on my state's tax return where one is asked to pay for items bought out of state on which sales tax was not paid. Knowing everything is kept somewhere, entering $0 on that line is a good way to get a letter saying more is desired, plus interest and/or a penalty, and in the worst case, an audit.

As for selling, very little of what I sell has a zero cost to it. For taxes, sales price less cost of goods sold (including original cost plus shipping plus the cost of any repairs) becomes the taxable "profit" and I put profit in quotes in that half the stuff I sell is at a loss. Profit is entered on Schedule C of the Federal return and that form is carried over into my State return. Not being a big seller or mega flipper of a lucky finder of a $5,000 item for $10 at an antique store, my profit each year is usually under $200 but it's reported and income taxes paid on it and I sleep well at night. If the profit is less than $0, the loss can be carried over to the next years return (subtracted from the next year's profit) and if the profit is less than $0 for 2 or more years in a row, the sale of goods is no longer considered a business. It becomes a hobby and not reportable on Schedule C, is not a "business." The problem with getting into hobby status is that gross sales (money sent to me by buyers) is probably also sent to the Feds by eBay or PayPal and seeing a $1,500 report from them with no tax being paid on a return, no Schedule C to explain the difference between gross sales and net profit, can lead to an audit. Schedule C correctly reduces the $1,500 in sales to a the real or actual taxable profit, the $1,500 less cost of goods sold.

I have no problems with eBay collecting tax and they have my banking information already from PayPay so with nothing to hide and tax paid on actual profits, I again sleep well at night.

And I've never had any type of problem with eBay or PayPay on any of my now more than 1,300+ buying and selling transactions. Tik Tok is more of a threat to loss of my personal information plus a lot more than either of those two companies.