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Business account required
 

Hi everyone,

I received a message from ebay, that I must upgrade to business.
I am based in Europe, Bulgaria. I am selling on ebay.com
I have very few transactions within Europe.

My question is does ebay care about the VAT number itself. Does it need to be a valid one or I can add a random one ?

Thank you in advance for your support.

Re: Business account required
 

I'm also in the EU and eBay does indeed care about the VAT number itself as well as the business address registered with the VAT number. The address must exactly match the address registered at the Federal Ministry of Finance (Bundeszentralamt für Steuern, BZSt, in Germany).
eBay sent several warnings first, that it didn't match and they would suspend my account if I didn't update my info given to eBay. Problem was, I entered my office address in ebay, while the Federal Ministry of Finance was only aware of my private address being my business address.
So IMO adding a random VAT might work at first but you will be suspended eventually. Also, keep in mind to enter the correct address.

Re: Business account required
 

Thank you so much for your response and information.

I assume that you are registered on ebay.de. My account is registered on ebay.com and I really dont know why ebay.de sent me messages about it.
Do you have any idea is it possible to upgrade to business but dont add VAT, because I wont ship to Germany and I dont have more than 10000 euros per year within Europe.

Thank you again.

Re: Business account required
 

I understand, it's frustrating to be forced to upgrade to business. I'm also not sure why ebay.de wants you to do this, considering you don't make more than 10.000 Euros per year in Europe.
Upgrading to business without a valid VAT ID wasn't possible for me. eBay told me, that's because I either have items stored in Germany or I'm residing in Germany (both was the case). So I guess, if you have literally any sales in a EU country you have to provide your VAT ID.

As far as I know, though, eBay gives you 30 days to upgrade to business. I've read from several people in the forum that after the 30 days, eBay gave them another 30 days time to upgrade. But I wouldn't count on it. My account got restricted after the 30 days were over.

Re: Business account required
 

Thank you !
They gave me 4 weeks to upgrade. Anyway I am thinking of exclude Germany and Europe as shipping locations. I am not sure if this will be good for ebay.
I received a response from ebay.de which is very strange.
Sorry about your account :( Did the restricted indefinitely or just temporary ?

Re: Business account required
 

This only applies for business accounts ( personal accounts are not required to have VAT information )

If you sell items that have the item location in Germany or you are shipping to Germany , ebay.de will ask you to enter VAT information.

Otherwise they will ban you from selling to Germany.

A quick fix will be to exclude Germany from the list of countries where you ship.

Re: Business account required
 

Thank you carlosdavilla. I really appreciate it. If I can help somehow please let me know.
Are you sure that exclude Germany will fix the problem and ebay wont restrict/ suspend my account ?

Re: Business account required
 

I got a similar message on an Estonian Business account.

I had the item location in Germany and i was asked by eBay.de to add VAT information otherwise i can be banned from dealing in Germany. They gave me 7 days not 30. So for the next items i excluded Germany altogether and no issues so far.

Germany is very strict with business sellers and with VAT requirements, they are known for their obsession with paying taxes and control.

If some other members have any experience with this stuff they will probably reply to this thread.

Re: Business account required
 

The problem is little bit different with my account.
Its personal, and they asked me to upgrade to business.
I will try to exclude Germany as you said and I hope there wont be any restrictions after that.

Thank you again.

Re: Business account required
 

No it won't. Once they require you to register you must do so and then deregister if eligible to do so.

There's no escape now.

Re: Business account required
 

Yep spot on if its requested it has to be entered.

Re: Business account required
 

Thank you both !

I am pretty sure that once you upgrade to business, there is no way to downgrade to personal. Please let me know if I am wrong.
In the email it says that I will loose my ability to sell on the German site. Only this, thats my hope comes from that they will let me alone after I exclude Germany... What do you think guys ?

Thanks again.