What paperwork do I need when selling something second-hand?

Private selling has fewer obligations than people fear and more than the ones who ignore them entirely assume. A receipt and an honest description cover almost everything.

Safety

Step by step

1. Understand your position as a private seller.The item must be as described, you must have the right to sell it, and it must be safe. You are not obliged to meet the satisfactory quality and fitness for purpose standards that apply to a business, which is the main difference.
2. Describe faults honestly and in writing.As described is the standard you must meet. Listing the faults protects you — an undisclosed defect makes the description inaccurate, and that is what disputes are actually about.
3. Photograph the condition before it leaves.Including any damage, and the item working if applicable. It is the evidence if a buyer claims it arrived differently.
4. Write a simple receipt.Date, item with any serial number, brief condition, price, both names, and 'sold as seen, privately, faults as listed'. Both keep a copy. It takes two minutes and settles most later disagreements.
5. Be careful with 'sold as seen'.It does not override the requirement that the item is as described. It is useful shorthand for a private sale but it does not protect a seller who concealed a fault.
6. Take payment that cannot be reversed.Cash, or a bank transfer you have seen arrive in your own account. Not a cheque, not a screenshot of a pending payment, and be wary of buyer-protection payment methods on a face-to-face sale, which can be reversed.
7. Never hand over before the money has arrived.Actually in your account, checked in your own banking app. A shown confirmation screen proves nothing and is the standard second-hand sale scam.
8. Wipe devices completely.Factory reset, and remove the device from your accounts — Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung. A device still linked to your account is unusable to the buyer and leaves them with access to nothing but you with a live link.
9. Include what you have for it.Manuals, chargers, keys, spare parts, service history, original receipt, warranty paperwork. It raises the value and reduces the chance of a complaint.
10. Handle a car properly.Complete the V5C change of keeper and notify the DVLA immediately, keep the new keeper slip, hand over the MOT history and service records, and cancel the insurance and tax. Failing to notify the DVLA leaves you liable for the vehicle.
11. Check items with specific rules.Upholstered furniture must carry fire safety labels, electrical goods must be safe, and gas appliances should be checked. Some items — certain knives, some animals, medicines — have restrictions on private sale entirely.
12. Keep guarantees straight.Many manufacturer guarantees are not transferable to a second owner. Say so rather than implying cover the buyer will not have.
13. Keep the messages.The full conversation, including the description and any questions answered. Platform messages are the usual evidence in a dispute and they get deleted when a listing is removed, so save them.
14. Consider tax on anything substantial.Selling personal possessions is not normally taxable, but trading regularly for profit can be, and capital gains can apply to individual items above a threshold. Check with HMRC if you are selling frequently or something valuable.
15. Meet safely for a face-to-face sale.A public place where possible, someone with you, and daylight. For a house collection, have someone else present and do not let a buyer wander the house.

Tips

• A two-minute handwritten receipt signed by both of you settles almost every later dispute. Photograph it.
• Money in your own account, checked in your own app, before anything leaves your hands. A confirmation screen is not payment.
• Remove devices from your accounts as well as factory resetting them. A reset device still linked to an account is useless to the buyer.

Common mistakes

• Handing over an item on a shown payment confirmation — Screens are trivially faked and pending payments can be cancelled. Check your own account before the item leaves.
• Not notifying the DVLA when selling a vehicle — You remain the registered keeper and liable for tax, fines and offences until the change is registered. Do it immediately and keep the new keeper slip.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask