Online Marketplace

Hope someone can help on this please. For the purposes of online trading through marketplaces, if selling personal possessions my understanding is that there is nothing to declare unless there’s a single item over £6k. If selling and a profit is made then any profit over £1k trading allowance needs to be declared. Is this understanding right please?

Is anyone able to help on this please?

Just reposting as all recent posts seem to have a response except this one. Can someone please help

Do you mean you're selling your own belongings (for example, used clothes on eBay)? If yes, then you are allowed to sell them as long as they are used or in your possession for longer than 6 months. If the overall yearly profit from those sales is more than £1k, you have to declare it and pay tax on this profit. If you selling on regular basis and those items are new, you have to register as a Sole Trader.

Hi Jay,

That is correct - see guidance at:

Selling online and paying taxes - information sheet

Thank you.

Thanks both! So it’s just if there’s any profit that’s greater than £1000 in the year that needs to be declared. So for instance, majority is personal / used items. (These should be excluded for purposes of tax), where’s there’s the odd couple of items bought to trade, is it just when the profit ticks over £1000 that this needs to be declared? Say for example, you buy an item for £1500 and it sells for £1600. If it’s just one sale nothing would need to be declared. If it’s 9 sales, again nothing would be declared, but if it’s 11 sales at (£16500) and a profit of £1100, then it’s the £1100 or the £100 above the £1000 that needs to be declared? If the total profit is under £1000, I’m assuming it does not need to be declared? Thanks for any help on this

Unfortunately not. Only occasional sales with a total value under £1000 per year are free from tax. Regular selling (even if it's used items) falls under conducting trade (you have to register). Selling anything you bought to resell with the intention of making a profit is conducting a trade (you have to register). Furthermore, an item's value equals profit, so if you sold something for £1600, it means you've earned £1600 (not £100). Why? Because you can't include that £1500 in expenses since you're not officially running a business.

Hi Jay,

Yes, if your total profits (less expenses) for a given year are £1000 or less, you do not have to declare them - unless, that is, your expenses exceed your trading income and you want to claim a trading loss to carry forward to future years.                                         
You can find guidance here - Tax-free allowances on property and trading income

Thank you.

Can anyone advise please. Today on the BBC it says HMRC are tightening up on traders using websites like eBay, Etsy, Vinted etc where they trade more than £1000. I have started to sell on eBay last year (2023). What I am selling is only personal items that I have selected over the last 40 years, most in the last 30 years. These are some old vinyls and singles and vintage and antique items that I have amassed and now that I am over 60 realise that my family don’t share the same interests and that when I depart this mortal coil they would just be gotten rid of at no real value. I am then starting to sell what I can, which will be over several years I am guessing. Currently what I have sold has in most cases barely been sold for much more that bought for and in some cases for less. My question is then is whether this falls under what was shown today on the BBC, I do not foresee ever making a profit of £1000 per year though I may sell many items in a year, thats more than 30, perhaps 100 or even more if I am lucky. I did follow a series of questions on HMRC website regarding selling which asked if I was selling personal items (yes), not selling anything for more than a profit of £6000 (no - I wish!!) which came back with that I need not declare, but no mention of £1000 in sales. It would be useful if some from HMRC could answer here. Thanks

Hi
If your actual sales are less than £1000 then you would not need to register for self assessment to declare this.

Hello, I have a question regarding buying and reselling. I understand that if I buy to resell (on ebay for instance) this counts as trading, and if grossing more than £1000 per tax year, it would need to be declared and subject to income tax, etc. My question is that I have items that appreciate in value over time (so are investments). If I buy an item and resell it a few years later on ebay for profit does this still count as trading (and subject to income tax like a sole trader/self-employed) or is it not considered trading and considered investing and treated as capital gains? Many thanks! Martin

Hi MartinRL,
Please refer to:
Selling online and paying taxes - information sheet
Thank you.