Is it possible to sell on eBay without a smartphone?

Summary: stubenkram expressed concerns about selling on eBay without a smartphone, due to missing technical requirements like receiving SMS for verification and printing shipping labels. Others, like recyart, mentioned the challenges of using eBay without a smartphone and the shift towards digital verification methods. *sweet-melody* empathized with the struggle to keep up with technological advancements. dmary56 and sunrise1605 suggested acquiring a simple smartphone or a printer, which could help with the technical issues. grohbacher clarified misunderstandings around the need for a smartphone and tax requirements. stubenkram later confirmed progress in setting up their seller account, resolving verification issues without a smartphone by using a landline for voice messages. The discussion emphasized the challenges and solutions to overcoming technological barriers for online selling.

Hello everyone!

I’ve been on Ebay for what feels like a quarter of a century, and I was pretty active here as a buyer at one point. For about five years now, I’ve only bought something rarely, because what I’m looking for is unfortunately hardly ever to be found here anymore. Back then I also sold something from my collection every now and then. It must be about 11 years or more since I last listed something for sale. So I’d now count as a new seller.

At the moment, I’m assuming that I wouldn’t be able to sell on Ebay at all, because I’m missing almost all of the (technical) requirements for it.

I have online banking and a PayPal account (otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to buy anything here for the past three years).

I don’t have a smartphone/cell phone and don’t know how to use one either.
My landline phone receives voice messages, but it’s probably not an “SMS-capable device”.
I don’t have a printer, so I couldn’t print shipping labels and would have to buy them at a higher price instead.
The Hermes station in town no longer exists, so I could only ship with DHL.

So I can’t read, use, or send a QR code, which would also make local pickup impossible. In the event of any complaints/returns by the buyer, would there also be problems without a QR code?

Yesterday I skimmed through the help pages for private sellers and wanted to test the waters by getting reactivated as a seller. That already failed at the first step: “Have your phone number ready; we’ll send you an SMS.” Well... unfortunately, I can’t receive that.

Am I right in my assumption that selling on Ebay is no longer possible without a smartphone?

stubenkram

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Posted 1 month ago · Edited 1 month ago·Last reply 1 month ago

14 comments

grohbacher

·1 month ago

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Hello, Ms. @stubenkram

it's me again.

So, if you want to sell something on EBAY (or on other platforms), you won't be able to avoid getting a smartphone (or a camera with a PC connection) and/or a printer (all-in-one device with scanner). You have to photograph or scan the items you want to sell so that you can upload the pictures to the platform. Interested buyers want to see what they want to buy. “Taking” pictures from the internet can get very expensive (copyright).

You should get advice on what to buy from relatives and acquaintances. The choice is huge.

You only need a VAT number if you are running a business.

Regards

Manfred

stubenkram

OP1 month ago · Edited

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Hello, Manfred!

I do have a working digi cam, and for sales photos I wouldn’t necessarily need a smartphone.

You only need a VAT number if you’re running a business.

I used to think that too. But the account is also restricted for private sellers, or the money is "frozen", if you have more than a certain number of sales or earn more than a certain amount. I don’t remember the exact number/amount or the time frame anymore, but I read it again somewhere today.

From a certain sales proceeds amount, Ebay has to report it to the tax office. That’s why even as a private seller you have to store a ~~VAT number~~ tax identification number in your account. I still have to have one issued by the responsible tax office.

I have a red warning notice in my private sales account saying that I have to enter the number.

Edit: I meant not "VAT number", but "tax identification number"; I used the wrong term, sorry.

perfect-sally

·1 month ago · Edited

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@stubenkram

you’re getting something mixed up there! A VAT ID is not needed by a private seller.

From €2000 or from 30 items onward, the platform has to report to the tax authorities, and for that eBay requests the tax ID that everyone has and that is valid for life. If that is stored, reselling can continue.

grohbacher

·1 month ago

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Hello, @stubenkram

I did write "(or camera with PC connection)". If you can take pictures with your camera that can be saved in the image formats required by EBAY, then everything is easy; please read the instructions under "Help" and "Upload images" or something similar.

With the tax stuff, you're getting things mixed up. "VAT numbers" are only issued to and needed by people who are self-employed commercially. What you mean is the personal tax ID number, which is on your income tax assessments. You should store this with EBAY.

Whether EBAY (or a commercial competitor) classifies someone as "commercially active" does not depend on the number of sales or on certain sales amounts. The "boundaries" are very fluid and "soft".

It is true that EBAY, and all other platforms, from 30 sales onward and from €2,000 in sales revenue (in each case per calendar year) have to make reports to the tax authorities. Whether taxes have to be paid on this income is then decided by the tax offices. However, sales from private possessions usually do not create any tax obligations.

Kind regards

Manfred

stubenkram

OP1 month ago · Edited

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Yes, thanks Manfred. I had mixed up the terms and was still editing my post above while you were already replying here.

@perfect-sally I was still editing above while you had already replied.

