Does anyone sell anything?

[Pen Tom]

I've been selling on eBay and am currently doing so. I have not received any messages from them about this. I have not been asked for ID.
If that changes, I will let you know.
I am receiving payments from eBay for my sales but no ID request. Just got a payment today

[TSherbs]

It seems ebay is now requiring sellers to upload pictures of their driver's license, state ID or passport to continue selling at ebay. They claim this is to "verify" the seller's identity. Has anyone else who sells on ebay also received this notification?

Oh, if you have a pending payout for a sale or sales, they won't release "your" (lol) money to you until you "verify" your identity via one of the ways mentioned above.

wow, that seems weird to me

[Zhivago]

I suspect the phone rep was just trying to get rid of me when he said it was going to be required of all sellers. We'll see. It may also be what categories you sell in that triggers this. I've sold a handful of watches, all cheap by wristwatch standards, but perhaps that was enough. Ebay's algorithm may not know enough to distinguish between those selling $100 Seikos and those selling $10,000 Rolexes.

[dougb1426]

I suspect the phone rep was just trying to get rid of me when he said it was going to be required of all sellers. We'll see. It may also be what categories you sell in that triggers this. I've sold a handful of watches, all cheap by wristwatch standards, but perhaps that was enough. Ebay's algorithm may not know enough to distinguish between those selling $100 Seikos and those selling $10,000 Rolexes.

Well folks, all I can say is tighten your seat belts (and your sphincter valves) b/c this is all going to crash at tax time for calendar year 2022. Congress in its (lack of) wisdom decided to go after tax cheats (i.e. anyone not wealthy enough to avoid taxes) by lowering the reporting threshold for sales transactions from $20,000/year to $600/year...and that is not a typo. Prior to 2022 if you received over $20,000 from eBay, PayPal, etc or had over 200 transactions received by credit card, you would be sent a Form 1099 from eBay, PayPal etc. Starting this year it is a $600 threshold. And eBay is getting ready for that. They do have a valid need to verify your identity, BUT, IMHO I think they went way overboard in requesting the DL photo. Perhaps they did that b/c the IRS came out with a (now defunct) online ID requirement using facial recognition. Can you say "1984?"

I think the vast majority of people are unaware of this latent sh*tstorm that is going to hit us. And the IRS is totally unprepared and understaffed. Literally millions of us little guys are going to get an unwanted aggravating situation at tax time come April 2023. If you're selling pens, inks, trinkets, dinosaur turds or whatever you need to keep good records showing your expenses. The 1099 you get from eBay, PayPal Venmo, etc is only going to show how much money you received. And of course, they send a copy to the IRS. It will all look like income to the IRS, so keep good records throughout the year.

BTW, for those folks that have not been notified by eBay of the ID request, it may be because you had fewer than $600 in sales prior year. Then again, as evidenced by Zhivago's post, not every eBay rep is totally aware.

If you're wanting more info, try googling "1099 K reporting threshold" or visit the IRS website : https://www.irs.gov/businesses/under...ur-form-1099-k

Or, if you'd like to read a more sophisticated rant than mine, there's a decent article in the Opinion section of the April 1st (seriously, no joke, i.e. yesterday) of The Wall Street Journal.

[Zhivago]

I think the vast majority of people are unaware of this latent sh*tstorm that is going to hit us. And the IRS is totally unprepared and understaffed. Literally millions of us little guys are going to get an unwanted aggravating situation at tax time come April 2023. If you're selling pens, inks, trinkets, dinosaur turds or whatever you need to keep good records showing your expenses. The 1099 you get from eBay, PayPal Venmo, etc is only going to show how much money you received. And of course, they send a copy to the IRS. It will all look like income to the IRS, so keep good records throughout the year.

I live in a state that already lowered the threshold a year ago, so I've already been dealing with this issue. I still lol that selling used items at a loss and usually at a significant loss is "income."

Regarding the part I bolded, I think you'd have to show pretty large expenses for it to matter at all. Perhaps I'm wrong.

