Risks trading from home.

[jan808 1]

Hi all

I am thinking about trading from home. What are the risks in doing this? Has anyone had any bad experiences ?

I have watched tv programs where the car seller is being pursued by debt collectors and his personal belongings were at risk in being taken to be sold.

[BHM 994]

Pay your bills & you won’t get a visit from the bailiffs. That’s nothing to do with car dealing, that’s to do with how you run your life.

[Screenman 47]

I think trading from home is different to retailing from home, but that may just me being pedantic.

[trade vet 704]

52 minutes ago, tradex said:

Doesn't make for good TV though

You NEED to go Limited in this business, others may disagree, but I'm very firm on this, be it trading from a site, home, tent, caravan or pub car park.

And be VAT registered if like to sleep at night.

Tradex is right,without a doubt.You need to be LTD and VAT regd.I have known people who have made one off  honest mistakes with bookkeeping and HMRC have slaughtered them because they do not have the protection of a LTD company.In one case they had to remortgage their house.

[justina3 518]

To be frank if your new to this game ltd company vat or not your likely to get very burnt before you even get as far as hitting the vat threshold.

Can you imagine the headaches of starting from scratch, don’t know what to buy or for how much where to advertise, mechanic spark painter parts suppliers the list is endless. 

I know we all started somewhere but it was so much easier back then. 

[BHM 994]

How anyone escapes VAT & makes a living wage is beyond me but half of the traders at auction seem to be in this boat - it’s no wonder the HMRC takes a dim view of this industry. 

I must confess I’m not ltd status & haven’t looked into it but perhaps I should. Mind you, there’s one trader I know who registered for ltd status in his first month of trading, all he sells is pure shit from his front door on a housing estate but ISN’T VaT registered.

I’ve been told of a family outfit who seem to buy on different accounts at auction to avoid the VAT man - I assume it’s all legal & above board but........

I got my collar felt years ago after a couple of years of trading & got a few big bills so I pay my VAT & income tax like a good boy - I sleep at night & aren’t looking over my shoulder. Someone (and let’s be honest, there’s plenty of them doing it) taking the piss for years really is running the gauntlet. 

Tbh I wish Immigration Control, the Police, HMRC & Inland Revenue would regularly swoop on every auction house. I’d walk past unconcerned but my guess is a good 50% would be sweating & looking to do a commando role out of the nearest exit.

[Trident 24]

What a priceless question, what does trading in cars have to do with the bailiffs?? is it just me or could the bailiffs turn up to any premises, home, lock up, showroom...pay your bills, do right by customers and no one will come knocking...sounds to me like you have absolutely no idea what you are getting into, I wish you luck, but you need to start off with the right attitude and worrying about bailiffs turning up on your doorstep isn't it...rant over

[justina3 518]

46 minutes ago, BHM said:

How anyone escapes VAT & makes a living wage is beyond me but half of the traders at auction seem to be in this boat - it’s no wonder the HMRC takes a dim view of this industry. 

I must confess I’m not ltd status & haven’t looked into it but perhaps I should. Mind you, there’s one trader I know who registered for ltd status in his first month of trading, all he sells is pure shit from his front door on a housing estate but ISN’T VaT registered.

I’ve been told of a family outfit who seem to buy on different accounts at auction to avoid the VAT man - I assume it’s all legal & above board but........

I got my collar felt years ago after a couple of years of trading & got a few big bills so I pay my VAT & income tax like a good boy - I sleep at night & aren’t looking over my shoulder. Someone (and let’s be honest, there’s plenty of them doing it) taking the piss for years really is running the gauntlet. 

Tbh I wish Immigration Control, the Police, HMRC & Inland Revenue would regularly swoop on every auction house. I’d walk past unconcerned but my guess is a good 50% would be sweating & looking to do a commando role out of the nearest exit.

I often wondered why they didnt go through auction houses books and pull a load of names that keep popping up as well easy money really. 

[It's me 615]

9 hours ago, jan808 said:

Hi all

I am thinking about trading from home. What are the risks in doing this? Has anyone had any bad experiences ?

I have watched tv programs where the car seller is being pursued by debt collectors and his personal belongings were at risk in being taken to be sold.

go for it

now can i supply your stock

is very good tu

you buy tlade

ps you sound like a production company scout looking for ideas for another worthless 23 minute programme between advert breaks

 

just sayin

[jan808 1]

Thanks guys for the response. I was just thinking where I can start a business where my home or personal assets are not at risk. Setting up from home seemed like the easiest option. I was looking for situations beyond our control or a honest mistake was made. This can give me an idea of what to expect when involved in this trade.

[EPV 631]

46 minutes ago, jan808 said:

Thanks guys for the response. I was just thinking where I can start a business where my home or personal assets are not at risk. Setting up from home seemed like the easiest option. I was looking for situations beyond our control or a honest mistake was made. This can give me an idea of what to expect when involved in this trade.

