So I get it, do the right thing and move on, OK. Y'all have made it clear and I understand it's just the way it is if I want to sell on eBay. So I reckon I'll just submit my SS # and all will be good again.
But what do I do if I can't find my original cost on an item? I ask because some of the items I've sold or intend to sell, I either don't remember and/or can't find my original receipt. Like the last item I sold was purchased new, over 5 years ago. I am sure I paid more than what I sold it for but I am unable to locate the receipt.
A lot of the items I want to sell are sitting in my basement. They're either new and unused or are just things I don't use anymore and were never bought with the intentions of selling them later. So of course I don't have receipts for most of it. Should I just not sell items I can't show what my cost was? If that's the case then maybe I'm not suppose to be a seller.
I would imagine I'm not the only one in this boat of folks who don't keep all their receipts. And unless I can show I paid less than what it sold for, I'm going to have to pay tax on my losing sale.
I'm just a little guy, selling the stuff I don't want or no longer need. But it looks like guys like me will eventually be gone from eBay and other online selling platforms. It use to be fun to sell my wears here and make a few extra bucks. But now that it's more complicated with being forced to itemize and keep records of profits and losses, perhaps it's better to just donate to charity or throw it away where it'll ends up in the dump.
Yeah, I know I'm supposed to do it the right way and report everything to the IRS. But c'mon, I just sold something for $99 and due to the fact that I didn't hang onto the receipt from years ago, I cant show what I paid for it. And now I have to accept the fact I have to add this to my gross income for the year and pay tax on it?
eBay is going to be mostly power-sellers eventually. That's probably what they want it anyway.
