A proportion of UK eBay stuff is purchased by overseas eBayers (10% based on my own experience) as items are unobtainable for them locally and a lot of overseas eBayers find that compared to buying mail order from UK stockists who have minimum shippping charges or from overseas stockists local to them it is cheaper overall on eBay taking shipping into account. Many mail order suppliers won't ship overseas as if you are VAT registered it becomes a nightmare and if you export more than £2000 worth of goods (or whatever the figure is) it again becomes an admin nightmare.
And if you are overseas you can claim the VAT back from eBay sellers who are VAT registered so all is not as it seems. eBay of course don't give you a fee refund on the VAT element of the sale that is reclaimed but you can reclaim the VAT element of your eBay fees.
It is all a tangled web so it can be difficult to make the direct comparions. If you speak to traders they broadly are not happy eBay bunnies at the moment as overall margins are very tight.
You may be right and a high price may have been paid so the advice is to do research before bidding or buying on eBay but don't be surprised if something sells for a higher price than you are prepared to pay.
Happy modelling
Gary
And if you are overseas you can claim the VAT back from eBay sellers who are VAT registered so all is not as it seems. eBay of course don't give you a fee refund on the VAT element of the sale that is reclaimed but you can reclaim the VAT element of your eBay fees.
It is all a tangled web so it can be difficult to make the direct comparions. If you speak to traders they broadly are not happy eBay bunnies at the moment as overall margins are very tight.
You may be right and a high price may have been paid so the advice is to do research before bidding or buying on eBay but don't be surprised if something sells for a higher price than you are prepared to pay.
Happy modelling
Gary
