I can't start my business because of the GOVERNMENT!

[digitaltechtronic]

Hi, I am from Victoria and here on my first post with a problem at hand that I have not been able to find a solution. I have just been working on other sections of the business plans.
Any one have info for someone who is starting from scratch on fortnightly government payments?? I am in a very awkward position and I don't know where to go to make this work.. If I hade the choice j would have a store open now would have all business plans in place you name it to will be done.
I have been to all the .gov websites I understand it but I haven't found the answer and I don't want to screw up my payments. Because it's not like I will be able to live off of eBay profits for the first year who knows..it will all go back into the business for fees stock whatever I need.
Any help that is on topic is very welcome.

Any one with any experience with this sort of situation please do help also anyone with general knowledge in the sector for business and government payments or just a guy or gall with the right info please do contribute ✌️

Sorry it's all messy I hope you can get where I am coming from, it's hard I have this massive rock in my mind blocking my project thoughts and my creativity because I cannot expand on eBay in my situation at this time…
Appreciate all help thanks :J

[lyndal1838]

First, do you have any selling experience on ebay apart from what is showing on this ID?

If this is the sum total of your experience I would not be rushing in yet and opening stores and buying large amounts of stock.  At present many sellers on ebay are complaining about how slow it is for sales.

Keep going as you are selling small amounts such as used items from around the house and whatever you think will sell.

You will have to report all your income so if keeping your benefits is important you will need to ask what you can earn without losing them completely.

If/when you are able to earn enough from ebay so that you do lose your benefits you should look at the governments small business loans.  I have not looked into them for many years but they were a great help back then.   You were able to receive unemployment benefits to make up your income while you established the business....you had to put in a regular profit and loss statement and the benefits were adjusted accordingly.  No doubt they have changed substantially, but I am sure there is something out there to help you.

[lyndal1838]

By the way, you will get more help if you ask the moderators to move this topic to the trading boards.  This forum is more for non ebay chat rather than serious ebay questions.

[beautysecretfashion]

I agree with lyndal

to my understanding if you are selling only every now and then & only your goods from home ie 2nd hand home goods... this is NOT considered income however I would certainly let Centrelink know. For example if every month you sell 1 or 2 2nd hand items ie: couch or clothes. Normally this is not included as income, it is like having a garage sale so to speak. BUT if you sell regularly like buying from garage sales then selling them on ebay, this is INCOME.

If you plan to buy stock and sell on ebay then that is definately considered income revenue, no matter how small your sales are you are legally obligated to let centrelink know.  As mentioned in other post, you can earn a certain amount per fortnight before it will affect your social security payments. Each time you fill out forms for payments you will need to declare what you have earnt, less ebay fees, paypal fees etc.

Some people are of the opinion that if you sell small amounts it is considered a "hobby"- this is not correct. Any income from any source is INCOME and must be declared.  ebay sends report to ATO every financial year.  ebay says any seller who sells $10,000 or more is required to let ATO know.  This does not mean you do not have to declare to ATO and Centrelink if your income is within this amount.   ALL income from $1 upwards is income.

For your peace of mind and being up front with the appropriate authorities will make selling on ebay more enjoyable and no sudden surprise letters from ATO or Centrelink...... both have cross matching info that eventually catches up with those that TRY to get away with not declaring income.

I hope this helps but I reiterate, ask the experts ATO & Centrelink about what is the correct process etc.

[digupatin]

Unless you can source stock cheaper than the many Chinese sellers who own most of the big stores or have items that no-one else sells the last thing I'd be doing is opening a store in the present economy and expecting to make wages.

Many of the experienced sellers with good reputations are scratching to make good money at present.

Overheads such as Ebay fees and charges plus postage will gobble up much of your profits, you'll lose a big part of your Centrelink payments, up to 50% after earning $150 (from memory) a fortnight, plus ATO will be putting their hand out for their share.

Open a store as a hobby or fun, for a bit of pocket money, then if you still want to proceed a business plan is a must, and see how you go from there.

