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Started by IntoAnother,

4,139 posts in this topic

1Cool

1Cool

Posted
Posted (edited)
36 minutes ago, Mr. Spider-Woman said:

I'm thinking about opening an eBay Store this fall to sell comics and trading cards and toys and books and other collectibles. I've sold occasionally on eBay in the past but I'd like to get a more serious about it. I have a lot of collectibles (most not worth much) I've acquired over the last 25 years, plus things I've inherited from family members. I may also have a line on a decent Magic: The Gathering collection I can try to sell. And I've started buying things I think I can sell when I see massive clearance sales at Walmart and other stores.

I've been reading about taxes and business structures and things like that. I'll definitely talk to a CPA this summer if I decide to do this so I know what records to keep and what taxes I have to pay. I'm particularly confused about paying capital gains tax on collectibles, for example.

For those of you who sell collectibles on eBay as a side hustle, is there any advice you have for me? Did you set up an actual business, like a sole proprietorship or an LLC? Which eBay Store subscriber level is best to start out with? Do you have a business license in your state? Did you open a separate business banking account/credit card? Does selling on eBay consume all your waking hours, even if you only planned to do it in your spare time?

Thanks.

Good questions to ask before starting up.  I started with the basic store which give 250 BIN items a month and 250 auctions and its $22 a month - this is usually good for most starters since this is a lot of items if books are selling and you are not just relisting all your items each month.  I eventually bumped up to a Premier Store for $60 a month which gives you 1,000 BIN items and 500 auctions which I've been having a tough time filling and usually average 600 BINs a month and use half the auctions.  If I was smart I would probably play the system and have two separate accounts with Basic Stores for $44 month since that's about all I can handle but I like having all my feedback in one place and I always say I'm going to get 1,000 items posted up (but never do).  The way i look at it is my store cost me $720 a year which is the price to set up at a mid level con for a weekend. 

Taxes are a pain but your tax guy will help you out.  I don't have a LLC at my level since I don't see much risk of me getting sued.  No business license and E-bay has made most of that stuff easy since they send you tax forms at the higher levels and they collect sales tax for you.  No business account because all money typically goes into Paypal so its easier to keep track  of expenses and profits.  The struggle is having a full time job with a family and fitting in time for posting and shipping.  I usually ship out 30 - 50 packages a week so that usually takes about an hour a day on average to get packages out the door.  I try to scan a few hours a couple times a week but that is my weakest part of the process.  After working, helping to fix dinner and packages it just is not in the cards to sit in front of the scanner even while watching tv.  I catch up on scanning during the weekend.

If you are worried you could always sign up for a year on the basic store and see how it goes and go from there.  Good luck!

Edited by 1Cool
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ADAMANTIUM

ADAMANTIUM

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, electricprune said:

Has anyone else noticed ebay switching your payment method from PayPal to your back-up payment method, even when you have a balance that easily covers a purchase?

All I know is that, my month ended on Jan 14th, and the invoice is "still processing" and I can't pay it manually yet.....

I hate that they forced me to pick a automatic payment, I ALWAYS paid on time and right when it was due, I don't NEED to set up "automatic payment" method O.o 

I'm still paying when it's available, if it ever accidentally charges me again "automatically" even though I've already paid manually, I'm going to be ticked!

But to answer your question, my 1st choice is PayPal, I don't think that I ever set up a secondary..... God Forbid :sumo: 

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Buzzetta

Buzzetta

Posted
Posted

New pair of shoes going up tonight... 

 

Was digging through the closet to throw some stuff out and threw them in the trash.... I immediately came to my senses and said... ”That’s for eBay.”

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Ride the Tiger

Ride the Tiger

Posted
Posted

I sell CGC slabs only with my account and lately I've been getting annoying messages from supposed buyers. Thay ask if I can ship the book right away. I say yes. No response for days. Finally same person apologizes and asks again if I can ship right away and also if I ship in a box. I reply yes to both. Never hear back. Weeks pass another buyer pulls the same thing. I'm to the point that if someone messages me asking if I can ship right away, I don't respond. 

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skypinkblu

skypinkblu

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Gaard said:

Can someone explain this to me? I'm sure I'm missing part of the equation, but I can't think of it. How can I get less than 5 stars on Item As Described if I only sell slabs?

 

ebayss.gif

You are looking at the wrong line. You have 100 % for item as described, it's communication and shipping charges that are lower. Unless you give free shipping someone ALWAYS marks it a 4.

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the blob

the blob

Posted
Posted
On 1/16/2020 at 4:50 PM, Buzzetta said:

New pair of shoes going up tonight... 

 

Was digging through the closet to throw some stuff out and threw them in the trash.... I immediately came to my senses and said... ”That’s for eBay.”

The problem I find with that stuff is shipping. I have been trying to sell shoes and other clunky house stuff on Facebook. I think I have a kids guitar sold tonight. Trying to move my jack la lane juicer and some never worn stride rite kids shoes. 

