One for the staffers.......declaration of members interests....

[admin_exported]

I kind of was on a WHF Forum break when all the manufacturers/traders stuff kicked off... I kind of miss hearing the opinions if Mr CA or Mr Monitor Audio... but something happened that I was not party to and I have to respect that.

I am about to start selling tested units at car boots/Ebay (that I pick up from house clearers and Ebay)... along with music (LPs/CDs)... I am not affiliated to anyone manufacturer (it is blatant opportunism to turn a buck) and I would never try to sell/talk about it on the forum, however is there something that I need to do to satisfy the new rules?

 

[Anonymous]

Possibly a mistake to ask this on a Sunday....

 

[Andrew Everard]

Nothing 'kicked off' - we just felt it was time to clarify to members where various posters were 'coming from'. And the two posters you mention were completely in accord with new house rules, anyway.

Now, re your business plan...

No, you don't need to do anything at all, provided you make no further reference to this enterprise, don't discuss items you have for sale or tell forum members at which car boot sales you will be operating.

But if that's your plan, a good long read of the regulations about product safety and liability is worthwhile. If you're going to do it on a regular basis, you will be considered to be 'selling in the course of a business' and thus just as liable as if you had a shop in the high street.

The safety of second-hand electrical equipment sold in the course of
business, whether at a car boot sale or otherwise, is regulated by the Low Voltage Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations
1989 - worth checking you comply.

Also make sure you're declaring your earnings from this enterprise - as well as the Trading Standards people and the like, you're likely to find people from the Revenue and Customs doing a spot of window-shopping at such events.

But thanks for heads-up on your ebay/car boot plans - we'll be watching...

 

[Anonymous]

Hiya Mr Everard...

As an example of what I am doing I have bought someones stack for £25. All the equipment is 15-20 entry level (Technics/Rotel).

I will never mention it again... although it is good stuff I do not think that anyone here would aspire to it (aspire away from it but not to it) and I would never advertise myself or the boot sales that I would be it.

The idea is to bring an ethos of testing and binning was is total twaddle and does not work and give a 30 day warranty (so people will be able to buy with some degree of assurance) on what appears good and works.

I will be declaring to the Inland Revenue as I am self employed and I am more fearful of the Revenue than I am MI5/MI6 - certainly they seem better equipped and more sinister (I can imagine extraordinary rendition is common place for defaulters of the Revenue).

Finally thank you for the regs detailing the selling of electrical equipment. The idea is to provide good equipment straight down the line and avoid the Arthur Daley/Del Boy approach as, in the long term, not doing things by the book rarely pays.

As I said so though I do not want to contravene rules here (or indeed anywhere) and fall foul of rules...

 

[Andrew Everard]

bloatedgut:I will be declaring to the Inland Revenue as I am self employed and I am more fearful of the Revenue than I am MI5/MI6 - certainly they seem better equipped and more sinister (I can imagine extraordinary rendition is common place for defaulters of the Revenue).

I have a very elderly second cousin who is a long-retired VAT inspector - and she still scares the bejyazus out of me!

 

[chebby]

I got a £41 VAT/duty refund once after buying a refurbished camera from the USA for $110 and Customs & Excise putting their own (inflated) value on the item. They considered it brand new despite lack of manufacturers box and instructions and despite having a list of everything that had been cleaned/repaired/replaced.

Admittedly the refurb was so good I thought I had been sent a brand new camera but it (provably) went out of production in 1999. I printed my Paypal receipt, relevant ebay page etc and appealed. It only took about two days of phoning around to find the right person to assess refund claims and that they only assess claims between 11:00am and 2pm on every second Wednesday between Candelmas and Lammas day. (Not inclusive.)

When I got the cheque I was tempted to frame it but needed it to make up for the cost of phone-calls.

 

[Andrew Everard]

I once got given a pair of headphones on a press-trip to Japan - big things in their own carrying case, so a bit obvious when I went through customs.

So I declared them in the red channel, and customs person asked me how much they were worth. Not a UK model, I knew, so not a clue, I said.

At which point the customs chap went off for a moment and came back with a copy of WHFSV to look them up in the Buying Guide.

I gave him my business card and said I knew he wouldn't find them in there, not being a UK model an' all.

He smiled and waved me on my way...

 

[chebby]

Ah I remember you now.

We watched the video of that many times at the Customs & Excise silent killing training camp.

Oops.