Etsy Won't Help Seller Comply with the Law

by: pace306

I have this issue with Mercari- I even sent them a copy of my tax license and still they can’t get it right.

by: iheartjacksparrow

@K. (the OP) - Are you are corporation or LLC? Perhaps Etsy wants the number that your state assigned to your company. If you go to the Secretary of State's web site for your state, and type in the name of your company, you should be able to find the number. For instance, eBay's corporate number as listed on the California Secretary of State's site is C2110301.  

by: The End

Nothing says , "Stay away from Etsy" like this persons problem.
After meeting this kind of seller neglect by Etsy,
DON'T DO BUSINESS WITH ETSY.

by: pfft!!

I had this problem when ebay (or etsy.....I can't remember which it was now) asked for it several months back.  And I entered my EIN number and it told me it was wrong and ALSO told me I got two more tries before they would lock me out of my account (yeah.....GREAT way to start your day).  Ugh.....

ANYWAY, heed what iheartjacksparrow says above because he's right and THAT is the number they're looking for.  I took that advice and the minute I found that number and entered it I was good to go.  Wasted an entire day stressing over it too before I found that piece of information on some online convo somewhere when I was frantically searching for answers.  

Don't count on the talking heads at ebay to give you this info because most of them don't even have a CLUE what number they're looking for.  But I guarantee if you follow tht advice and go find that number that's the one that will work

by: cvsharkey

You simply need an EIN. It s easy to apply for and can get your number within minutes by applying online. You do NOT have to be incorporated.  It's simply the difference between a social security number (personal to the individual) and an Employee Identification number (personal to a business)

Although the name sound as if you need to have employees--you don't.)

Read up on it.

by: Sierra

I don't know the answer, HOWEVER ... Etsy definitely needs either your SSN or EIN ... somewhere ... because they'll need that to issue your 1099-k. The IRS doesn't care about your corporate registration number ... so I don't really understand why Etsy would want that either.  

by: fusgeyer

You need to supply your EIN and the exact name on your incorporation papers/state registration papers to Etsy. This is where you registered at the state. If the business name registered with the state is different than what is listed on your EIN, then you have to change one of them.

So, if your EIN says This Person's Company and you registered with the state as XYZ Company, you will have issues. If your shop is a d.b.a under a corporate name like mine is, you must have the corporate name and corporate EIN listed.

If you are a sole proprietor and just have an EIN for banking and business purposes but you did not register with your state as some form of business entity, you are going to have issues with a lot of the online selling sites.

The reason for this is the database that they are using to check your information cross references your EIN with the state database of registered businesses. If it cannot find your information or the addresses or any names are inconsistent (business name, your name - maybe you used a middle initial in one place and not another), you are not going to be able to make that change with Etsy.

Hope this helps.
 

by: Sierra

I want to update / correct what I said earlier about the IRS not caring about your corporate registration number. They may well need that for tax purposes if your business is a registered corporation and you're filing taxes that way. Not sure what I was thinking earlier.

by: Sierra

@fusgeyer - I am a sole proprietor and I use my SSN. As far as I know, sole proprietors do not need to register their ''business entity'' with my state other than for sales tax purposes. I did this many years ago, and I'm sure I would have heard from the state by now if they wanted / needed anything else from me.

My sales  tax permit has my middle name on it. I asked them to NOT use it, but they said it had to match my DL. *rolling eyes*  I told them I do not use my middle name and never sign my name that way. I'm registered on both Etsy & eBay with my first and last name; no middle name or even an initial. I have sold on eBay for 24 years and on Etsy for nearly 16 years; neither of them has had a problem with the way I'm registered on their sites.  

by: fusgeyer

@Sierra
That is because you are a sole proprietor using your SSN. Legally and for tax purposes, there is no difference between you and your business. You may have to get a sales tax ID to sell items in your state or your town may require a business license even if you work from home, but that is not what the issue is. Etsy and the online venues do not care about those numbers. If you are not a sole proprietor, you must register your business with the state as some form of corporate entity. To do this, you need an EIN issued from the federal government. It is essentially a business SSN.

For those who have a different business structure and are using an EIN because they are not a sole proprietor, there is a huge difference between the person and the business. It is called the corporate veil or wall and you cannot cross it if you want to maintain legal separation between your person and your business. Business money goes into business accounts. Personal money stays in personal accounts. Transfers between the two have specific legal and accouting rules. You cannot use your business account to directly pay for household expenses like  grocery shopping or your rent/mortgage.

I have not heard of anyone having issues with Etsy or online venues staying as a personal account/business account as a sole proprietor using their SSN. It is an easy lookup.

What becomes complicated and really annoying is that the EIN, and your State registration number are different numbers. Etsy may want both - it keeps changing the rules - but the data base they use cross references your EIN and your state information. If they do not match, you are going to have issues. It has to be an exact match, all names, addresses, etc have to be the same.  

by: abzolut

@iheartjacksparrow is correct. We Entered the FEIN number and the problem was the business registration number I entered was correct only I didn't add our state letter in front of it. I added our state letter in front of the number because @iheartjacksparrow showed an example and it has been accepted and everything is now in the business name as it should be. Just wish Etsy would provide that information because there are many sellers struggling to get their businesses set up correctly because we are adding just the number but you need your state letter in front of that number. THANKS, Ina and @iheartjacksparrow!!!!

by: jlyman

I ran into this, too. Etsy does not accept Single-member LLC EIN numbers, so if the letter writer has one of those, they're out of luck. Single-Member LLCs are not different from a tax perspective compared to a Sole Prop (SSN) unless specifically designated as such with Form 2553.

They will need to be a Corp of some kind or continue to use the SSN.