Help Automating eBay Sales Tracking

[thefindfactory]

I currently sell a mix of old personal items and things I’ve bought specifically to resell. Right now, I’m manually entering everything (buy cost, shipping, fees, etc.) into a Google Sheet, but I’m wondering if there’s a better or more automated way to track i to make tax season easier. Ideally, I’d like to leave the buy cost column blank so I can fill it in myself later and calculate profit.

Does anyone have suggestions? I’m also open to using some kind of semi-cheap software if that helps.

Also, for anyone familiar with Washington State tax rules, do I need to pay taxes on all the profit I make, including from selling personal items, or just the profit from things I bought with the intent to resell?

Thanks!

[mam98031]

@thefindfactory 

Welcome to Ebay.  Make sure you save ALL your receipts for things you purchase and expenses you have.  

You will need them for tax purposes.  Throw it all in a shoe box if you need to, but make sure you keep it all.

I'm not familiar with Google Sheets, but at a glance they look like they will do the job.  

As for sales tax, Ebay will collect that from the buyers and remit it to the appropriate state, so you do NOT have any concerns over having to deal with Sales Tax.  

You are likely way too small of a business to have to worry about paying any state business taxes.  I too am in Washington State.  I set up my Business as a Sole Proprietorship about 25 years ago with the state.  You may consider doing that too.  

https://www.business.wa.gov/site/alias__business/875/Home.aspx#anchor-6301-17

Once you have your Business set up with the state you can try to get a Resale Certificate which will allow you to purchase items for resale and NOT pay sales tax.

https://dor.wa.gov/taxes-rates/retail-sales-tax/reseller-permits

Another thing to know about our state.  We do not have to pay sales tax on shipping supplies either.  

I'm sure you will have more questions, so feel free to ask.

[thefindfactory]

Thanks for the info. I do have some receipts, but since a lot of my sourcing is done locally, I don’t have receipts for everything. Have you used (or are you currently using) any software that helps track expenses, profits, and buy costs all in one place?

[dhbookds]

Have you explored the various reports ebay can provide?

https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales

click on the little i.....which will tell you what info each has........

Try downloading them and then adding/deleting columns

[ryry-jj]

Anything you sell, especially on a market place facilitator site like eBay, you are required to report that on your tax forms as income.  Now whether or not you make a profit requiring you to pay taxes, that's between you & your accountant...or your software for that matter.

[onefootflipper1]

You do not need to keep item by item accounting, it is a huge waste of time that ultimately does nothing for you.

My purchase spreadsheet entries look like this. 

08/01/2025 - "Miniature Collection" - Jeremy Springer - $50.00 - Cash

08/02/2025 - "Bulk Goods" - Goodwill Outlet - $45.13 - Receipt Box

I know some sellers have a dedicated bank account for their business and buy almost everything in cash so they literally just keep track of ATM withdrawals.

Most in this sort of business have very little in the way of actual reciepts and the IRS knows this and isn't really expecting you to have them. Just keep good purchase records.

I figure up my profit one time the entire year and that is for my entire "Empire" at once, which consists of Ebay, a half dozen other selling sites, youtube and a few well paying affiliate links. I don't need to know my profit or loss on those roller skates because it doesn't matter. I don't need that number, the IRS doesn't need that number.

As for personal items, there are ways to work them in correctly, but most sellers either don't worry about them or incorrectly log them as purchases when they list them. 

[slippinjimmy]

One solution is to not mix your business sales with your personal items. Open a second selling account for your personal stuff.

[mam98031]

---

@thefindfactory wrote:

Thanks for the info. I do have some receipts, but since a lot of my sourcing is done locally, I don’t have receipts for everything. Have you used (or are you currently using) any software that helps track expenses, profits, and buy costs all in one place?

---

There was a time that I would go to garage sales and the such.  Where you don't get receipts.  I carried a little notebook with me and wrote down what I purchased and for how much.  They were all under $50, so it isn't a big issue for a literal receipt, my notes however helped me a lot when doing my books.

I would make some notes on prices of anything you can remember so you at least have that.

[mam98031]

Speaking only for myself.  I do not have a Business bank account.  I do have a specific bank account I use to receive payouts from the various internet sites I sell on, but it is a personal account and not a business account.  It does not have to be a business account.  That is more trouble that I ever wanted to deal with.

[onefootflipper1]

---

@mam98031 wrote:

Speaking only for myself.  I do not have a Business bank account.  I do have a specific bank account I use to receive payouts from the various internet sites I sell on, but it is a personal account and not a business account.  It does not have to be a business account.  That is more trouble that I ever wanted to deal with.

---

I don't have a separate bank account either. I just never saw a need for one.

[chapeau-noir]

---

@thefindfactory wrote:

I currently sell a mix of old personal items and things I’ve bought specifically to resell. Right now, I’m manually entering everything (buy cost, shipping, fees, etc.) into a Google Sheet, but I’m wondering if there’s a better or more automated way to track i to make tax season easier. Ideally, I’d like to leave the buy cost column blank so I can fill it in myself later and calculate profit.

Does anyone have suggestions? I’m also open to using some kind of semi-cheap software if that helps.

Also, for anyone familiar with Washington State tax rules, do I need to pay taxes on all the profit I make, including from selling personal items, or just the profit from things I bought with the intent to resell?

Thanks!

---

@thefindfactory 

For Washington State taxes, read here. 

eBay as a marketplace charges and then forwards the taxes to the individual states. They still need to be reported, but in Washington just as a marketplace and you will pay 0 (it's already paid). https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/resources/tax-information

[mam98031]

---

@onefootflipper1 wrote:

---

@mam98031 wrote:

Speaking only for myself.  I do not have a Business bank account.  I do have a specific bank account I use to receive payouts from the various internet sites I sell on, but it is a personal account and not a business account.  It does not have to be a business account.  That is more trouble that I ever wanted to deal with.

---

I don't have a separate bank account either. I just never saw a need for one.

---

Oh I have a separate account, sorry I wasn't clear.  I have a personal account that is attached to all the sites I sell on for purposes of money processing.  I do not use my main personal account for this every.  I transfer money from one account to the other as needed.  But I don't give access to my main personal account to any internet site.