Ebay won't let me sell here any more :(

[clutchc]

   I am an individual seller; a 73 year old man simply selling items I no longer want or need for extra cash.  Not a business.  I have been selling here for 15 years.  Like everyone else, I have received the warning that as of March 3rd, I will need to register with something called ebay managed payments or no longer be able to sell.  Well, March 3rd finally arrived.  Now I am blocked from selling.  So, I went to sign up as requested...

   The first page of the sign-up required I give them my SSN.  I have never given that out to anyone other than required government entities, and have always been told to never give it out over the internet.  That would be just another server waiting to be hacked and have the SSN stolen.  And I don't know what other personal info they want of me after that, because I couldn't get past the first page.  So, am I finally going to have to part ways with ebay after all these years because I'm protecting my SSN?

[moparfan2010]

...by the way, I was already a seller on ebay for 10+ years, that door had been opened a long time ago!  I did not just decide to sell here, I am part of what got them to this point.

[a_c_green]

---

@moparfan2010 wrote:

I completely understand giving the routing # and bank account # that's a given, but why my full ssn# so I can sell $50 to $100 of stuff (maybe) every few months?  

---

Because Adyen, like PayPal before them, is required to report your income to the IRS.

[chapeau-noir]

---

@needitlikea0inthehead wrote:

I am 73 as well and a small seller.  I am not on MP yet. However I do not have a cell phone and if I did have one I wouldn't know what to do with it.  I also do not file taxes as I believe I am under the income limit to do so (I'd best check on that again).

---

It doesn't matter what 'income limit' you're under - you're supposed to file taxes.  Best hope you don't get audited.

[out.of.clues]

They lost me as a seller- they DID warn that I would NOT get paid with no ssn on file. I will NOT give out my ssn. I have gone thru identity theft and there is no reason that they need it. I sell "stuff" from my home- usually one of a kind, and sometimes new stuff I don't intend on using. I have an EIN but I have only had like 4 sales...less than $500. in 14 years. I mainly buy. I noticed selling fees DID increase....MAYBE ebay will reconsider once all the little guys drop off their selling platform. Unfortunate situation but as others have said- there are other platforms...and MANY places to just donate my "stuff" to...anything to keep my ssn private and off the net as much as possible.

[out.of.clues]

My thoughts exactly.

[out.of.clues]

The problem with ebay is that they drastically exaggerate profit- they include shipping fees and state taxes buyer pays as YOUR profit and they do NOT deduct any of their fees.

[out.of.clues]

If you sell say-5 items- for less than you originally paid for them, the IRS calls it a "hobby" and you DO NOT include the loss on your taxes.

[moparfan2010]

ok...but where as paypal who is "proven" to me to be reliable vs Adyen (?) who is unknown to me...why should I just hand over that information...would their ceo and cfo give us their ss # so we can verify them first...I think not...

[moparfan2010]

Good for you and very well stated!! Perhaps ebay wants to lose us the small time original sellers that got them where they are.  The tern ingrate comes to mind!!

[moparfan2010]

thanks for this info...see its a one way street!!

[dhbookds]

he problem with ebay is that they drastically exaggerate profit- they include shipping fees and state taxes buyer pays as YOUR profit and they do NOT deduct any of their fees.

Ebay doesn't figure profit......they report what is required by the IRS.........which is the total amount of your sales......

[farmalljr]

I agree with this post, wholeheartedly. 

Look, we are not in the same place we were a decade or longer, ago. There is less and less "opportunity" to hide sales or evade paying the taxman. Like it or not, they are closing all the "loopholes" to avoid claiming income. 

For now, the only real way to avoid it is to do face to face sales for cash. That may very well change in the near future too (think cashless society). No one likes paying taxes, but if you don't, you risk becoming a criminal. eBay has to comply with what the IRS/government tells them to do, to stay legal and above board. Part of that is making users comply. 

If you don't want to comply to sell here, you don't have to. You are free to leave or stop selling. Those that leave, eBay isn't going to "woo" you back later. You have to comply or they just don't care. 

So other than this just being a thread of unproductive complaining, there is no real issue here to solve. Even if eBay wanted to comply to the demands of a few sellers, they can't unless they want to risk prosecution. They aren't going to do that. 

[basspig]

I just found this out today when I responded to eBay's new requirement to add a bank account. The e-mail said nothing about an SSN. So when I started the process, the first page was as you receive--asking for DoB and SSN. I immediately logged off. I haven't sold anything on ebay for about five years now, mainly due to the fees being so high. Places like craigslist and Facebook Marketplace have no fees so I've been selling my used stuff there.

This officially ends my relationship with ebay, since 1999.

[chapeau-noir]

*

 

[kathieskorner]

I am 76 and like you have always been warned about the dangers of giving out my social security number.  However, in this day and age I suspect that any really good hacker would have no problem finding it.  It is attached to my medical records, utility records, financial accounts, and who knows what else.   Quite a few times I have been asked for the last four digits to verify my identity over the phone when making inquiries about my credit card account or even reporting a power outage when I didn't know my account number.   My medical records date back to when Medicare was using your SSN as your Medicare number so even if I didn't provide it personally to a new doctor - it would still be in my files. 

I am far more paranoid about using ATMs, debit cards, and online banking than I am about providing my SSN to a financial institution or payment processor.    I do have both a separate bank account and credit card solely for online transactions.   And I never give out any personal information to a cold call or an email inquiry - no matter who it is supposedly from.