Any cheerful news today? (Nothing negative please! šŸ™‚) (Part 2)

What did you have Gareth?

My mother-in-law and I couldn’t decide so we went for the ā€œGourmandā€ 3 mini cakes option, whereas my missus had ā€œla Nacreā€

My favourite was the ā€œGalet Rochelaisā€ :drooling_face:

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If they can’t clean themselves while washing dog blankets what use are they? I used to wash my dog blankets at the local one 'till someone pointed to a sign saying forbidden, but I never noticed the drum mucky afterwards.

Anyway,

I thought this referred to the numerous ones alongside the rivers in most villages, although ours look clean enough I have never noticed anyone using them.

Folks used to wash their farming clothes in the big Lavoir in the adjoining commune to where I lived previously as they didn’t want their nice machines ruined. All the women doing this had huge solid arms and fists a Russian shot putter would be proud of. Some people used to stop and wash their cars down too as it was situated next to a back road and fed by a stream up higher a few miles away. The old one in my village was where my dog thought it was a lawn and jumped into a foot of duckweed so folks avoided washing their clothes there even though it was running freely. As for washing animal blankets etc, the Laverie I used had a huge sign over the machines reminding people not to do that, not fair when you think of all the dirty hair animals have and that going in with your undies.

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I didn’t notice your comment until David highlighted it.

YUK

I hope people haven’t been doing that: if they have, at least it wasn’t obvious.

I had a big one of these in Brittany where drying is free. Not got the room here for one really and don’t need it as everything dries within a couple of hours outside on a rack being a lot lot warmer and now there is only my bedding and not a family load

It’s the dog hair. You can’t really see it, but it’s there. I admit to breaking the rules and using them, but always wipe them out afterwards.

My cheerful news is I have sold over Ā£500 worth of surplus photo/video ā€œstuffā€ on eBay in the past 10 days (after getting my other half to give me a tutorial! :smiley: ) in the run up to my retirement…

Much easier than I thought, so I will bash on with it and try and get rid of as much as I can that way.

Of course you get the occasional numpty who doesn’t read the description and asks ā€œis it working?ā€ about an item that is clearly described as in good condition and 100% functional, and one dingbat who asked me to cancel the sale and refund him two hours after clicking ā€œbuy it nowā€ (on a Ā£10 item), but otherwise it’s been a good experience.

Should have done it years ago of course.

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Which reminds me, I’ve got a recon gearbox for a Berlingo, still strapped to the palette it was delivered on many years ago and it is taking up much needed space in one of my sheds.

Do you prefer eBay to Leboncoin then and why?

I used to buy loads of stuff from eBay years ago before I discovered Amazon but I bought my current Peugeot Partner through Leboncoin.

Careful Chris, you’ll have HMRC casting their eye over you soon. A friend moving home has been having a clearout and sold a lot of stuff and received a warning.

I think thats stupid as it paid tax when he bought it and did not make a profit on any of the items unlike for example a work of art. So he is now subject to a possible investigation.

In France you have annual exemption for selling on places like LBC of 5000euros. The sites themselves have to tell the fisc as well.

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My three year old granddaughter started school this morning. Her teacher on Tuesdays is her godmother so no problems with settling in today and I bet she will be after cuddles and sitting on her lap during story time. It’s a long day too 08.45 - 17.00h with 1.50h for lunch. Her brother started primaire this morning and luckily is in a different class to a friend who is ā€œemotionalā€ and takes it out on others. What a life, when I remember we were just left to get on with it from four and a half years until 16 years old.

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Horse blankets too were banned, imagine the smell of those!

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No it’s OK as long as it’s things that are clearly second hand and being sold for well below what they cost new.

  1. Personal Items: Selling your own used clothes, furniture, or phones for less than you paid does not count as taxable income. There is no tax on clearing out personal possessions. [1, 2]

  2. Trading Allowance: If you buy or make items specifically to sell for a profit, you have a £1,000 gross trading allowance per tax year. If your total sales go over £1,000 before expenses, you must register for Self Assessment and tell HMRC.

  3. Capital Gains Tax: If you sell a single personal item for £6,000 or more (like a piece of jewelry or artwork), it may be subject to Capital Gains Tax if it increases in value.

EBay will notify HMRC if you sell more than 30 items or your total sales exceed Ā£1,707 (€2000).

They can then check up on you. But unless you are buying stuff in to resell for a profit there is no tax liability.

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Thats how I saw it and explained it to him, I didnt know the monetary amounts but he has sold over 40 things. He just doesnt need the stress right now. Thanks for the information.

Yes the threshold for a check is 30 items. That doesn’t mean there will be an problem, just that an Inland Revenge bod will cast a beady eye over your sold items.

The HMRC warning may be just a standard reminder about the rules, I don’t know.

Since I am usually getting about 20-30% of what I paid for things I am not too worried - I’m clearly not making a profit and can prove it with reference to my purchase records.

As somebody on Reddit put it:

Think of it this way.

If selling an item on ebay is an income then buying the item originally must have been an expense.

Profit is income less expenses.

You only pay taxes on profits.

Selling your surplus chattel is not income for the purposes of tax, it’s probably not even making a profit.

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Michael Connolly new book Ironwood (2nd in his new Catalina series) is on Amazon UK Kindle from today for £0.99p.

Theoretically available all September but don’t count on it as the deal may be quota’d so could run out.

Chetna Makan (BakeOff Winner) new ā€œ5 Ingredient Indianā€ - finally an Indian cookbook that doesn’t require a spice cupboard in every recipe - is also available Ā£0.99p same basis. All of Chetna’s are offered briefly for Ā£0.99p on Amazon for her fans when they first come out and I’m grateful.

John Connolly’s new 23rd Charlie Parker book ā€œA River Red with Bloodā€ is also available *ending today* Ā£0.99p.

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Thank you - I have held off buying that previously as I was rather peeved that his publishers were charging £16.99 for the Kindle edition while selling the hardback for £11.99!

Hurrah! There’s no need to panic… we’ve plenty of time to get things ready :rofl:

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Stuart got a new toy today - a Bosch Universal Work Lamp. He’s already got several Bosch batteries so we were pleased we didn’t have to buy any of those. Also the price was 40% lower than RRP.

And I treated myself to one of these - all I’ve got to do now is remember to actually take the tablets. I have forgotten my evening ones a couple of times recently but hope this, sitting on the kitchen worktop will be a reminder for me.

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