Do I need Proof of Purchase Receipts to sell new items?

[animal-house-8]

First of all I sell antiques and collectibles, I very rarely will sell something that is new. Now I buy in auction lots and every once in a great while something new is in there, this time while buying some old lamps there were 36 brand new shirts still in the bags. You can buy these on ebay or Amazon they are fairly popular, I can sell them for dirt cheap, so my question is I have a receipt but  they just say for lot #123 they do not list items in the lots that would be impossible it would just be too much time of course. I have seen some post that ebay is asking for proof of purchase from people who are selling item below retail price, if you cannot provide proof they 

suspend your account. maybe true maybe not, but I want to check before I get myself in trouble selling these shirts at below wholesale not retail. What do you think?

[tobaccocardyahoo]

Usually receipts or invoices are requested for items where authenticity or criminal receipt is a concern.

You may never be asked for these or you may be asked for them every time you offer an item which is known to have counterfeits or stolen items offered on Ebay. If you are asked, the odds of being asked again for other items increases.

Selling for less than wholesale cost makes it more likely that you will be asked.

You have to decide whether these new items are worth the risk of losing an account on the best site to sell your main offerings. You have sold 5k of your quality items and a few pieces of modern trash would not be worth the risk if I was making the decision.

[lakefor94]

@animal-house-8 

EBay tends to ask for receipts on higher dollar items such as electronics that they think could be stolen. I am sure there are many other items and categories on the algorithm watch list.

I don't think I would worry much about t-shirts unless they are a name brand that might be protected by the Brand Owners.

[stephenmorgan]

If the are Sports Related Tee Shirts you may have to prove you are allowed to sell them.

[mamacassidy]

I, like you, have mostly used/ pre-owned items for sale, and occassionally I come across a few new items. In my experience, eBay has not asked for receipts (knock on wood). The new items I list are usually single inexpensive clothing items or household items.

I don't know exactly how the algorithm works, but many of the people who have posted on these boards about needing receipts seem to have almost all new items listed or have multiple items that are well known to be commonly stolen, as someone else mentioned.

I wouldn't be too worried about listing the shirts you have, however, I'd probably only list a couple at a time since they are all the same and listing multiple new exact same items might raise some red flags for the algorithm.

[tarotfindsandmore]

Most of my inventory is brand new.  I've never been asked for a receipt.  I do, however, have them for everything, just in case.  Generally speaking, it seems to be the case that eBay requests receipts on the basis of suspicious activity such as a large number (for the seller) of high ticket, high end, easily stolen items suddenly appearing on the platform at unusual prices.  From what I've seen, it happens most frequently with electronics/games/jewelry, though there was a huge theft ring involving cosmetics a while back.

[threelittlelambs]

If you're worried about it, sell them as pre-owned, in like new condition. After all you're not the original buyer.

[evry1nositswindy]

If they are new tools--yes.  Very high theft rate.

[slippinjimmy]

Usually when sellers come here to whine about eBay asking for receipts it is because their overall activities are questionable.

A few reasons....

There are issues with their Managed Payments information

They are selling brand new in box higher value items in quantity (and at low prices)

They have numerous buyer issues (late delivery, multiple NAD claims, multiple Defects)

They are suspected of retail arbitrage

Multiple Vero/copyright issues

Multiple policy violations

[jerseyboymusic]

My wife and I have kept receipts for everything we resell on Ebay... garage/estate sale, thrift stores, etc... for literally going back over two decades. 

You WILL need them for tax purposes, when you file your taxes with the IRS.

[bashort]

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@threelittlelambs wrote:

If you're worried about it, sell them as pre-owned, in like new condition. After all you're not the original buyer.

---

What does not being the original owner have to do with a ebay item condition?

[simply-the-best-for-you]

If you've been a long time seller & a consistent one, I wouldn't worry about it from the eBay standpoint.  If you're audited, it could come up.   But as someone familiar with IRS auditing once told me, a great deal hinges on whether the auditor generally believes you or not.  In other words, if you have all your ducks in a row & all your receipts & are missing one, they're usually gonna believe you.  

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@animal-house-8 

You sell such beautiful art glass and period glass, I wouldn't junk up your site with Amazon worthy shirts.

     Have you thought about donating these to the school or a local organization that needs to raise money?

[femmefan1946]

For your own books, and for tax purposes, you would find it helpful to keep records, even if it is a notebook with the date, location of garage sales, and how much you spent there.  If you include notes about what you bought it won't hurt.

Basically you are showing willing.

There are a lot of sellers out there who think they have a lucrative side hustle, but when they actually start number-crunching, learn they have a money sucking hobby.

[inhawaii]

Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't.

If you are setting off "red flags" you may be asked to.

*A new seller selling several items.

*A new seller selling  expensive item.

*A seller selling a large quantity of the same item.

*A seller with lots of complaints/unhappy customers.

There could be any number of reasons.