[dougb1426]

I think the vast majority of people are unaware of this latent sh*tstorm that is going to hit us. And the IRS is totally unprepared and understaffed. Literally millions of us little guys are going to get an unwanted aggravating situation at tax time come April 2023. If you're selling pens, inks, trinkets, dinosaur turds or whatever you need to keep good records showing your expenses. The 1099 you get from eBay, PayPal Venmo, etc is only going to show how much money you received. And of course, they send a copy to the IRS. It will all look like income to the IRS, so keep good records throughout the year.

I live in a state that already lowered the threshold a year ago, so I've already been dealing with this issue. I still lol that selling used items at a loss and usually at a significant loss is "income."

Regarding the part I bolded, I think you'd have to show pretty large expenses for it to matter at all. Perhaps I'm wrong.

Well, usually the major expense is the cost of the item itself. But, when you sell a number of items shipping can add up. The main thing is to have a record of your initial cost, since as you point out, we are usually selling at a loss. Personally, I think congress and the IRS are going to catch so much hell next year, this will hopefully be a short-lived issue. But, it will require legislation to change it.

[Zhivago]

Well, usually the major expense is the cost of the item itself. But, when you sell a number of items shipping can add up. The main thing is to have a record of your initial cost, since as you point out, we are usually selling at a loss. Personally, I think congress and the IRS are going to catch so much hell next year, this will hopefully be a short-lived issue. But, it will require legislation to change it.

If you sell, say, 6 pens for $601 and your mailing/shipping costs come to $60, I don't think that is something you'll be able to deduct. You are quite correct about the item being the major expense, but I can't see them letting you get around having to pay taxes even if you could show you originally paid more than double for those pens you sold.

[Pen Tom]

You would be able to deduct the shipping expense along with the original cost of the pens. Along with any other valid related expenses.
Saying that "you can't see them letting you get around having to pay taxes even if you can show you originally paid more than double for what the pen sold"
is just an incorrect statement.
I'm a retired tax accountant. I feel that I know something about this.

[Zhivago]

You would be able to deduct the shipping expense along with the original cost of the pens. Along with any other valid related expenses.
Saying that "you can't see them letting you get around having to pay taxes even if you can show you originally paid more than double for what the pen sold"
is just an incorrect statement.
I'm a retired tax accountant. I feel that I know something about this.

I'm sure you do and am even more sure that I don't.

In the example above, how would that work? If you can show you paid $1200 for the $600 of pens you sold, what would you have to pay? Nothing seems like an obvious answer. I know, of course, there are many variables here.

I used a turbo tax program for my taxes last year and it didn't ask for any kind of expenses at all for the 1099 I got from PayPal

[dougb1426]

You would be able to deduct the shipping expense along with the original cost of the pens. Along with any other valid related expenses.
Saying that "you can't see them letting you get around having to pay taxes even if you can show you originally paid more than double for what the pen sold"
is just an incorrect statement.
I'm a retired tax accountant. I feel that I know something about this.

As I understand it, we lost the ability to deduct those expenses if we are selling pens as a hobby, vs a business. I came across a write-up that seems to make sense to me (not that logic always applies in any federal code). I would appreciate your opinion of this. I can't see how to send it to you through a PM, but if you send me your email, I will be glad to send it to you. It's only about 2 pages.

[Zhivago]

You would be able to deduct the shipping expense along with the original cost of the pens. Along with any other valid related expenses.
Saying that "you can't see them letting you get around having to pay taxes even if you can show you originally paid more than double for what the pen sold"
is just an incorrect statement.
I'm a retired tax accountant. I feel that I know something about this.

As I understand it, we lost the ability to deduct those expenses if we are selling pens as a hobby, vs a business. I came across a write-up that seems to make sense to me (not that logic always applies in any federal code). I would appreciate your opinion of this. I can't see how to send it to you through a PM, but if you send me your email, I will be glad to send it to you. It's only about 2 pages.

Does it say anything about any state taxes?

[Pen Tom]

The IRS publication 17, chapter 8, page 73 discusses business income/losses vs hobby income/losses. Its all on line, you can google it.

Basically you can't take a loss on hobby activity but you can claim expenses up to the amount of the income.
So, if you sold pens totaling $1,000, you could offset it with valid expenses up to the $1,000, so if you paid $1,200 for those pens, you could take up to $1,000 in expenses and it would zero out.