[chameleon54]

Hi, Aus.buy.sell, Welcome to the boards.

As Lyndal has said, start very small and gain some experience before spending precious centrelink payments on stock.

You are currently running auctions with 99 cent starts and free postage. If these auctions only make the starting bid you will spend more on postage than you recieve for the item. You will then have to pay ebay and paypal fees. Basically you will be giving your stock away for free and paying extra fees on top. ( Paying some-one else to take your stock for free )  The only reason you would do this is if you are an experienced seller with a reasonably large pool of start up capital and you where hoping to "buy" some good feedback scores.

With over 40 feedbacks, this should not be an issue now. We started a second store a couple of years ago and where selling $3000-$4000 a month with a feedback score of 40.

It is still possible to go to garage sales and auctions and buy stuff for maybe $200 on a Saturday, list it Sunday using the 40 free listings, plus extra free listing offers and turn it into $700-$800 by the end of the week. We are still doing this every now and then when we have a free weekend, but it is getting harder all of the time.

To make a living from ebay, you need to find products with high profit margins. 100% profit ( selling for double what you pay for stock ) is the bare minimum and 300%-400% is much better as it allows for ebay fees, unexpected costs, postage discounts etc. If you are working on smaller margins on cheap items, you will need to sell large numbers of items every day and the postage and handling time makes this business model very difficult to sustain. The higher the selling price of your stock, the easier it is to make things work.

As others have noted PLEASE gain some experience first. Find out what sells and most importantly, TRY TO FIND PRODUCTS WITH HIGH PROFIT MARGINS. 

[digitaltechtronic]

Firstly, thank you all for the information and guidelines. It is good to know there are nice people out there to help. Oh how do I find a moderator to move this topic 😕 sorry I am new on the boards...

Now I just wanted to quote something's quickly before I head out and I will post more soon.
@Chameleon
"The only reason you would do this is if you are an experienced seller with a reasonably large pool of start up capital and you where hoping to "buy" some good feedback scores."
This is what I had planned to get the feedback you see I have sold 9 items not 40 I have purchased I mean I have had 89 transactions total items I don't know a lot but I have spent say $130 and that was an investment to buy feedback basically because I can't list 40 items yet and because of that I can't accept free listing offers. I am stuck selling 10 items.. Also I have a fairly good list of wholesalers that are in Australia and that are overseas however I need an ABN to work with them.

"With over 40 feedbacks, this should not be an issue now. We started a second store a couple of years ago and where selling $3000-$4000 a month with a feedback score of 40." Is that 3-$4000 in profit or net sales? I am a very mathematical person and I evaluate a lot of things before jumping the gun.
Today I am going to go to Centrelink and sit and talk with someone there. I have some small business booklets I got a month ago from this government organised small business bus which has all the government and non gov contacts I need. However I do t know what to ask. I guess I would just tell them my situation yeah?
Again thank you for the support.

[digitaltechtronic]

Do you guys think my name is bad I changed it and I was not thinking to clearly have to wait another bloody month.. Lol I have two wicked names that will make me stand out I guarantee. I will share later 😉

[lyndal1838]

I would not say that your ID is bad but it is a bit ordinary.  You would be better off with a name that reflects the items you are selling if you are going to stick to one sort of item.

Eventually you could have more than one ID if you want to sell different items....one could be a specialised ID and the other could sell mixed items.

If you must have an ABN/Business name to deal with your wholesalers then I would say that is a very good reason not to do that until you have more selling experience.  There are set up costs which will eat into your benefits very quickly, and ongoing costs.  Under no circumstances should you apply for GST registration until you absolutely have to and that is a long way down the track.

[chuk_77]

do you have permission from the photo owner to use the photos? Just asking as one clearly has the copyright symbol and you can click through to the site they can be bought from. You also shouldnt water mark photo's that are not yours.

Also one item you have listed as 14k gold when it isnt. Could be seen as search manipulation as some app users can not see item specifics so may take your word that it is gold. Just a couple hints for you