Thanks for leaving Sellers a few crumbs

[apollocanada]

It was just a matter of time before this happened and of course like all the other Sellers most are saying it's absolutely shameful between the fees you guys take and you recieve fees on our postage as well too.trying to sell anything anywhere that's used and now you going to tax this? eventually you'll phase yourself out of business because there will be no profit left and the amount of time that sellers have to invest packaging, selling their stuff tracking orders eventually is like we work for eBay already.Someone will come along with the better idea than eBay where we can actually make a few bucks and we'll all go there... I buy most of my stuff on eBay and sell on eBay and it's almost impossible to make money at it much less a living..sadly

[mrdutch1001]

Wow! the dramatics on this subject is unbelievable!

The sky is NOT falling!

You need to READ and UNDERSTAND that this is taxation on buyer's purchases, similar to that of the USA "internet taxation"    This is not the end of the world.

Read, understand, accept, adapt and Carry On, everyone!

[joels-retrocade]

Everyone understands that the buyer is paying the tax; that is clear.  But will customers buy the product if it become 13% more expensive?  Will have to drop the price to compensate and guess who ends up paying in the end. the seller.

[mrdutch1001]

If USA buyers adjusted to the USA's "internet taxation", I am quite confident Canadian buyers will be able to do likewise...Sure there may be some buyers that will balk at this initially, just as was with the USA " internet tax", but when all is said and done, sellers will continue selling and buyers will continue buying...just as they do when they go to a physical B & M, retail outlet, second hand store, trade show where sellers are PST/GST registered, etc,etc,etc...

I sell on other selling sites where this taxation will come into play...I will not be adjusting my prices downward and/or "drop the price to compensate " on any of my selling sites...taxation is what it is!

[brettjet38]

Are you a peer-to-peer seller? Here’s what you need to know

April 30, 2021

Ottawa, Ontario

Canada Revenue Agency

What is a peer-to-peer sale?

A peer-to-peer (P2P) sale is the selling of goods or services from one person or party directly to another. You may be involved in P2P selling if you are connecting with buyers through online platforms like websites, online marketplaces or mobile applications (such as Etsy, eBay, Amazon or Kijiji).

Income tax implications

As a resident of Canada, you have to report your income from all sources inside and outside of the country, including P2P transactions, on your tax return. If you paid tax on foreign income, you could be eligible for a tax credit.

It is important to maintain proper financial records of all your sales and expenses. This applies to the sales you make to buyers in Canada and other countries. Keep records of all your purchases to claim eligible expenses on your return.

GST/HST implications

You may have a reasonable expectation of profit from your online activities, and your total taxable supply may be valued at more than $30,000 over four calendar quarters. If so, you will need to register for, collect and pay to the Canada Revenue Agency the goods and services tax / harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) for taxable supplies of goods and services that you made inside and outside Canada. You can get more details on GST/HST registration requirements at: Find out if you must register for a GST/HST account.

How to correct your tax affairs

If you did not report your income from P2P selling, you may have to pay tax, penalties and interest on that income. You can avoid or reduce penalties and interest by voluntarily correcting your tax affairs. To correct your tax affairs (including corrections to GST/HST returns) and to report income that you did not report in previous years, you may:

• Ask for a change to your income tax and benefit return
• Adjust a GST/HST return
• Apply for a correction through the Voluntary Disclosures Program

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/news/newsroom/tax-tips/tax-tips-2021/are-you-peer-to-peer-se...

[neodragonknight]

A $100 sold item with lets say $30 shipping, will now cost $146.90 vs $130.  $16.90 increase is pretty big.  That is on the buyers end.

For the seller, the fees of 13% on $130 is $16.90.  Now with tax added we are charged on $146.90 with a new fee of $19.10.  It is not a huge on an item by item basis but it adds up.

The biggest thing that concerns me is that we are already at a huge disadvantage with postage fees as Canada post is very expensive (I use Chit chats now for US but domestically Canada post seems to be the only choice), and because it is more expensive we have to lower our prices to compete and also take the hit on ebay fees on the high shipping fees we have to pay canada post vs our american counter parts.

Now this combined with 13% sales tax (which is a lot and we have no control over) just compounds the problem, the buyer is charged more and we are charged additional ebay fees on that tax.  Ill wait and see how this affects things for me in the coming months, but right now it definately seems like it is going to hurt for us smaller sellers.

[marnotom!]

---

@neodragonknight wrote:

Now this combined with 13% sales tax (which is a lot and we have no control over) just compounds the problem, the buyer is charged more and we are charged additional ebay fees on that tax.

---

Not all provinces have 13% HST, though.  Alberta only has 5% GST, while British Columbia's PST and GST total 12%.

Amazon already moved to this taxation model less than a year ago and it's likely that other marketplace facilitators with a Canadian presence will be implimenting this sooner rather than later.

[busybeas_books]

Welcome to beautiful Nova Scotia, 15% GST here

[busybeas_books]

oops, HST

[davedave2006]

mrdutch101 does not understand if a seller sells an item with a small mark up then an extra 5-15% paid by the buyer for taxes often is absorbed by the seller. What do I mean? For low profit items the added tax can be very bad. So the seller pays the tax for the customer.   In the 1990s when GST was in it's early days I was selling Magic the gathering boosters for $4. When a customer came in to buy they would have to have 20 cents extra per purchase which was a burden for them so I would still charge $4 and I got about $3.80 and 20 cents went from my profit to GST. That was to keep the customer happy I lost 5%.

On ebay we have to compete worldwide so as other countries don't charge GST or might charge a lesser tax the customer will either buy elsewhere or due to heavy shipping costs will choose not to buy. Regardless the customer pays more or not at all and the seller does not make more. That is a losing situation for sellers. Even if it's just 2% of the ebay buyers that stop buying that's more profit out of the sellers hands.

I used to make 80% to 100% profit on Magic the gathering in my store. Now I  make around 15%. Because of corporate government greed. Once taxes are introduced over time taxes will increase, further eating away at ebay profits for sellers. Who benefits? Governments with bad motives and Amazon like  mega stores that love watching the small business disappear as the last 2 years have proved. They earned record profits when governments shut down small business. More taxes  drive up box store profits for the short term anyways. 

[davedave2006]

Very smart joels-retrocade. You just said in 3 sentences that I wrote in 3 paragraphs. Good job!

[davedave2006]

Hi mrdutch100. If you do the math you will see people will keep buying  (mostly) and Sellers will still keep selling (mostly) but it's those we leave behind is the issue. Selling items with small profits are barely worth it for many sellers. The taxes could be the end of many of those sellers. And as an experienced seller I have lost many customers over a 5% discount that I could not give to a buyer because my profit was 5% or less. I am currently listing up to 10000 items that have a profit margin of cents to a few dollars. I waited till now because I have been charging GST for many years and couldn't justify selling low value items. Now because of the current economy brought on by polititians I am going to take a chance. Without the GST selling these items would be much easier. 1

[mrdutch1001]

sorry, I do not subsidize my buyers...and I don't sell outside North America...

and many sellers if they are not already, will use other platforms to help ease the pain ...

My USA buyers have been paying the tax for the past 3 years...Canadian buyers will do likewise

Oh BTW I have actually increased my eBay item prices over the past 3 years so the new game in town will only marginally impact me as most of my sales come from other platforms.

PLUS,as an occasional seller the less than $500 sales per year from eBay is of little notice when it comes to buyers having to pay that extra in taxes, and sellers having FVF's include all taxes......