posted on February 16, 2002 02:40:04 PM new
What kind of paper trail should be kept when selling on ebay? I keep all my post mail receipts and have an excell sheet with all my sales. Is this enough?
Should I keep a paper record?
Also lets say I purchase something at a bargain on ebay and then resell it, what kind of receipt you I use to prove it was part of my inventory?
posted on February 16, 2002 03:04:54 PM new
That all depends.....
Are you legit or not?
If you are, you should be keeping any and all receipts that you get from purchasing items, shipping, packing supplies, etc.
You should keep a record of every person you receive money from. You don't have to actually keep a record of the item sold, just a record of how much you took in.
You don't have to prove that something is part of your inventory. In fact, I don't keep a record of my inventory (it is too hard to do, since I am selling all unique items, and purchase in bulk). You just have to keep a record of who you purchased from, and how much you paid them.
Hope this makes sense. I have been at live auctions all day, and am beat (spent over $600, and am suffering from the "should I really have bought this?" jitters)
posted on February 16, 2002 03:19:22 PM new
The best way to do that is to copy the auction page and staple what ever method of payment you used to pay for it to it. )ie.. paypal reciept, check, money order stub) then you have proof of the item and proof of your payment.
posted on February 16, 2002 03:58:05 PM new
You must be pretty worried that someone will charge you on fraud to have to have a paper trail of EVERYTHING you bought. Let me explain one quick Ebay point to your really quick, almost everything sells for less than its worth. If people wanted to pay retail they would go to an online store or a local store! Noone cares where the items come from, just make sure you are accurate with your description, and then just make sure you send them the described item! You will have no problems if you stick to this easy method. Don't worry about having 5 filing cabinets full of paper. Keep all the important figures on paper (money in and out) and just have fun selling!
Ebay is like a big garage sale! Noones gonna ask you where you got it
Tim
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[ edited by palmwire on Feb 16, 2002 03:58 PM ]
posted on February 16, 2002 06:37:07 PM newEbay is like a big garage sale! Noones gonna ask you where you got it
Yeah right. Whatever you say.
"Keeping important figures on paper" is fine and dandy until the IRS decides to do an audit. Then those "figures" are worthless, and you need receipts and hard evidence of $ going in and out.
Yes, a printout of an auction page should be enough of a receipt to satisfy the requirement, but I would look for something better - an email stating that payment was received (with headers, of course), a packing slip that arrives with the package, or if all else fails, a receipt (or copy) of a money order, check, or credit card statement. Any of these would satisfy the requirement in most cases.
Here is what I keep to show money going in and out -
$ coming in -
Invoices (showing if and when they are paid)
$ going out -
Shipper (postage) reciepts
Merchant account statements
Store receipts
Bank statements
etc.
[ edited by revvassago on Feb 16, 2002 06:40 PM ]