I'm completely exhausted today and can hardly think straight anymore. That was a tough piece of work for me with the verification. It also took quite a while.

stubenkram

OP1 month ago · Edited

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Thank you all so much for your replies! ❤

A smartphone definitely has plenty of advantages that I’d probably appreciate too. Among the many reasons why I don’t have one are certain problems with fine motor skills and my extremely poor eyesight. I would have great difficulty operating a relatively small device.

So far I’ve managed quite well without a smartphone. The fact that without a smartphone/mobile phone some things are no longer possible at all or have become much more cumbersome is something I can (have to) live with.

I was only able to set up my PayPal account three years ago with the help of my landline phone and voice messages. Logging in and paying works very easily with a few numbers that I can hear and type in.

I had hoped that it would work similarly when reactivating my seller account on Ebay. But the help pages only mentioned SMS, and my phone simply can’t receive those.

Manfred, until now no mobile phone has been needed for logging in as a buyer only on Ebay or for updating my personal details. After any changes, I just had to log in again.

I’ve got a few steps further today. Presumably because I changed browsers yesterday (or because this is a new feature on Ebay?) I got a popup today with an “invitation to sell” and input forms for updating my Ebay account. I now have a seller cockpit again, and verification and the connection to my bank also worked after a few failed attempts. All of that worked with a landline phone, voice messages, and a TAN generator.

The main problem wasn’t the missing smartphone, but my middle name, which I don’t use anywhere and hadn’t entered anywhere. At first I was supposed to enter it because it’s on my ID card. But the name stored in the Ebay account and the name of the bank account holder have to match exactly, otherwise the verification and linking of the accounts won’t work. So I removed the middle name again and went through the whole process once more.

I could probably sell something again now. What’s still missing is probably my VAT number. I don’t have one, but as long as I’m just trying things out and seeing whether I can get the listing process to work at all, that’s not really dangerous.

The QR code thing (e.g. for shipping) is and remains a problem, of course. I still don’t know how I could solve that. But I’m not even that far yet.

Edit:

@dmary56 and @sunrise1605

A cheap/used smartphone can only be bought by someone who basically knows what to look out for when buying one. That’s not the case for me.

I once had one (or rather, several) printer(s); they’re all outdated or broken by now. I only rarely need a printer anymore. If I ever really need a document on paper, I put it on a USB stick and my friend prints it out for me.

My friend lives in the neighborhood and - of course - also has a smartphone. She sometimes really struggles with it. It doesn’t seem all that easy to get pictures from the smartphone onto the laptop if you want to edit them.

sunrise1605

·1 month ago

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Hello @stubenkram

I won’t give up that easily 😊

There are also senior phones.

I hope this term doesn’t throw you off or make you feel uncomfortable.

These devices have buttons, so they’re relatively easy to use.

Go into a Media Markt and have a look around.

It’s always better to get informed, and then you know what works and what doesn’t, what you can do and where you need to change something.

And like I said, if you don’t have a printer and/or a phone, you won’t be able to sell anything, neither here nor anywhere else.

Your friend’s printer won’t help you on Ebay; you really should have your own.

So get to it, no excuses 😉

sunrise1605

·1 month ago

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Hello @stubenkram

why don’t you get yourself a cheap smartphone, they don’t cost the earth and exploring the world of phones is fun too.

I may not sell anything, but I don’t need a phone for Ebay, except for Paypal, to have a code sent to me. (but verification there also works another way or even without [?]. You should know that, since you don’t have one and still buy stuff).

Have you ever tried having the code sent to your landline?

If you’ve never tried it, you can’t know whether it works.

By the way, I don’t have to verify myself with either this account here or the other one. I just log in normally and that’s it, no SMS or anything else.

What’s against buying a printer here.

They don’t cost the earth either, you can get a multifunction device (print, scan, copy) for 50-70€, e.g. the Canon Pixma series.

It’s also handy when you need to scan or copy documents at times.

I honestly don’t know how people get by without such a device when they need documents/paperwork for authorities/health insurance, for example.

grohbacher

·1 month ago

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Hello, Mrs. @stubenkram

One thing about your problem is unclear to me. Even pure buyers and pure female buyers also have to log in again from time to time at EBAY and at PayPal, etc. In most cases, you need the SMS code for that. ???

Most of the time, the SMS code can also be read out to you over a phone (though often hard to understand).

It doesn’t necessarily have to be a smartphone. Normally, a (more compact) prepaid phone that you can get for little money is enough too. Then you can also reach other people by phone at any time and in most places, especially in emergencies. Such phones can definitely receive SMS codes; I don’t know whether they can also receive QR codes.

Regards

Manfred

dmary56

·1 month ago · Edited

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Good morning @stubenkram ...what’s against getting a cheap smartphone? As @recyart already answered, without these things much no longer works. Smartphones can also be extremely useful and using them isn’t rocket science, you can learn your way around step by step...just overcome your existing reluctance...you get along with the PC too, after all.

You also don’t have to use all the functions that such a thing offers, only the ones that are useful to you. The problem with printing shipping labels would also be solved, you don’t need a printer, at the post office and co. you only have to present the QR code from the email and then the label is printed automatically.

Think about it...I was hesitant at first too, today I wouldn’t want to be without my smartphone in everyday life...