E-Bay Sellers

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I would like to sell a few items on e-bay (a car, some furs, a motorcycle or two) but do not have experience with it. I’d appreciate insight from those of you who have sold on e-bay. Were you pleased? What are the pitfalls? Did you figure tax into your asking price? Are items sold on e-bay subject to tax?

I am going to investigate the site but appreciate first hand information from you. Thanks in advance.

Anon
 
I’m giving this post a “bump” because I’d like to know, too!
 
As for tax, that depends on the state you live in, the article(s) you are selling, and the price you sell for. If you are selling items that carry an assessed state or federal sales tax, then you are legally obligated to pay that tax, which may be passed on to the buyer. If you are involved in an interstate or international sale, other taxes in the buyer’s state or country may apply, but I think these would be solely the responsibility of the buyer.

In real life, many vendors on e-bay probably do not pay taxes and get away with it simply because the relevant taxing body never knows about it. But if your state’s Department of Revenue does find out about your sale and wants to know why you haven’t paid income tax or sales tax on it, depending on how they clasify it, they may get nasty if it is a significant amount. This is more likely in the case of vehicles or other items that have titles registered with the state.

I would suggest discussing this with an accountant familiar with your state’s tax laws.
 
I live in the Commonwealth of Virginia. I don’t have an accountant and truthfully don’t have the cash on hand to consult one. Very sound advice though. I definitely want to be lawful. Nice guys may finish last but we sleep better.
 
Then another possibility is to contact the Virginia Department of Revenue (or whatever name it goes by) and ask them what taxes might apply. Keep in mind, though, that a tax accountant working for you will try to find the most favorable answer for you. A state employee has no incentive to do this and may instead give you the most favorable answer for Virginia. Still, it should be good enough to stay within the law. Make sure that you get answers in writing though, or that any verbal answers cite the tax code so you can verify them.
 
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Anonymous:
I would like to sell a few items on e-bay (a car, some furs, a motorcycle or two)
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LOL
but do not have experience with it. I’d appreciate insight from those of you who have sold on e-bay.
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I’ve sold lots of stuff on ebay, but I do not consider myself a “professional” nor do I consider the money part of my income- it’s just my extra money.

Some people do ebay for their living. More power to them- and they might have some additional points but if it’s just for a few items this is what I’d recommend.
  • Explore ebay for similar items. This will give you an indication of what the items are selling for- and how much to start your item at. Other teapots of similar style brand and quality- start at $5 and sell for $18. You can pretty much assume this for your item- but please be aware that ebay is dynamic and you may get more or less than what other’s are selling for.
(Please note- I’m assuming you can view the tutorials on ebay for how to technically list your items - I won’t go into that here.)
  • There are a number of “add-on’s” to your listing like bold titles, pretty ‘styles’ and pictures. Use these as you see fit. They do help out in getting your item noticed, but weigh their cost with the value of your item.
I typically have sold lots of my daughter’s used clothing when she grows out of them. It is a very good idea for me to purchase these add ons because I might get another $20. I would probably only purchase the picture add ons, if I had a non-collectible teapot or something inexpensive.
  • I figure that I will loose about 2 to 10% of the items “sale” price in fees to the various parties (ebay, paypal, etc.). This is a VERY small price to pay considering I might be doubling or tripling what I get for the item if I would have sold it locally or given it to Good Will.
  • I list my items so that they finish on a NON weekend night. People often watch the items they have bid on as the auction ends to make sure they get the item. An items sale price can increase dramatically if two or more people want your item and ensue a bid war. If the item ends on a weekend night, fewer people are available to “watch” the auction end. I have no proof of this, but its just my experience.
 
Were you pleased?
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Absolutely! I only had one person back out of a sale- and it was for good reason, so I consider my experience stellar, and I will continue.
What are the pitfalls?
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Not sure what you are asking. There is some prep work getting good descriptions written for your listing, and taking some nice pictures. That can be a little time consuming if you aren’t familiar with photo/digital technology.

Getting the stuff to the post office can be a bit of a hassle. Just make sure you have everything packed very well, and clearly marked and you should have no trouble. You should also have the items weighed prior to listing so your potential buyers have an opportunity to figure the cost of shipping into the cost of the item. I am often discouraged from buying an item if it costs more to ship it to me than it did to buy the thing.

Also note that the post office has special rates like media mail where you can ship it for quite a lot less money. If you are selling books or videos online, you can offer to send it media mail and cut shipping costs for your customer. (You can read up on all the services the post office offers on their website- or you can chat with a post office rep.)

Other than that, the “pitfalls” in getting paid or whatever, can be avoided by accepting guaranteed payment methods like paypal or echeck. I don’t generally accept personal checks- but if I do, I always allow 10 days for the check to clear before I mail out the item.

(Note that if you accept paypal or echeck, there is another 2% or so taken off for the fees.)
Did you figure tax into your asking price? Are items sold on e-bay subject to tax?
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South Dakota doesn’t require that I get sales tax for items sold on the internet. So I don’t. But ebay will help you figure that out when you register. The items selling on ebay only have tax added if the state where they are being sold requires tax.
I am going to investigate the site but appreciate first hand information from you. Thanks in advance.
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Yah, I’d spend a few days on ebay just getting the feel of things. Then post one or two low value items and just see how it goes. I think everyone establishes their own “quirks” as they buy and sell stuff on auction sites.

