What are the requirements for business account to be legally ok to sell?

[onlinetogo]

Hi,

I have been selling items via personal accounts and thinking about changing into business account but I am not sure what are requirements.

As far as what I know, if I sell a lot of items, and if I have a store(?), then I can have the business account. 

But the only reason for me wanting to get business account is that fees can be much lower according to what I've researched.

It also seems I need a license for the legal business names and in case of reselling from maufacturer, but I am not sure if that is definitely required, although I am sure I will need one if I am to sell some big amounts from manufacturer, but that isn't happening anytime soon. 

I would much appreciate it for the responses. 

[13thlakes]

Actually, no it is not a PayPal question. He wants to know about the legal filing requirements to activate an eBay business account. When one attempts to upgrade from a personal to business account, they ask for a "legally registered" business address and phone number. They just assume that you know all about how to get this done. It's sort of like asking how to improve your car's performance and being told to just go out and rebuild your engine! Easy right? eBay assumes that the seller already knows the legal mumbo-jumbo that goes into establishing a business and getting rid of those ridiculous selling limits that they impose. (A classic bait and switch, BTW. eBay tells you that you can list up to 50 items per month, but doesn't bother informing you that you will be limited to 5 at a time, until you register as a business account  - for a fee of course!) Anyway, that's what "onlinetogo" wanted to know.

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

@southern*sweet*tea

I pay property taxes on all business assets including inventory. Considering I carry around 50k in inventory it is not a negligible amount

[partial*eclipse]

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wrote:

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 .... eBay tells you that you can list up to 50 items per month, but doesn't bother informing you that you will be limited to 5 at a time, until you register as a business account  - for a fee of course!) ....

Are you sure about that?  Usually the only reason that eBay will increase your selling limits would be based on your selling history.

[fashunu4eeuh]

Hi @13thlakes. You are right, thought the OP was referring to the choices of PayPal accounts. This is an old thread, hopefully OP found out what they needed to know, but thank you for the updated info.

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

The OP was asking about the difference between EBAY business and personal accounts, not Paypal

[missjen831]

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wrote:

Actually, no it is not a PayPal question. He wants to know about the legal filing requirements to activate an eBay business account. When one attempts to upgrade from a personal to business account, they ask for a "legally registered" business address and phone number. They just assume that you know all about how to get this done. It's sort of like asking how to improve your car's performance and being told to just go out and rebuild your engine! Easy right? eBay assumes that the seller already knows the legal mumbo-jumbo that goes into establishing a business and getting rid of those ridiculous selling limits that they impose. (A classic bait and switch, BTW. eBay tells you that you can list up to 50 items per month, but doesn't bother informing you that you will be limited to 5 at a time, until you register as a business account  - for a fee of course!) Anyway, that's what "onlinetogo" wanted to know.

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@13thlakes You are mistaken about the 5 listing limit. You do not need to register as a business account in order to get around that limit. Most brand new sellers start out with a limit of 5 listings per month and again it has nothing to do with registering as a “business account”.  Also this thread is almost 2 months old.....there was no need to revive it.

[fashunu4eeuh]

Yes, thanks, got it.

[13thlakes]

1 - you say you do not need to register as a business acount to get around the 5 listing limit, but do not say how this is possible - just as bad as eBay making statements but not providing any info on how to accomplish things.

2 - While this listing may be an ancient 2 months old, I found it while trying to answer the question myself. I thought this forum was to help others learn and it seems that if "old" messages are archived and the information is still valid (or, as in this case, the question posed was not really understood by the responder, thus leading to confusion) then "reviving" a post with updated or accurate info would be in everyone's best interest.

3 - I managed to get around the ridiculous 5 item limit by calling and complaining. Seems that eBay would figure out some way to make it a bit easier for people to start meaningful sales without all the aggravation.

[slippinjimmy]

The reason to have a Business account on eBay is so you can use the name of the business as your registered name instead of you personal name.

As other have mentioned it has nothing to do with listing limits, fees or anything else.

If I'm operating a LLC for example I don't want to register the account in the name of the CEO I would want it registered under the company name. In order to do that you need an eBay business account.

[redrockv-58]

I am completely new to this. I want to set up a business account. I think I have a personal account now.

[redrockv-58]

Yes I need the same information also.

[bonjourami]

Switch over to a business account by simply clicking a few buttons.

1. Sign in to your eBay personal account. ...
2. Click the "Personal Information" link in the My Account menu.
3. Click "Edit" on the Account Type line next to "Individual." ...
4. Enter your business name in the Business Name field and click "Change to Business Account."

[kh-gary]

Hi everyone,

Due to the length of time that has passed since this thread began, we have locked it from future replies. If this is still an issue that warrants discussion, don't hesitate to begin a new thread here: https://community.ebay.com/t5/forums/postpage/board-id/selling-db.

Thanks.