Guides

The 30 items rule, explained properly

Updated 29 July 2026. Figures checked against the GOV.UK pages linked below.

"The 30 items rule" is the folk name for the trigger that makes Vinted, eBay, Etsy, Depop and other platforms report a seller's data to HMRC. It is probably the most misunderstood rule in online selling. It is not a tax limit, it is not a ban, and crossing it does not mean you owe anything. Here is what it actually says.

What the rule actually says

Since January 2024, UK digital platforms have a legal duty to send HMRC an annual report about sellers who pass either of two thresholds in a calendar year:

• 30 or more sales on that platform, whatever they were worth, or
• total sales of roughly 2,000 euros on that platform. The threshold is set in euros because the rule comes from an international framework; in pounds it is about £1,700 to £1,735, moving with the exchange rate.

Notice the "or". Sell 35 items for £2 each and you would normally be reported on item count. Sell 5 items for £400 each and you would normally be reported on value. Stay under both and the platform would not normally report you at all. The official wording is on GOV.UK.

Per platform, per calendar year

Both thresholds count per platform and per calendar year, January to December. Twenty sales on Vinted plus twenty on eBay is under the item threshold on each platform, so neither would normally report you. The counter resets every 1 January. Note the year involved: platforms count the calendar year, but UK tax runs over the tax year, 6 April to 5 April. Those two windows overlap in a way almost nobody explains, which is one reason a platform report can look nothing like your own records.

Where the rule comes from

The thresholds were not invented by Vinted or eBay. They come from the OECD's model rules for digital platforms, the same framework the EU implemented as a directive called DAC7. The UK adopted the OECD version from 1 January 2024, and platforms sent their first reports covering 2024 to HMRC by the end of January 2025. Platforms must also give each reported seller a copy of what was sent. The full picture of what goes into a report is in our DAC7 seller report guide.

Being reported is not a tax bill

The reporting rule and the tax rules are two separate systems that people constantly mix together. The report is a data feed: it tells HMRC what you sold and what you were paid. Whether tax is due depends on entirely different questions. Selling your own possessions is generally not trading and not taxable, however many items are involved. If you buy or make things in order to sell them, that would normally be trading, and the £1,000 trading allowance decides whether anything needs to happen. Plenty of people are reported and owe nothing. Plenty of people are never reported and would still need to register for Self Assessment. The two lists simply are not the same list.

What to do if you have passed 30 items

First, nothing has gone wrong. Expect the platform to ask you to confirm identity details if it has not already, because it needs them for the report. Expect a copy of the reported figures around January. Then ask the only question that matters for tax: was this my own stuff, or was I buying or making things to sell? If it was your own stuff, the position is usually reassuring. If it was trading and your gross trading income passed £1,000 in a tax year, registering for Self Assessment by the 5 October after that tax year ended would normally be the next step, per GOV.UK. If HMRC has already written to you, our HMRC letter guide covers that calmly, step by step.