Not at risk from whom? Who do you think is going to batter your door down at 6am on a Monday morning? You’re buying and selling. Fundamentally it’s no different from buying and selling tea towels or gravel. You buy, you sell, you keep records you abide by the law. There’s a whole load of crap to deal with in between the word buy and records by the way. 

[David Ayers 171]

My advice. 

 

Avoid dealing with the public and you are on to a winner!!

[BHM 994]

3 hours ago, Trident said:

What a priceless question

Tbh you’ve summed it up in those four words.

1 hour ago, jan808 said:

Thanks guys for the response. I was just thinking where I can start a business where my home or personal assets are not at risk. 

A risk free enterprise eh? I think you need to have a good hard think because I suspect you’re thinking this is going to be easy money. Good luck whatever you decide.

[Lakeside 94]

5 hours ago, justina3 said:

I often wondered why they didnt go through auction houses books and pull a load of names that keep popping up as well easy money really. 

They don’t need to, they have the dvla for that.

[justina3 518]

6 minutes ago, Lakeside said:

They don’t need to, they have the dvla for that.

Why would the DVLA know they would only know if the log book gets registered in there names, cant see anyone hiding away would register a car to themselves or fill in the yellow slip.

 

[Lakeside 94]

11 minutes ago, justina3 said:

Why would the DVLA know they would only know if the log book gets registered in there names, cant see anyone hiding away would register a car to themselves or fill in the yellow slip.

 

Auction houses notify dvla who owns the car even if it’s in trade. Had a couple of fines comes through the post in my name before even though they were purchased from auction as trade.

Edited April 28, 2018 by Lakeside

[justina3 518]

Well lesson learned i never knew some auction houses did that my local one doesnt for sure.

[jan808 1]

Looks like il be setting up as a ltd company with the accountants address as my registered business address. 

22 hours ago, Trident said:

What a priceless question, what does trading in cars have to do with the bailiffs?? is it just me or could the bailiffs turn up to any premises, home, lock up, showroom...pay your bills, do right by customers and no one will come knocking...sounds to me like you have absolutely no idea what you are getting into, I wish you luck, but you need to start off with the right attitude and worrying about bailiffs turning up on your doorstep isn't it...rant over

I do know what i am doing and been doing alot of research is this trade. The part i was unsure of is whether to have my home address as a business address. I was looking for any bad experiences from people set up from home.

[Mark101 536]

35 minutes ago, jan808 said:

Looks like il be setting up as a ltd company with the accountants address as my registered business address. 

I do know what i am doing and been doing alot of research is this trade. The part i was unsure of is whether to have my home address as a business address. I was looking for any bad experiences from people set up from home.

Makes no sense - the only people whom are possibly going to have any beef with you are those you sold cars to.  Where do you sell them from = home.  So what's the point in worrying about your home address appearing on Companies House, as these people will already have your address from when they bought the car?

[MGM 11]

Do them a favour and meet them half way - at your local Esso station! 

[jan808 1]

Do you mean the customers? How come?

[DBDlloyds 18]

1 hour ago, MGM said:

Do them a favour and meet them half way - at your local Esso station! 

Naughty boy MGM... ha ha

[D&M 66]

On 4/28/2018 at 10:53 AM, Trident said:

pay your bills, do right by customers and no one will come knocking...

Sorted.

We set up from home, (currently in the process of moving to a unit) and haven't had any problems.

The hardest thing we found was finding reputable mechanics/MOT tester/painters. Time consuming and costly if you have people working against you rather than with you.

We think it is about how you sell the cars, upfront and honest. Don't promise the earth, as you are selling old, used cars. If problems arise, be reasonable with people.

We don't have a problem having our home address available. We think it gives the customer confidence that we aren't hiding anywhere. If there are any problems, we can deal with them straight away as they come straight to us.

Plus, like Mark101 said, the people who are coming to view/buy your cars know where you live anyway!

[jan808 1]

7 minutes ago, D&M said:

Sorted.

We set up from home, (currently in the process of moving to a unit) and haven't had any problems.

The hardest thing we found was finding reputable mechanics/MOT tester/painters. Time consuming and costly if you have people working against you rather than with you.

We think it is about how you sell the cars, upfront and honest. Don't promise the earth, as you are selling old, used cars. If problems arise, be reasonable with people.

We don't have a problem having our home address available. We think it gives the customer confidence that we aren't hiding anywhere. If there are any problems, we can deal with them straight away as they come straight to us.

Plus, like Mark101 said, the people who are coming to view/buy your cars know where you live anyway!

Thanks man thats what i was looking for. 

[David Ayers 171]

21 hours ago, Lakeside said:

Auction houses notify dvla who owns the car even if it’s in trade. Had a couple of fines comes through the post in my name before even though they were purchased from auction as trade.

The Auction house is only passing on your details because DVLA have sent a fine. I don’t think they are telling DVLA every time you buy a car.