Public Servant and Second-Hand Sales: Managing Multiple Activities

It is the question that nobody dares to ask their line manager, and that everyone asks on forums: when you are a civil servant, do you have the right to sell second-hand clothes?

The answer fits in one sentence. Emptying your wardrobe is free, because you are managing your personal assets. Buying to resell, or taking in consignments for commission, is a lucrative private activity: it is forbidden in principle, and possible only by exception, with permission from your employer. The entire question is knowing which side of this line you are on.

The principle, and why it exists

A civil servant devotes all of their professional activity to their duties. This principle is set out in the general status of the civil service and is now codified in the Civil Service Code. It applies to all three branches (state, local and health services) and to contract workers under public law just as to permanent staff.

The aim is not to stop you earning money. It is to prevent three things: that your private activity encroaches on your work, that it creates a conflict of interest with your administration's missions, and that it damages the functioning or reputation of the public service. Remember these three criteria: they are what the hierarchical authority will examine, and these are the terms in which you should present your project.

The dividing line: managing your assets, or running an activity

Managing your personal assets is not a professional activity. Selling the clothes you bought for yourself, your grandmother's furniture or your bike falls under this management, regardless of amount. Nobody will ask you for permission to empty your wardrobe.

What tips the balance is not the amount, nor is it the number of listings. It is intent. Buying in order to resell is a commercial activity. Receiving other people's clothes to sell them for a commission is a service provision. In both cases, you are running a lucrative private activity, and the multiple activity rule applies.

Three indicators that the tax authorities and your employer both watch for: you buy job lots to resell individually, you sell regularly and systematically, you derive recurring income from this activity. If all three apply, the classification is not negotiable, and declaring yourself becomes an obligation before it is a choice. This is just as true for any employee in the private sector, as our article on the status to choose when selling second-hand goods makes clear.

The three possible routes

Once your project is genuinely a lucrative private activity, three doors exist. They are not equivalent.

1. A subsidiary activity, with authorization

This is the most common regime. It allows you to run a private activity alongside your work, provided it remains subsidiary and features among those that the law permits. The request is made in writing to your hierarchical authority, before you start, and must describe the activity, its time commitment, its legal framework and your expected income.

Authorization is not automatic and can be withdrawn if the activity grows too large or becomes incompatible with your work. It is also personal: what a colleague obtained in another administration does not predict your answer.

2. Part-time work for business creation or acquisition

If your plan is to create a business, including a micro-business, you can request part-time status for this reason. This scheme is explicitly designed to give you time to build your activity, and it is bounded in time: a few years, renewable once under the conditions set out in the regulations. Permission again depends on your administration, and the ethics officer's advice is built into the procedure.

This is the serious route when second-hand selling is not a sideline but a career change. We describe this path in our article on making the move to second-hand.

3. Reduced or part-time hours

Agents whose work share falls below a threshold set by law, in practice a reduced portion of the legal working time, benefit from a lighter regime: they can run a lucrative private activity on simple declaration to their employer, without prior authorization. Check your exact work share on your contract before relying on this: it is that which decides, not how busy you feel.

The procedure, in order

1. Classify your project honestly. Selling your own belongings, or buy-and-resell and consignment? This is the only question that determines everything else, and lying to yourself at this stage is the best way to end up in difficulty later.

2. Find your ethics officer. Every administration has one. Their role is to answer exactly this type of question, their consultation is confidential, and their written opinion is worth more than ten pages of online forum. It is the single most useful step in the entire process, and the one most often overlooked.

3. Submit a written request, before you start. Describe the activity, the time it will take, the legal status you plan and your expected income. Show why it will not affect your work, creates no conflict of interest and takes place entirely outside your working hours. Write it down in black and white: these are the three criteria for examination.

4. Wait for the answer. Starting before you have authorization is precisely the complaint that can be made against you, and it is the one that turns a legitimate project into a disciplinary offence.

5. Then create your legal status. Once you have authorization, self-employed status is the simplest framework to start with. The tax mechanisms, the fixed deduction and the caps are identical to those for any independent business: we explain them in detail in our tax guide for the self-employed seller of second-hand goods and in our article on caps to watch.

The four mistakes not to make

Waiting to be caught out. A situation you put right of your own accord and one that is discovered are treated differently. Timing is part of the file.

Selling under someone else's name. An account in your spouse's name changes nothing in the classification and adds a problem to the one it claims to solve. If the activity is genuinely that of your spouse, then it is they who declare and run it, for real.

Confusing discretion with hiding. You have no obligation to tell your colleagues about your activity. You do have an obligation to inform your employer.

Ignoring conflicts of interest. It is not limited to selling during your work hours. If your role involves supervision, contract award or regulatory authority in the relevant sector, the matter becomes serious and deserves a written opinion before any action.

What this means in practice

Once you have authorization, your situation resembles that of any seller starting out while keeping their job: limited time, an organization to develop, and the need to treat the activity as a real business rather than a hobby. The issue is the same for a private sector employee, and we have covered it in our article on selling second-hand whilst keeping your job.

The difference lies in the rigour of monitoring. When your activity is authorized as subsidiary, you need to be ready at any time to show what you have sold, how much you have taken in and how much time you invest in it. This also makes the activity sustainable: tracked stock, documented sales and proper invoicing take a few minutes a week with management and invoicing software, and hours without.

What to remember

Selling your own clothes is free and requires no formality. Buying to resell, or selling for others for commission, is a lucrative private activity: forbidden in principle, authorized by exception, on written request and before you start.

The procedure is simpler than it looks, and refusal is far from the rule. What proves costly is never the request itself: it is skipping it.

This article describes the general framework for multiple activities in the civil service. It does not replace the opinion of your administration's ethics officer, or that of a legal professional: your situation depends on your branch, your status and your duties.

Frequently asked questions

Can a civil servant sell their clothes on a platform?

Yes, without any formality, as long as they are your own belongings. Selling your wardrobe falls under personal asset management, not professional activity, and no amount cap limits this freedom. The rule changes as soon as there is buying with a view to reselling, or selling on behalf of other people for a commission: this then becomes a lucrative private activity, subject to the multiple activity regime.

Do I need permission to start a micro-business as a civil servant?

Yes, and you must request it before creating the business, not after. The written request is addressed to your hierarchical authority and describes the activity, its volume, its legal framework and the expected income. Depending on the project, it takes the form of an authorization for a subsidiary activity or a request for part-time status for business creation. Agents whose work share is low are subject to a reduced regime, on simple declaration.

What risks does an agent face if they sell without seeking permission?

They face disciplinary proceedings and repayment of sums received from the unauthorized activity, regardless of any tax issue. The timing is key: a situation regularized of your own accord and a situation discovered are not treated the same way. If the activity has already begun, the right reflex is to contact your ethics officer and submit the request without delay.

Is consignment treated the same as buy-and-resell?

It is the same multiple activity rule, but not the same type of activity. Buy-and-resell is a commercial business activity; receiving clothes and selling them for a commission is a service provision. The distinction changes the tax deduction rate for self-employed status and the applicable caps, and must be described correctly in the authorization request as well as in the activity declaration.

Who should I ask this question within my administration?

To the ethics officer, whom every administration must have. His or her consultation is confidential, their role is precisely to answer questions about multiple activities and conflicts of interest, and their written opinion protects you far better than a verbal response from a superior. It is the most useful step of all, and the one most often forgotten: it happens before the authorization request, not after a refusal.