eBay

lolkenken · ‎02-19-2013

I want to open a ebay store in Canada. What business lincese or other requirements do I need to prepare. thanks.

bb_cool_stuff · ‎03-22-2013

Depends on how sticky the government is in your area.

Have a Provincial Licence which is very inexpensive & can be written off on Income Tax.

At one time i sold wrestling shirts for a small independant promotion just north of Winnipeg & yes, i was asked to produce my Business Licence to a very smug Provincial Employee.

Of course, she was surprised when i asked for her Government ID. She showed me hers, i showed her mine.

Then she proceeded to the Canteen with the same request & a Food Handler Certificate. Again the documents were produced.

I guess it must of been a slow Saturday night for the province.

rose-dee · ‎03-23-2013

I want to open a ebay store in Canada. What business lincese or other requirements do I need to prepare. thanks.

To the original poster - you're probably shaking your head in disbelief at this string of messages.

I have one piece of straightforward, practical advice: invest in one of the "Starting an eBay Business For Dummies" books. Get the latest edition you can find, especially one that pertains to eBay Canada, read it cover to cover, and highlight important parts. They aren't always right about absolutely everything, and it's impossible for them to incorporate all the eBay updates as they happen, but it will give you a very good, solid start, and will help you to understand how to do well on eBay. The rest you can pick up from eBay's seller help as you go.

I'd also like to add something to clarify the argument over books of account:

1) No one will force you to keep records of your business - there is no law you are breaking by not doing so. However, you must by law report all your income to CRA, and --this is the critical part -- you must be able to produce documentation on that income if requested by CRA. Otherwise, CRA will investigate further, assuming you are not correctly or fully reporting, and then the trouble starts. The easiest way to comply with these requirements? Keep good records.

2) No one will force you to claim business costs and expenses, especially not CRA! However, if you're smart, you will, in order to take advantage of available deductions and reduce your taxes. It's entirely up to you. But if you do claim expenses, etc., and CRA ever requests documentation, you must be able to produce it. The easiest way? Keep good records.

So no, there is no law that says you must keep business records, but keeping good, clear business records is the simplest way to ensure you are in compliance with the reporting requirements under the Income Tax Act and taking lawful advantage of expense claims, etc. It will help you sleep nights! Keep your records where you can easily access them if CRA requests them. I believe CRA currently requires business records to be kept for 6 years, so set up a bookshelf, and add to it each year once your tax return is completed.

Believe me, the quickest way to get into hot water with CRA and find yourself being investigated (or charged) is to have no records, or very messy and inconsistent records. I've worked for years on the other end of the system, in a law firm specializing in tax cases, and defending yourself against CRA can get very, very long, arduous, and expensive.

Better to just learn how to keep a good set of business books I think (isn't that what Pierre advised somewhere here??)

aqyera · ‎03-25-2013

Someone who is using head. rose-dee, thank you.

No law mandates keeping book of accounts, keeping receipts is all that's needed.

nuvistor, grow up.

tobyshitzu · ‎03-25-2013

If you could go back and get all the ids that started threads like this "starting an ebay business" over the years, the number who ever sold much of anything was very few, the number who made anything very close to zero.

So just go ahead and list some stuff op and see what happens before worrying about anything else too much

nuvistors · ‎03-25-2013

Someone who is using head. rose-dee, thank you.

No law mandates keeping book of accounts, keeping receipts is all that's needed.

nuvistor, grow up.

What total Ignorance !

How are you going to show profit (or loss) if you do not keep good books ?

An intelligent person without a business of any kind still keeps books so they can determine what type of budget they need..

People who think good book keeping is not necesary need to be educated .

1234

cbsalesnb · ‎03-25-2013

I don't think the argument was about necessity, it was about legality. (Please don't take the below as fact, I don't know the exact legality behind this, I am just rewording agyera's argument)

Legally, I can collect a receipt for all my transactions and throw them all in a bucket and put a 2013 label on it and that will satisfy my legal requirements. (Not saying this is the smart way to do it, of course)

When I do my taxes, I will need to add them all up, and if the CRA wants to verify anything, they will need to see them of course. Using this method, I can prove my income and expenses should the CRA inquire about them.

pierrelebel · ‎03-25-2013

"Using this method, I can prove my income and expenses should the CRA inquire about them."

I wish you the best of luck when you get audited by CRA.

Those of us who have been there may have a different opinion.

When informed of a tax audit, CRA advised in writing:

... please make the following books and records available:

- sales journals

- purchase journals

- purchase invoices

- sales invoices

- inventory records

- bank records - business and personal

In their letter, CRA also included a nice little booklet 'What you should know about audits"

What are your responsibilities?

By law, you have to keep books and records to determine your tax obligations and your entitlements.....

Now, I will not argue too much with a tax auditor. It is not in my nature. Anyone here who thinks he/she knows better and feels records are not required, all I can do is wish you the best of luck telling that to your CRA auditor.

cbsalesnb · ‎03-25-2013

Pierre, even I have a different opinion. I agree with you wholeheartedly.

Do you think that my grandmother who makes about $40 a month from her knitting should have an acountant and the latest version of simply accounting on her computer?

No, she would keep her little notes, keep her material receipts, and use the calculator to claim her 200 bucks extra income at the end of the year. and there's nothing wrong with that!

Believe it or not, there are some folks on ebay, and I suspect a fair number of them, who fit into just such a category.

I'm only helping this side of the argument because I hate to see these "You have no business on ebay" replies for people who are not doing anything wrong. Get off your high horses, you're running a business, they're just in it for fun.

And as I've said..

there's nothing wrong with that!

tobyshitzu · ‎03-25-2013

Im sure there must be lots of people making a few bucks on ebay who don't have any obligation to even file a tax return let alone be too worried about having records

pierrelebel · ‎03-25-2013

"Do you think that my grandmother who makes about $40 a month from her knitting should have an acountant and the latest version of simply accounting on her computer?"

Most definitely not.

My post #4 answered an inquiry about opening a store. I frankly do not understand why anyone would object to a suggestion to have a good accounting system in such instance. I do not know why the "law" was incorporated in the discussion.

Oh well, life does go on.

pierrelebel · ‎03-25-2013

"there must be lots of people making a few bucks on ebay who don't have any obligation to even file a tax return let alone be too worried about having records"

That is correct.

Many sellers are here to attempt recovery of some of the original costs of items they have used over the years and no longer need. The "profit motive" is not a factor.

Keeping track of purchases, sales and expenses is for sellers wishing to run a business (small or large), it is not meant for the casual seller but for those who purchase "stuff" for resale.

rose-dee · ‎03-25-2013

Keeping track of purchases, sales and expenses is for sellers wishing to run a business (small or large), it is not meant for the casual seller but for those who purchase "stuff" for resale.

Yes, I too assumed from what the OP indicated that he/she was looking to open a store and go into business. Perhaps the OP could clarify this.

In any case, casual sellers can still keep good records. It doesn't have to be laborate if you're starting out - a few properly labelled file folders and some Excel charts are fine, as long as you follow basic accounting practices -- local libraries have tons of self-help books on keeping accounts for small business.

If your plan is to establish a serious business on eBay from which you expect to make profit, it's wise to start by setting up a good accounting system. It's far harder to retrospectively establish business accounts than to just do it properly from the outset. Once you've read a couple of books on the subject, consider buying a home business accounting programme (Quickbooks?) -- once you get familiar with it, using it is a snap.

I knew someone once who ran a professional law practice as well as a couple of businesses who used to take his yearly "business books", consisting of a plethora of bits of paper, to his accountant in paper bags and zip-lock containers stuffed into a satchel (literally). He could afford to pay $2,500 to his accountant to sort out the mess and do his return. Most of us can't.

So, you might save yourself a lot of grief during an audit and also save some money on accountant's fees for doing your tax return if your books are in good, clear order.

rose-dee · ‎03-25-2013

For the OP:

I forgot to add that the accounting records on both eBay and Paypal are a great help if you have a store. They essentially are the selling half of your books. You can set your preferences to automatically download eBay sales data to an Excel chart on your computer -- saves a lot of printing.

whitneyharte · ‎09-04-2016

technically, anything you sell, even if it's from a garage sale, needs to be declared. even if it's a barter: you mow someone's lawn in exchange for the person cleaning your car, etc.

pierrelebel · ‎09-05-2016

This is an old thread from 2013. It should be ignored by now.

msarowa-0 · ‎07-18-2017

I live in Burlington, Ontario. I want to City Hall of Burlington, Service Ontario to get a Business license, both offices said they don't issue any Business license. I would like to sell Medical Equipment on ebay store, so I need a business number. From which office I can get the business license and Business number?

ypdc_dennis · ‎07-22-2017

@msarowa-0 wrote:
I live in Burlington, Ontario. I want to City Hall of Burlington, Service Ontario to get a Business license, both offices said they don't issue any Business license. I would like to sell Medical Equipment on ebay store, so I need a business number. From which office I can get the business license and Business number?

You replied to a VERY OLD thread. Best to start your own.

An eBay store does not require a business license.

Business number -- what tax number do you have with the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency)?

Do you plan to collect GST/HST? -- must be registered with the CRA.

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