Have fun and welcome to the wonderful world of ebay.!
 
My husband and I sell on ebay regularly. It’s one way I, as a stay-at-home Mom, can supplement our income.

The first thing you need to do is register at ebay.

Once you’ve done that, you need to research how well your items might sell. You do this by looking at how well similar items have done. Do a search on your item and click on Completed Items. This will give you a good indication of how well similar things have sold in the past 30 days.

If the item we are considering selling hasn’t done well in the past, we usually do not put it up for bid.

Once you conclude you wish to sell an item, you need to decide what the minimum bid will be. Never ever ever put something up for sale with a minimum bid lower than you are willing to take. Ebay will charge you an insertion fee based on what your minimum bid is. For example, for 9.99 or less, the insertion fee is 35 cents.

You should also be aware that ebay will charge you a percentage of the price you do sell the item for, and this is based on a scale.

You also need to decide what limitations you want to put on buyers. You can limit it to buyers within the US if you want or go international. International buyers do create problems sometimes with shipping costs, not having English as their primary language, and different monetary units (although this can be taken care of using Paypal). I would recommend that beginners stick to US only, although this won’t necessarily prevent someone from outside the US from bidding.

I would also not recommend trying to sell a high-priced item if you are just starting out. You don’t have any feedback yet, and buyers often go by positive feedback to find out if you are a reliable seller (our feedback rating is 613, with 100% positive feedback).

You also need to consider how on earth you’re going to ship something like a motorcycle. You can limit things to having the buyer pick up the merchandise–but this of course limits you to people in your immediate area. I would not try to sell something like that on ebay–it’s just too complicated. You’d probably be better off with putting an ad in the paper.

A picture of your item helps. You can take this with a digital camera or use a scanner. Since we sell mostly small items (videos, CD’s, records, tapes), we mostly use a scanner. I add a border around the items by placing construction paper on top of the item before I scan it. A good picture can make a world of difference. You wouldn’t believe the lousy pictures I’ve seen on ebay–one guy photographed the item right next to his trash can!

You do need to pay sales tax if it is required in your state. We state in our items description, “California residents pay 7.75% sales tax.” And then, of course, we have to fill out the proper forms to pay the tax later. Since we’re running a small business, we do this as a matter of course.
 
Lots of food for thought here and I really appreciate the time you have taken to reply. A great idea about starting small to build up one’s reputation and to get a feel for things. LOL about shipping the motorcycles! Note that I have successfully sold vehicles via the internet, non-ebay style, and you’d be surprised at how far some will travel for the right item! One fella drove from California to buy a vehicle I sold in Virginia. I am serious. Granted we had a LOT of correspondence prior to the sale, lots of detailed pictures and phone conversations but it still blows me away! As of late, the items I have tried to sell non e-bay style have received a lot of attention from scam artists. It’s really a shame.

I imagine any type of private contact with potential buyers is frowned upon by e-bay. I can imagine the ramifications. I’ll have to look into that. It must make selling vehicles much more difficult especially when one sells rare antiques.

Thanks again.

Anon
 
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Shiann:
I’ve sold lots of stuff on ebay, but I do not consider myself a “professional” nor do I consider the money part of my income- it’s just my extra money.
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I’m willing to bet that the IRS considers it income and depending on your state laws you might have to collect sales tax on some sales – you really should find out about this.

I speak as one who has had experience with the NY State Dept. of Tax & Finance.
 
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didymus:
I’m willing to bet that the IRS considers it income and depending on your state laws you might have to collect sales tax on some sales – you really should find out about this.

I speak as one who has had experience with the NY State Dept. of Tax & Finance.
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In my state, extra income like this has a cap. I think I can turn over $500/year before I have to claim it as income. Since I never reach this point, I do not claim it as income. (Or else garage sales would need to charge sales tax etc., or the homeowner would need to pay income tax.)
 
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Anonymous:
Lots of food for thought here and I really appreciate the time you have taken to reply. A great idea about starting small to build up one’s reputation and to get a feel for things. LOL about shipping the motorcycles! Note that I have successfully sold vehicles via the internet, non-ebay style, and you’d be surprised at how far some will travel for the right item! One fella drove from California to buy a vehicle I sold in Virginia. I am serious. Granted we had a LOT of correspondence prior to the sale, lots of detailed pictures and phone conversations but it still blows me away! As of late, the items I have tried to sell non e-bay style have received a lot of attention from scam artists. It’s really a shame.

I** imagine any type of private contact with potential buyers is frowned upon by e-bay. I can imagine the ramifications. I’ll have to look into that. It must make selling vehicles much more difficult especially when one sells rare antiques.**

Thanks again.

Anon
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Buyer and Seller are free to contact one another as much as they would like to carry out the business of the transaction.
 
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Shiann:
In my state, extra income like this has a cap. I think I can turn over $500/year before I have to claim it as income. Since I never reach this point, I do not claim it as income. (Or else garage sales would need to charge sales tax etc., or the homeowner would need to pay income tax.)
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Actually- I was curious on what the current legistlation was in my state. This would fall under an “Occassional Sale” and not subject to ANY sales tax.

I have no idea what I was thinking when I posted this- our state does not have income tax so I wouldn’t have to pay “income tax” anyway.

I seem to be out from under Uncle Sam’s thumb doing my occassional business on ebay.
 
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