Everyday new users look into the possibility of establishing a home-based business centered around selling on eBay.
It is not as easy as it sounds.
To sell on eBay as a hobby is one thing. To organize it up as a full or part time business to generate income is something more serious and requires some prerequisites.
First you must prepare a business plan and a budget.
Like any mail order business, newcomers should have business (preferably retail) experience, with good marketing skills and adequate capital (money does not grow on trees).
They should be familiar with the basics of both consumption and income tax legislations affecting their business. GST and PST regulations can be tricky.
They should understand currency conversion, banking, international trade and methods of payment available to online buyers.
More importantly, they should sell what they know and know what they sell.
I am not a paid eBay employee and, as such, cannot offer direct business consultation and advice. For assistance, you should take a look at the many threads of the last few weeks on this Board dealing with a vast variety of subjects. Start with the Selling 101 thread:
http://forums.ebay.ca/thread.jsp?forum=13&thread=100007162&modified=1109682709634
Then take a look at other Canadian Boards such as:
New to eBay: http://forums.ebay.ca/forum.jsp?forum=41
User to User Help: http://forums.ebay.ca/forum.jsp?forum=9
Then, one should invest some time on the PayPal Discussion Board (on eBay.com):
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/forum.jspa?forumID=97
and the eBay Stores Discussion Board (also on eBay.com):
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/forum.jspa?forumID=21
While you are on eBay.com, take a look at other Discussion Boards which may offer you good free advice:
http://pages.ebay.com/community/boards/index.html
If you target primarily the American and overseas markets you should list on eBay.com in US dollars; if you target the Canadian market list on eBay.ca in Canadian dollars.
Finally, before setting up your business, invest a few dollars and get some professional help for business and tax (GST and PST) registrations and bookkeeping (unless you already have the necessary expertize).
Good Luck.
It is not as easy as it sounds.
To sell on eBay as a hobby is one thing. To organize it up as a full or part time business to generate income is something more serious and requires some prerequisites.
First you must prepare a business plan and a budget.
Like any mail order business, newcomers should have business (preferably retail) experience, with good marketing skills and adequate capital (money does not grow on trees).
They should be familiar with the basics of both consumption and income tax legislations affecting their business. GST and PST regulations can be tricky.
They should understand currency conversion, banking, international trade and methods of payment available to online buyers.
More importantly, they should sell what they know and know what they sell.
I am not a paid eBay employee and, as such, cannot offer direct business consultation and advice. For assistance, you should take a look at the many threads of the last few weeks on this Board dealing with a vast variety of subjects. Start with the Selling 101 thread:
http://forums.ebay.ca/thread.jsp?forum=13&thread=100007162&modified=1109682709634
Then take a look at other Canadian Boards such as:
New to eBay: http://forums.ebay.ca/forum.jsp?forum=41
User to User Help: http://forums.ebay.ca/forum.jsp?forum=9
Then, one should invest some time on the PayPal Discussion Board (on eBay.com):
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/forum.jspa?forumID=97
and the eBay Stores Discussion Board (also on eBay.com):
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/forum.jspa?forumID=21
While you are on eBay.com, take a look at other Discussion Boards which may offer you good free advice:
http://pages.ebay.com/community/boards/index.html
If you target primarily the American and overseas markets you should list on eBay.com in US dollars; if you target the Canadian market list on eBay.ca in Canadian dollars.
Finally, before setting up your business, invest a few dollars and get some professional help for business and tax (GST and PST) registrations and bookkeeping (unless you already have the necessary expertize).
Good Luck.
"any accounting software "
I do everything with MS-Excel.
I do everything with MS-Excel.
Most sales by most Canadian sellers go outside the country (USA and overseas).
"30 million people is still a decent market"
yes if you want to limit your market to a potential 30,000,000 people only. If you make a decent living within that relatively small market, that is great.
I would rather target the world with 6,000,000,000 potential buyers, including the American economy (ten times bigger than Canada) the European economy (also ten times bigger than Canada), the Asian market (huge and growing every day), the Middle East market (not as large as Canada but much richer!), etc...
And, if one targets the American market and the rest of the world, one must list in US dollars, the currency understood by everyone, and preferably on eBay.com for maximum exposure.
If one looks at eBay's financial statements, it is easy to see that their "international" division has been growing for several years twice faster than the domestic one.
If you sell items that are competitively priced on a world market, go for it. Sell to the world.
yes if you want to limit your market to a potential 30,000,000 people only. If you make a decent living within that relatively small market, that is great.
I would rather target the world with 6,000,000,000 potential buyers, including the American economy (ten times bigger than Canada) the European economy (also ten times bigger than Canada), the Asian market (huge and growing every day), the Middle East market (not as large as Canada but much richer!), etc...
And, if one targets the American market and the rest of the world, one must list in US dollars, the currency understood by everyone, and preferably on eBay.com for maximum exposure.
If one looks at eBay's financial statements, it is easy to see that their "international" division has been growing for several years twice faster than the domestic one.
If you sell items that are competitively priced on a world market, go for it. Sell to the world.
"How do I import goods without paying GST/PST and duties? "
Unless imported in bond, GST (and duties if applicable) MUST be paid at time of Customs Clearance.
Sellers registered with GST/HST get the GST back as "Input Tax Credits" (ITC) at time of filing their GST/HST return.
There is no refund of duty unless you can prove re-exporting of each individual item. It is a time consuming process and not worth it unless large sums of money are involved.
As far as PST is concerned, you can be exempted at time of entry if you provide Customs with your Vendor's Permit number and exemption certificate prior to Customs clearance. Otherwise, you must prepay it like everyone else and make an "adjustment" on your Provincial Sales Tax return.
"I cannot afford pay in advance "
It takes money to make money. Sellers should have the financial ability to prepay the GST, as they do many other business expenses.
A GST/HST registered seller can ask to file monthly to speed up the refund process. It is a lot more work than once a year.
Unless imported in bond, GST (and duties if applicable) MUST be paid at time of Customs Clearance.
Sellers registered with GST/HST get the GST back as "Input Tax Credits" (ITC) at time of filing their GST/HST return.
There is no refund of duty unless you can prove re-exporting of each individual item. It is a time consuming process and not worth it unless large sums of money are involved.
As far as PST is concerned, you can be exempted at time of entry if you provide Customs with your Vendor's Permit number and exemption certificate prior to Customs clearance. Otherwise, you must prepay it like everyone else and make an "adjustment" on your Provincial Sales Tax return.
"I cannot afford pay in advance "
It takes money to make money. Sellers should have the financial ability to prepay the GST, as they do many other business expenses.
A GST/HST registered seller can ask to file monthly to speed up the refund process. It is a lot more work than once a year.
" It will save me about 7000 annually. "
There is no GST "savings" as all of the GST paid is refunded as Input Tax Credits.
There is no GST "savings" as all of the GST paid is refunded as Input Tax Credits.
Basically, you are looking at the cost of carrying the GST for a month or so (minimal) versus the value of controling your inventory and shipments (huge).
To get a refund of the excise (luxury) tax paid on jewelry, you need to justify the claim by providing evidence of exporting each item for which a claim is made.
It is very time consuming.
$7,000 on the other hand is a lot of money and may be worth the extra time. Refund claims can be filed at any time.
It is very time consuming.
$7,000 on the other hand is a lot of money and may be worth the extra time. Refund claims can be filed at any time.
Considering the amount involved, I most strongly recommend using a Customs broker. The small fee involved is well worth the expertise.
