Selling online on ebay , ETSY or amazon while on H1b or H4 visa

[pranz]

I have a few scenarios

 

1st. My brother is in India & sells on ebay worldwide using his Indian ebay account, now since I am not doing anything I wish to help him sell on ebay & for deliveries in the united states since it will reduce cost of shipping for him if I ship from my house in the US to any US location, He can send one shipment to me with his products, (these are new products not used)& then I would sell it on ebay & deliver within US, this is purely to make a better use of my idle time & reduce my boredom , I am not getting any money out of this since all the money is going to his Indian bank account. Can I do this while on H4 in the US?

 

 

2nd- can I create my own ebay or amazon account for selling unwanted items, that I no longer use & get paid in my US bank account or credit card? say my son's used toys from when he was an infant which he no longer uses?

 

3rd -can I sell new items on my own  ebay or amazon account , say a crochet product , since I do crochet in my free time, baby caps etc & get paid in my US bank account or credit card?

 

4th- My husband is on H1b - so question 2 and 3 for him as well? he has tons of electronic items he no longer uses  that he wishes to sell online

 

5th-also can he sell new products on ebay, like his paintings etc?

 

Thank you in advance for your reply,

 

 

 

[JoeF]

You would be actively involved in the business, and that is not allowed on H1 nor on H4.

You can do casual selling, e.g., selling your used stuff, but you can not do anything for your brother's business.

[rohang]

2&4 - Yes.

 

For rest all answer is No. .

[t75]

You need to be careful selling children's items. It is illegal to sell things recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

[chaitanyap2]

There is one more option which I am not sure if allowed but may be someone can answer it here..

 

This is based on my condition..

 

I work in US on H1B and I am a partner in a company in India...

 

Now this company wants to sell items on amazon and ebay in US and other countries...Is this allowed?

 

Also in this case amazon asks us to take the tax interview and in that you have to take the interview as a beneficial owner..If I am the beneficial owner then can I do this business in amazon? Or is company a beneficial owner which has a profit center in India?

 

I dont work for this company at all...I only take the profits at the end..

[JoeF]

That is STILL illegal.

On H1, you can ONLY work for your employer in the US.

You can NOT do any side business, not even for a company you co-own.

The company could sell things, but you have to stay completely out of it. On H1, you can ONLY be a passive investor.

[sspone]

Thanks for covering this topic. What if the H-4 spouse has an approved I140/EAD -- can he/she sell self-created art work on Ebay, Craigslist, or Etsy websites?

[JoeF]

1 hour ago, sspone said:

Thanks for covering this topic. What if the H-4 spouse has an approved I140/EAD -- can he/she sell self-created art work on Ebay, Craigslist, or Etsy websites?

An EAD is work authorization, so a person who has an EAD can run a business, e.g., to sell art.

However, just to be clear, such person can not act as a front to the spouse on H1. The person should not even discuss any business-related things with the spouse, e.g., during dinner. Also, the spouse on H1 can not have access to the bank account used for the business.

[sspone]

On 5/31/2017 at 9:57 AM, JoeF said:

An EAD is work authorization, so a person who has an EAD can run a business, e.g., to sell art.

However, just to be clear, such person can not act as a front to the spouse on H1. The person should not even discuss any business-related things with the spouse, e.g., during dinner. Also, the spouse on H1 can not have access to the bank account used for the business.

Run a "business"? Does that mean the spouse needs to establish/register a "business" just to sell art on Ebay or Craigslist? Or can he/she simply sell as an individual?

[pontevecchio]

Individuals can sell on Ebay.  Just as an aside to JoeF"s  erudite response to your post, spousal privilege is a very powerful defense in almost all states of the Union.

[JoeF]

8 hours ago, sspone said:

Run a "business"? Does that mean the spouse needs to establish/register a "business" just to sell art on Ebay or Craigslist? Or can he/she simply sell as an individual?

A person on H1 or H4 can of course sell used stuff on eBay. But creating art with the intent of selling it, or buying stuff and selling it again is a business.

Read https://www.murthy.com/2014/01/28/home-based-businesses-inadvertent-unauthorized-employment/

 

[JoeF]

5 hours ago, pontevecchio said:

Individuals can sell on Ebay.  Just as an aside to JoeF"s  erudite response to your post, spousal privilege is a very powerful defense in almost all states of the Union.

https://www.murthy.com/2014/01/28/home-based-businesses-inadvertent-unauthorized-employment/

 

[RakeshRaki]

Can I own and run a dropshipping e-commerce website on H1B?