You do this on form 1040, schedule 1

[dougb1426]

Nope, just federal. Some states follow Federal, some don't.

[Zhivago]

The IRS publication 17, chapter 8, page 73 discusses business income/losses vs hobby income/losses. Its all on line, you can google it.

Basically you can't take a loss on hobby activity but you can claim expenses up to the amount of the income.
So, if you sold pens totaling $1,000, you could offset it with valid expenses up to the $1,000, so if you paid $1,200 for those pens, you could take up to $1,000 in expenses and it would zero out.

You do this on form 1040, schedule 1

I've always had easy and very straightforward returns. In general, how much proof do you need to provide of these "valid expenses" you claim on a return?

I won't bother you with additional questions. Thanks.

[Pen Tom]

The IRS publication 17, chapter 8, page 73 discusses business income/losses vs hobby income/losses. Its all on line, you can google it.

Basically you can't take a loss on hobby activity but you can claim expenses up to the amount of the income.
So, if you sold pens totaling $1,000, you could offset it with valid expenses up to the $1,000, so if you paid $1,200 for those pens, you could take up to $1,000 in expenses and it would zero out.

You do this on form 1040, schedule 1

I've always had easy and very straightforward returns. In general, how much proof do you need to provide of these "valid expenses" you claim on a return?

I won't bother you with additional questions. Thanks.

I'll PM you

[NeitMiko]

Maybe your site is slow, or they're having a glitch and that's why you can't fall in some data. This is not a problem, it happens when sites and especially eBay have crashes and errors. So for example my bot from https://linko.app/website-maintenance constantly find some errors on eBay, which I then compile and send to tech support via report so they can fix these glitches later. It's nice to know that thanks to you the site is more stable.

[TSherbs]

I don't seem to see a lot of entries marked SOLD.
Is it just me or is this not the best place for selling pens?

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

My recent experience (small data set):

I posted a Pilot 74 (F) for sale on reddit and here. Same post, same price, etc.

---> the reddit post received 4900+ views in 9 days.

---> the FPG post received 109 views in 5 days.

The pen sold on reddit after 9 days, which was longer than I expected. No one contacted me here.

/data set

[EricTheRed]

I don't seem to see a lot of entries marked SOLD.
Is it just me or is this not the best place for selling pens?

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

My recent experience (small data set):

I posted a Pilot 74 (F) for sale on reddit and here. Same post, same price, etc.

---> the reddit post received 4900+ views in 9 days.

---> the FPG post received 109 views in 5 days.

The pen sold on reddit after 9 days, which was longer than I expected. No one contacted me here.

/data set

The crowd on this website tend to be far more pen savvy than the Reddit crowd. I have noticed most sellers on this site are asking too much money for their items and consequently they do not sell. Those that are priced well,tend to sell immediately on this site. For example a cross Tokyo used fountain pen was listed at $150 recently and it sold immediately to some lucky buyer 🍀 (as it was a great deal) I have personally bought pens on this site, but only when the item has been listed for a reasonable price.

[TSherbs]

I don't seem to see a lot of entries marked SOLD.
Is it just me or is this not the best place for selling pens?

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

My recent experience (small data set):

I posted a Pilot 74 (F) for sale on reddit and here. Same post, same price, etc.

---> the reddit post received 4900+ views in 9 days.

---> the FPG post received 109 views in 5 days.

The pen sold on reddit after 9 days, which was longer than I expected. No one contacted me here.

/data set

The crowd on this website tend to be far more pen savvy than the Reddit crowd. I have noticed most sellers on this site are asking too much money for their items and consequently they do not sell. Those that are priced well,tend to sell immediately on this site. For example a cross Tokyo used fountain pen was listed at $150 recently and it sold immediately to some lucky buyer 🍀 (as it was a great deal) I have personally bought pens on this site, but only when the item has been listed for a reasonable price.

yes, I understand

My point was more the difference in traffic (views).

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Had exactly the same experience with my last giveaway. hardly any views here, thousands on Reddit.