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Iconic1s

Iconic1s

Posted
Posted

I can't find a better place for this.  I wanted to see what people thought of this.  Please look at bid retractions and bid history on the image.  I had placed a max bid of $51.00 on an auction, bidder after me (1429 feedback guy) outbids me with $77.00.  Discovers my max bid, retracts his, then immediately rebids precisely below my max bid driving my bid up to my max.  Anyone ever seen shady business like this?

I've since retracted my bid and contacted the seller.  I also reported this to eBay.  I didn't want the book that bad but probably would have went a bit higher if I thought the bidding was fair.  The 1429 feedback guy has retracted 664 bids in the last six months and 8% of his bids have been with this seller.  Not implying anything but that seems a bit off.

17085932-D8A1-445F-9819-0A9962D26E68.png

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davidtere

davidtere

Posted
Posted (edited)

Interesting. A further look has that particular seller using that same bidder raising prices on multiple other auctions. In one example he pushed the item from 15 to 50 dollars with over 10 bids within a matter of minutes. Yikes. 

Edited by davidtere
untrue information
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Iconic1s

Iconic1s

Posted
Posted (edited)
56 minutes ago, Gaard said:

If I were a gambling man I would definitely bet that something shady is going here.

 

25 minutes ago, davidtere said:

 

Interesting. A further look at some of the other auctions that particular seller has going on has that same 'bidder' bidding against himself to raise the price of the item. I don't have to be a gambling man either but why would anyone do that unless to push the price of the sellers item? In one example he pushed the item from 15 to 50 dollars with over 10 bids within a matter of minutes with no one else bidding.  

 

Thanks for the replies. Kind of what I thought too!  This is the first time I’ve personally encountered something like this on eBay. Will have to keep an eye out from now on.

Gives me another reason to prefer the BIN option!

Take care!

Edited by Iconic1s
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davidtere

davidtere

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Iconic1s said:

 

Thanks for the replies. Kind if what I thought too!  This is the first time I’ve personally encountered something like this on eBay. Will have to keep an eye out from now on.

Gives me another reason to prefer the BIN option!

Take care!

Just to clarify....since I made an error and then clarified my statement. ..that bidder wasn't bidding against himself but was raising the prices on multiple auctions that the seller had up. Too coincidental for me to believe that something isn't going on. Makes me a bit nervous as well as I have not encountered that to that extreme. Best to be careful.

Take care yourself. 

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Iconic1s

Iconic1s

Posted
Posted
16 minutes ago, davidtere said:

Just to clarify....since I made an error and then clarified my statement. ..that bidder wasn't bidding against himself but was raising the prices on multiple auctions that the seller had up. Too coincidental for me to believe that something isn't going on. Makes me a bit nervous as well as I have not encountered that to that extreme. Best to be careful.

Take care yourself. 

I think I’ll be avoiding that seller altogether!  Thanks for the extra research!

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porcupine48

porcupine48

Posted
Posted
57 minutes ago, davidtere said:

Just to clarify....since I made an error and then clarified my statement. ..that bidder wasn't bidding against himself but was raising the prices on multiple auctions that the seller had up. Too coincidental for me to believe that something isn't going on. Makes me a bit nervous as well as I have not encountered that to that extreme. Best to be careful.

Take care yourself. 

As a relatively new and naive bidder-I generally get all my comics here or in person-it's so hard not to be suspicious of auctions with all the things I've seen and read here.I try and take the mindset of well,I'll make my max bid what I'm willing to pay-but everyone likes to get a fair,decent deal and you don't want to reward fy (new word!) behaviour with your do ray me,amirite?

Thanks both for the information,eye opening,this person seems waaaay shilltastic.Now I'm going to eyeball the few things I am bidding on-thankfully I dig the esoteric nichiest of nichiest stuff

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B2D327

B2D327

Posted
Posted
13 hours ago, Gaard said:

a couple of days later...

.dc.thumb.jpg.e71483d70b6c86992ab98c14b112dd28.jpg

If I were a gambling man I would definitely bet that something shady is going here.

 

It’s been awhile but there was a time this could be reported as “shill bidding”. After speaking with a clueless millenial in customer service a couple of days ago, I’m under the impression that fair and honest guidelines aren’t a priority at eBay anymore. Having been a sniper since eBay began, my Spidey sense usually tells me when to not even bother watching let alone bidding on certain auctions. I just tell myself there are plenty more of the same book. Just be patient

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evilskip

evilskip

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, B2D327 said:

It’s been awhile but there was a time this could be reported as “shill bidding”. After speaking with a clueless millenial in customer service a couple of days ago, I’m under the impression that fair and honest guidelines aren’t a priority at eBay anymore. Having been a sniper since eBay began, my Spidey sense usually tells me when to not even bother watching let alone bidding on certain auctions. I just tell myself there are plenty more of the same book. Just be patient

Wait a minute. You talked to somebody in the USA about this? How did that happen? I always get the outsourced divisions that are clueless.

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