Inentory

[kokoek9]

I was wondering how to keep inventory, do I add an item to inventory when I buy it or when I actualy list it thanks                       Mike

[slippinjimmy]

If you mean for accounting purposes it becomes party of your inventory when you acquire it, usually but not always you are paying for it at the same time.

[inhawaii]

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@kokoek9 wrote:

I was wondering how to keep inventory, do I add an item to inventory when I buy it or when I actualy list it thanks                       Mike

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It depends.

Do you want your inventory to reflect what you have in your possession -or- what you have listed?

[chevymontecarlo88]

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@kokoek9 wrote:

I was wondering how to keep inventory, do I add an item to inventory when I buy it or when I actualy list it thanks                       Mike

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Typically i would suggest once you acquire an item that you add it to your inventory list if you are going to sell it. Can be done once a week or daily depending on how you can manage your time. If you are looking to organize so you can keep track of the item, cost of item, ebay listing number and selling price, ect., i would suggest using a spreadsheet or inventory software to help streamline the process. I would list items purchased on a spreadsheet on Sundays (after i checked items to make sure they were sell-able) along with any sold items that needed to be updated. It was a fluid spreadsheet because sometimes i would need to add expenses to items (repairs), mark them sold with price, ect..

You can approach it many ways but i would suggest staying on top of it because if it gets out of control (many items you list and sell) it can be a headache.

[caldreamer]

I created a inventory spreadsheet with the following info (date item listed, cost of goods, description, date sold, EBAY invoice#).   Cost of goods = amount you paid to acquire items.  Assign inventory# to all your listed items (when item sell you subtract "cost of goods" from inventory).   You keep the same inventory sheet forever (just keep adding + subtracting).

When you file your Federal income as a "business" you are required to provide "beginning Jan. 1 + ending inventory Dec. 31" every year.

$10,000 BEGINNING INVENTORY (Jan. 1) 

+ 1,0000 Added Inventory

 - 3,000 Sold Inventory

+     500 Returned Merchandise

$ 9,500 ENDING INVENTORY (Dec. 31)

[dirk12955]

caldreamer,    That's almost exactly how I keep my inventory numbers.  

I don't count unlisted items in my inventory numbers.   If it's not listed,

It probably isn't worth anything.

[dbfolks166mt]

     Unless you are a major seller inventory is for your purposes only. When it comes to filing taxes if you are a small seller there is no reason to report inventory and it is in fact a disadvantage to do so. When you are doing your taxes, specifically the schedule C, it depends on whether you utilize cash or accrual accounting as to when you take the deduction. Both have their pro's and con's personally I have always used accrual for it's simplicity. You will need to declare your accounting method when you file your taxes and it needs to remain consistent from year to year. It can be changed but it is a mess to do so.

     You may want to read through the following IRS publication regarding preparing your schedule C. It covers your question on inventory. 

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/i1040sc--2023.pdf 

[onlinecentral]

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Ebay-and-taxes/m-p/32988670#M2013940

IRS publication 334 and the section about treating inventory as Treating inventory as non-incidental material or supplies on page 15.
Essentially, this allows you to expense the cost of items sold in 2024 in tax year 2024 regardless of when they were purchased.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p334.pdf