Advice Needed - re eBay

[gazza72]

Hello Guys

I am a new user to the forum and was not sure what category to post in with this, so if I have posted off topic, please accept my apologies

Those of you who sell on eBay will of noticed the new rules that have come into place this month regards business sellers.
You now have to place your trading name and address in a prominent place or on your listings

I am not at all happy with this, as a good few others feel the same, this invites not only junk mail, but I feel is an invasion of our privacy.
eBay will not allow a PO Box

over 50% of my current sales do come from eBay and a friend has suggest that to get around this I look at a virtual office address.
Can anybody recommend such, I do not want to spend a great deal on this, maybe up to £20 a month

Any suggestions would be welcome

 

[Ashley_Price]

How can this be an invasion of privacy? Are you telling me that as a business you do not want your customers to know your contact details?

You should have your contact details on all your promotional material and website stuff anyway. Plus, having your trading details will go some way to confirming to potential customers that you are a legitimate business.

I don't use ebay (precisely because you don't know whether the seller is legit.), but I know I never deal with any firm that gives me advertising with, for example, just a mobile number. We recently had a postcard put through our door from a local courier, it said (name changed obviously) "XYZ Couriers Ltd. Same Day and Next Day delivery. Call now... [mobile number]" and that was it! Sorry, but who in their right mind is going to trust their packages to a firm who don't want to put at least their business address on there if not a landline number as well?

If you want people to buy from you, you have to give them as few barriers as possible. That means giving people your contact details and postal address. Junk mail is just a necessary evil to allowing your customers instant access to you (see my website, it has all our contact details and so should every business).

 

[Matt1959]

well on the face of it I reckon this move by Ebay is a fantastic one. Reason being, if you can put yolur biz details on the listings, it means you can get people to visit your website or contact you direct thereby bypassing Ebay completely. Thing is, your either a business or you're not, surely..

 

[mconridge]

I've read some of the discussions about this subject. It's amazing!

eBay are doing the right thing and are forcing sellers to abide by THE LAW. Just because you sell on eBay doesn't mean you can avoid the law.

You run a business! You can't pick and choose what rules you want to follow.

 

[Smudge]

Have you tried contacting a local business advisor. They should be able to inform you of other postal options in your area.

I have a start up business unit with my local council, they also offer postal boxes with a business address rather than a PO Box number.

 

[Ashley_Price]

You could always use a "mail forwarding service" or "virtual office" to deal with your post. If you would like a quote just PM me.

 

[Sinny Print]

Hey!

Good on Ebay ... about bloody time.

If you are gonna trade on sites like ebay as a business you should be open about where & who you are.

Buyer confindence should always be paramount!

 

[Ashley_Price]

[Why do I get the feeling this thread isn't going in quite the direction Gazza expected?]

 

[Sinny Print]

I agree!!

There are too many "traders" on ebay who consider themselves to be " A Business"

And they are not accountable when there is a problem.

It may be a market place for business but it's a long way from being a market trader.

Business needs to adapt by day, if you can't adapt especially to something so beneficial then stand aside!

Happy Saturday

 

[business123]

HM Revenue and Customs are going to have a field day when the contact information starts getting displayed!

 

[frockery]

well on the face of it I reckon this move by Ebay is a fantastic one. Reason being, if you can put yolur biz details on the listings, it means you can get people to visit your website or contact you direct thereby bypassing Ebay completely. Thing is, your either a business or you're not, surely..

I agree with this. You should surely want to be upfront about your contact details if you are a legitimate business and it will undoubtedly be a useful way of driving customers directly to your own site.

I wonder if pressure may have been brought to bear by HMRC because so many sellers have been operating as businesses without registering as such and avoiding the accountability of the distance selling and other regulations.

Regards, Alison

 

[Ashley_Price]

I wonder if pressure may have been brought to bear by HMRC because so many sellers have been operating as businesses without registering as such and avoiding the accountability of the distance selling and other regulations.

That makes a lot of sense, Alison.

I wonder if those who are complaining about invasion of privacy are only worried about an "invasion" by the tax man.

 

[Robert1989]

If you are a business i feel that your clients have a right to know your contact details. as regards junk mail i doubt you will have much of that coming your way. when you become a business you have limited privacy so 'invasion of privacy' is a joke people ahve a right to know who you are and incase they need to contact you. i agree with others here it is a good move by ebay and will give customers some sort of satisfaction and resurracne

 

[coultog]

eBay does not want a virtual address either. It needs to be your trading address.

Completely agree about all the comments thus far. If you don't like it, move away.

 

[Ashley_Price]

eBay does not want a virtual address either. It needs to be your trading address.

Completely agree about all the comments thus far. If you don't like it, move away.

But you could "trade" from a virtual address. There are many companies out there who use a "virtual" address on their letterheads, etc. We have a client who has the telephone number we provided him with on all his stationery, so when people phone we are his "office".

 

[coultog]

A trading is where an operation is ran from. You do not run an ebay business from your secretaries office.

A trading address is where your goods are dispatched from, where your returns are sent back to.

 

[Ashley_Price]

A trading is where an operation is ran from. You do not run an ebay business from your secretaries office.

A trading address is where your goods are dispatched from, where your returns are sent back to.

What if you hire a third party to accept orders and send out items?

I have a friend who runs a mailing firm that does exactly this, especially for companies in other countries selling stuff in the UK. It's cheaper than sending the items individually from the original country.

If the items were small enough, we would do this if a client wanted.

 

[PI Guy]

I agree that you should have an address as the companies act states but even if ebay allowed PO boxes that would be no guarantee of privacy as it is in the royal mails T&C's.

 

[naturals]

What if you hire a third party to accept orders and send out items?

I have a friend who runs a mailing firm that does exactly this
quote]

Any chance you could PM me their details (or post here)? I've spent several hours trying to find a business that offers this service!

 

[naturals]

What if you hire a third party to accept orders and send out items?

I have a friend who runs a mailing firm that does exactly this

Any chance you could post a link or PM me some contact details?

Thanks in advance.

 

[prefab]

I cannot believe anyone thinks this is a bad idea if your a business seller on ebay (unless of course you want to avoid ye olde HMRC). I am sick of competing with clowns operating out of their garage and declaring nothing to the taxman despite their feedback indicating that they are doing atleast a couple of hundred K a year.

How can you claim to be a business seller on ebay without complying with the most basic regulations of distance selling and expect to get away with it. It's about time this happened.