Should I register as a business in Australia?

Hi, I live in Australia and was wondering if people would advise that I register as a business? I'm only planning on having an ebay shop at the moment, but I have noticed when looking at the suppliers that many of them won't sell to you if you aren't a registered business. How has everybody else dealt with this issue? Thanks heaps everyone :)

Hi Shaneandben,

Most of the suppliers that require this are those that generally have
large minimum orders and therefore, would like to determine that you are serious about doing business with them. Most of them are also big companies carrying brand name products. Note though that majority of our suppliers don't really require that you are registered before they sell to you.

Please have a look at this article for more information on registering a business in Australia:

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All the best,

I would doubt that you would need the full business registration process at this point from what you have written, however I think it would be a good idea to get yourself an ABN, freely available from the ATO.

That will allow you to trade with all suppliers, no problems at all.

Ahh thanks fudjj, I think thats what I meant, I didn't realise that jut having an ABN would let me trade with all suppliers.

Thanks!

No problems at all, but just be aware that once you register you will have to keep records for taxation purposes, and watch out for the BAS. If you're not going to me making over 50k a year, defer it to an annual payment, don't sign up for quarterly statements, just a pain lol

Don't know if this helps but i register companies at register a company com au - my accountants want $1100.00 for something i can get for half that.

Might be useless information but just thought i would pass it on.

That's actually a good little tip for anyone looking at setting up a company structure actually, doing it yourself online these days does save a small fortune, but again, only worth the expense if you want to trade under a company structure.

Nice one Ozgunner!

All the previous advice is very sound. I do a lot on eBay and the following is worth doing, Get your name - eBayID worked out, get a matching email address, Paypal account and if you hope to do volume a bank account in your trading name. It's important to keep 'Name' consistency for your customers benefit.

I have a free eBay marketing tutorial program designed for new users. It may provide you with some tips and there is no need to buy anything to get the free program.

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Hi,
Under the new laws here if you do not have ABN and you get investigated by the ATO you will be prosecuted, do not however register for GST unless you will turn over more than $75,000, get yourself a good accountant and ask them how to set all up for you.
The ATO is already investigating EBAY users.....

Mike

Hi Grant & Mike,

Thanks for the info! That would definitely be helpful to other members.

All the best,