Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...

[Diddly]

I started selling a bunch of stuff on Mercari last year, which I believe is owned by eBay, but have gotten similar DMs. I'd say 1 out of every 10 messages usually leads to an actual sale. I really don't understand why people ask, because Mercari has the option to offer, and most people offer $5-10 less than what I'm selling for, so I typically accept the offer anyway.

The question that gets under my skin the most is when people ask me to hold an item I've just listed for 5-10 days until their next paycheck comes in. I always tell them I'll do it for a down payment, and so far nobody has followed up on that offer!

[EdSolo]

I have seen it all over the past five years of selling.

A lot of "my cousin/sister/uncle will come pick it up, do you take Zelle?".  I refuse to even sign up for Zelle because it just seems to be a scammers app.

I get a ton of "is this available" and then when I reply yes, I never get another response.  A whole bunch of "will you take $50 when you have something listed for $250".

I think a lot of people think inflation entitles them to pay a lot less instead of having to pay more.  I had one guy go ballistic and call me a scammer because he demanded an extra picture of an expensive item with his name on a piece of paper.  I told him here are some extra pictures, but I'm at work and unable to fulfill his request at that moment.  Real ahole on how he came back at me.  He then said he would kick my ass after I came back at him for calling me a scammer.  I will be happy when all my stuff is sold so I don't have to deal with it anymore.

[Nicklab]

I can't begin to count the number of obnoxious eBay users I've blocked for all of the belligerence and lowballing that I've had to deal with on my sales listings. 

I had one "interested party" who made a lowball offer on a Legacy Collection comic 2-pack - one of the EE exclusive ones that now command serious prices.  And the item had a good number of people who were watching it - maybe as many as 30.  When I responded to him saying "Thanks for your offer, but I've got some 30+ other users following the listing.  Considering the level of interest I have to pass".  So he came back with "Well, then why is it still available if there's so much interest?"  It was enough to make you want to tear out your hair dealing with that *******, who I'm pretty sure I blocked shortly thereafter.

[Rob]

I do eBay garage sales once or twice a year where I'll list maybe 50 to 100 things and I never get questions like that.  I do let people make offers though and set auto-rejections for really low ones.  So maybe the low-balling people just get weeded out that way?  I also set it so people with feedback scores below 5 can't bid on my auctions, maybe they can't email me either. 

[Dave]

Anybody sell enough stuff in previous years to get a 1099 tax form?  It looks like the threshold for 2024 has dropped from $20k to $600.  Just curious if you've bothered to report this as income in the past of if you use some sort of offsets to ignore the 1099.

I'm selling a pile of Legos on eBay and its going to end up being a bunch of money.  I think its silly that I have to pay taxes on my Star Wars garage sale.

[McMetal]

I have and a hate it because my wife does our taxes and sees how much I make on there. I’m selling a lot of Legos right now too and am going to come in high again this year.

I totally thought it was the opposite though - that it had been $600 but was raised to $20k. 

[Dave]

Nope.  Dropping to $600, although it sounds like there is some debate about putting in a transition year with a $5000 limit.

This is gross sales, so you'll have to factor in fees, packing supplies, cost of goods, etc. to calculate profit. 

I'm selling a **** ton of Legos this year and have passed the $5k limit already.  I'm not looking forward to tax time and the dancing I may have to do as I have no interest in reporting a profit on my sales. 

I hate this new law.  I'm not doing this as a business - just doing a Star Wars garage sale online.

[EdSolo]

It has been delayed for several years in a row at this point.  The new rules are completely ridiculous.  My biggest question is how to you prove base value?  Who has receipts from 20 years ago?  I have been keeping an envelope of shipping receipts every year, only to throw them out when I never receive a 1099 from paypal.

[Rob]

This stuff is for businesses and isn’t intended to penalize us for selling our old toys.

My accountant writes it almost all off.  There are distinctions between online businesses and people who use eBay as a garage sale.  For a few years I’ve been subtracting what I spent in fees and shipping, and where I can prove it, what I paid for the item.  I don’t, but most years I could claim a loss if I wanted to since I sell old movies and stuff usually for less than I paid.

My accountant emailed me a few months ago to say the IRS recently made it easier to just mark your eBay sales as the garage sale variety when filing to essentially negate those 1099’s avoid lots of the trouble, but I couldn’t tell you where that box is on the forms or how they label it. 

[Nicklab]

eBay has been good about breaking down your costs in the year end reports.  They factored in fees and shipping costs, which was a good starting point.  I had sales that got into the $10k+ range last year.  That, combined with having a new accountant for this year had me concerned.  But my old accountant had already figured out a decent way to account for it all - as capital gains.  I had able to come up with a ballpark figure for the original cost.  And I also included the cost of shipping materials, etc.  So the tax exposure was far less than I had anticipated.   

[I Am Sith]

Hi guys, need some help.  Haven't sold anything on ebay in probably a decade and just listed a bunch of items.  Is there any way around having to add bank account information to get payments?  I have a linked Paypal account, but the buyers can't pay me via Paypal, it goes to ebay and they have to deposit it to my bank account, meaning I can only use Paypal to purchase?!

Sorry if this has been asked and answered, but I went back to 2021 and didn't see anything about this so wanted to get feedback from the experts, thanks!

[Rob]

I don't think so.  eBay changed it a couple of years ago to cut Paypal out of the equation.  I pay for purchases now with a credit card (which is nice for accumulating rewards points) and then eBay direct deposits sales into my checking.  I don't know if a way around that, but it's not bad once you get used to it.

[I Am Sith]

I don't think so.  eBay changed it a couple of years ago to cut Paypal out of the equation.  I pay for purchases now with a credit card (which is nice for accumulating rewards points) and then eBay direct deposits sales into my checking.  I don't know if a way around that, but it's not bad once you get used to it.

Thanks Rob, appreciate the fast response.  Not a big fan of having my bank account and routing information stored with them.  With all of the recent data hacks that have been occurring with large companies, I try to limit storing financial info with retailers (e.g., credit cards stored for future purchases).  Guess I have no choice with this...

[Dave]

I too don't like having stored financial information "out there", but the newer eBay payment system has been seamless.  Fees are still high overall, but the payment system works smoothly.

[Muftak]

You could always open a new "free Checking" account at your bank to be your dedicated eBay deposit account, if you don't want your other info out there. Like a burner cellphone, but for banks!