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Asking the question – “Can I ship this Media Mail” is similar to the question “Can I deduct this on my taxes.” –

There are cut and dry areas but there are also subtle shades of grey.  My general philosophy is if you are on the unsure, go with media mail but pack the thing so it looks and sounds like standard media mail (perfect example above don’t let your recipe cards rattle).  If it is something that 100% qualifies as media mail but might throw off a post employee I always write what the item is on the outside of the box.  For instance, “8mm Movies”, “VHS Tapes”.

If you get audited for 1 out of every 50 packages, and have to pay the difference you will still come out ahead in the long run.   If you are getting audited once a week, you really need to rethink your methodology.

I am sure someone will post a horror story about someone going to jail or getting a 300k fine but those are applied to people who grossly abuse the system (just like taxes).  In the last 10 years I think I had one media mail package inspected and it was returned to me postage due.  It turnout the item actually qualified, and the post office sent it priority for free.

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Of course right after I hit the Submit button – I realized the flowers are Tulips.  Found it –

 

https://ebay.us/xvhEkh

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@Ryanne – thought you would like this one.

I think I have properly identified they toy as a Worcester’s Plastic Inch Worm.   Ebay listing below is not mine.  Also digging the Encyclopedia set on the left.  They maybe have bought the generic Hasbro toy, but they didn’t skimp on education.

https://imgur.com/7KRjJ75

http://ebay.us/CO02hG

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This listing was particularly challenging which is why I went with the video – for funky shaped items like this it’s the only way to capture the look of the thing.

My previous photos where in from of a white cloth and they looked terrible. The shadows made everything look gray.  The shot on wood bench looks okay to me, but translucent items often take on the coloring of the thing they are set on.

 

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Wow thank you both for the brilliant advice.  Updated!

@amatino – you have a gift with words.  I am a numbers guy, and describing things with words is supremely challenging for me.  What you wrote would have taken me a hour to come up with.  I have taken you up on your offer and copied the text.

@Steve I am going to stick with white background for now.  I don’t know why google and eBay are doubling down on it but it seams to be the trend.   I did take out my thumb.  You are correct, I am no handle model.

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I did have an entertaining exchange with someone the other day who offered 20% of my asking price for watch parts. Th offer came with the note “you can get these for .25 a piece”.

I politely declined the offer with the note, “if you can find them for .25 each, why aren’t you buying them from that vendor?”

In a few hours, I got another offer for 30% of my asking price. I declined to comment.

Immediately, I got an offer or 35% of my asking price with the note “please don’t hate me”.

I took five minutes to do some research. I looked at the buyers feedback (Jay, this is one reason feedback is still relevant and useful). From his purchases and feedback on his sales, I could tell that he repairs watches. His last three sales were for over $200.00 each.

I counter-offered him with 60% of my asking price and a note, “I would never hate a fellow reseller. We are both just trying to make a living. It looks like you are doing good fixing watches.”

He accepted immediately.

IMO that’s a great transaction. He was full of B.S. when he offered the first low ball, but he was never insulting.

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What I really don’t get is when the customers are insulting.

 

I got a message the other day “This VHS isn’t worth more than $10.00 and you should be grateful I making even that offer”.   I did not respond. [But I wanted to tell the customer, ” I would sooner set this VHS on fire than sell it to you for $10.00″

But I wonder…does that tactic work?   Does this guy send out 10 insulting offers a day and 1 out of 10 people accept?

 

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It’s very annoying – I don’t understand why eBay can’t provide better reports.

I have not received a 1099-k for managed payments, but I did get one from PayPal.

The PayPal 1099k includes the gross amount paid by the customer, INCLUDING sales tax collected and paid by eBay. That means that even though I never touch the sales tax, I still have to report it as an income and an expense.
For example

I sold a $10.00 Widget plus 3.00 Shipping Plus $1.00 Tax.
Total reported on 1099-K = $14.00
I need to report the associated eBay fees, PayPal fees, shipping fees, and the $1.00 sales tax as expenses on my Schedule E (I think it’s Sched E might be C).

I hope eBay will offer reports in the future that easily break these costs out. I’ve been swimming in excel spreadsheets for the past week, trying to tease out the information I need.

If you have NOT received a 1099-k, I would think you could get away with just reporting the net profits. Since no entity is reporting your income on a 1099-K there won’t be a huge gap between your net and gross that would need to be accounted for.

Having said that, this is just my uninformed opinion. I am not a tax advisor.

Interested to hear how others handle this.

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Thanks Ryanne – there is a ton more to come.  If you have Instagram please follow me.

I am with you when I watch these old movies, I think to myself  “oh yeah I’d sell that widget,  I would sell the hell out of that widget”.

 

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Thanks Jay. I  will check that out. My ultimate goal will be to build a some sort of stock footage library.  So I am not ready to start uploading everything.  However, I do have a couple buyers that are already doing this sort of thing, so when I find something that demands to be preserved for history’s sake, I have a place to pass on.

 

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W/E 2/13/21
Total Items In Store: 2,507
Items Sold: 19
Cost of Items Sold: 28.62
Total Sales (Sales + Shipping does [not inc sales tax]) 557.63
Ebay / Paypal / Shipping Costs / Fees 164.16
Net Profit 393.47
Highest Price Sold: 89.99 OOP DVD HellBent – Vinegar Syndrome Release
Average Price Sold: 20.71
Number of items listed: 42

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It’s me.

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Either there is a glitch or I am experiencing the most intense DeJa Vu.  After you announce it is episode 501 did you splice to a re-run?

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Steve – I do look forward to your videos every week.  Thanks for posting.

Looks like sales where slow for you.  Me too!  Anyone else notice a huge slow down?

 

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Yes but they do have a movie memorabilia division.  This is terrible, but if you want to go super long-tail you might want to wait until Joe Rohde passes on.

 

 

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