Questions Regarding Selling items obtained through thrifts and garage sales

[militechmatt]

Hi guys, i am currently trying to figure out the question as to how i should go about proving an item is purchased legitimately through garage sales and thrifting to ebay. I am currently in no situation now, but i see a lot of users selling goods obtained through garage sales and i wonder how to protect myself if a mc011 happens to me once again asking for proof of purchase. Keep in mind, i have had my account temporarily freezed once before asking for proof of purchase and it went smoothly but i want to make sure before i dive into the thrifting scene i will have all of my bases covered. I was thinking of writing a receipt whenever i do a transaction, but i have no clue what ebay would want to do if it did happen.

[richard1rst]

Well the simple answer is do not buy anything that is a major brand name likely to be VEROed. Of course that begets the question how do you know what will be VEROed.

https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/ebay-for-business/verified-rights-owner-program#m17-1-tb3

In other words if you are fearful of that stick with strictly generic items.

[femmefan1946]

Take along a notebook and write down what you bought when you bought it and how much it cost.

It's informal, but if it is consistent, it should be acceptable.

[militechmatt]

It would be nothing veroed, but it would be items like gaming consoles, used electronics such as cameras, camcorders and etc. 

[richard1rst · Accepted solution]

In that case then as femmefan1946 said take notes.

A nice neat journal. Doesn't need to be anything overly fancy but it should include a description of the item, price, date,  where and from whom you bought it. Do that consistently and its consistency should offer some protection.

[farmalljr]

The short answer is, there IS NO WAY to "protect" yourself when buying and reselling stuff bought in thrift shops or yard sales. Register receipts and hand written receipts are NOT chain of custody. eBay can ban/close your account over it.  If they chose to, that is. 

The records that work for IRS/tax purposes, may not work for selling purposes. Chain of custody would require you to buy directly from the manufacture, or through wholesaler/distributor with receipts and invoices.  In some cases, it may require that you are "authorized" to sell the items. 

[stephenmorgan]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

Take along a notebook and write down what you bought when you bought it and how much it cost.

It's informal, but if it is consistent, it should be acceptable.

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This is also perfectly acceptable to IRS at tax time for proof of cost.