Originally Posted by
scarlson
I used to sell things (rare auto parts and typewriters mainly) on ebay, but really got turned-off after they reported my earnings to the IRS for income tax. The income tax law is funky, because if they're your personal belongings that you're selling at a loss (I most certainly am), you're not required to report it on your tax return, but they'll still send you a form if it's over a certain amount and the fine print is hard to find on the IRS website. .
Common misunderstanding here, but its Paypal that issues the 1099, NOT eBay. I carefully kept my eBay sales under the threshold, but received a 1099 from Paypal. Thats when I learned all payments, from any source, are counted against the limit.
And yes, tracking cost is a royal PITA. And realize that shipping is included in the total. So the frameset I sold to a guy in New Zealand for $150, with $425 in postage, appeared as a $575 payment. It is up to the tax payer to document the costs and prove they just didn't make $575 in income. And a lot of my eBay sales (not bicycle related) are things I bought NEW at full retail and then sold years later at a significant discount.
The lesson is don't overlook payments you receive outside of eBay, like sales on this forum. And track your items up front. Its a lot easier than doing it after the fact.
I never, ever list my items for sale as auctions. 100% of it goes as buy it now, pay now. I base pricing on sales history, not asking prices. Occasionally I make a mistake and have to lower my pricing.
If you suffer from "buying disorder", you either MUST find an outlet or you will be a HOARDER. Since my wife and I are both inflicted with buying disorder, developing and using outlets for our finds is job 1.
I too hate, hate, hate that Sponsored Listings will appear first. Same is true with Amazon.
IME, eBay is not the place to find the deal of the year. But it is the place to find that obscure item. For instance, I needed a replacement door latch for my 1977 vintage trailer. This lock has been out of production for over 30 years, and had an unusual cut out in my fiberglass RV door. So it was either butcher the door, or find a replacement. Sure I paid $$ for the privilege but I was able to find the right lock in about 30 seconds.