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I use this same report without those specific filters for several needs.
1) Capture my Missouri sales tax information for filing. That’s annual for me, has to be filed by the end of January so I’m working on it today instead of waiting until the last minute!
2) Get income tax expenses for supplies, fees, merchandise, post5age, etc. I use my PayPal debit card when I can to get the 1% cashback and keep most things in one place.
3) Get income information for not only eBay sales but also website and seasonal fireworks sales where I use PayPal’s pay here card reader.
I convert it into an Excel file and create an Excel table for ease of filtering, hiding rows and columns I don’t need. I keep the unaltered csv file for audit backup. Geeky Stuff that’s not necessarily needed but it’s what I do because I can.
“I’m sorry to hear you are experiencing this problem with your order, please return it to us for a refund.”
That’s my standard response, but I may try to go a little deeper into the problem depending on the perceived tone of the buyer’s message and the clarity of the message. Initial messages that include a photo of the damage get more attention for example.
I would never volunteer a partial refund as a first response. An old seller friend who is gone now used to say, “I don’t give partial refunds because I don’t want customers to be only partially satisfied”.
There’s a good chance that you will get another response from this buyer saying they can’t return the item because they don’t have a printer to print the label. Or some other such nonsense.
As I’ve gotten older I have more trouble trying to split my attention. Music is OK if not too loud but oldies can pull my mind back to that time in my life.
I can listen to Jay and Ryanne and also play Spider Solitaire, that’s about it.
First of all, Let me say you should consult with your accountant to find out for sure what they will want from you and take any advice you receive here or from friends, etc. as points to discuss with your accountant. Be sure the accountant you use has experience dealing with online sales. A CPA might be worth the extra cost but not necessarily required. Some accountants will be more conservative about expenses than others and the advice may not be consistent from various accountants. You will probably want to find out what support they will provide if you are audited.
General suggestions for your list of things to talk to your accountant about:
You can download a report from PayPal to show the fees they charged. Also any supplies, merchandise, etc. you might have bought for the business and paid with PayPal.
Sales tax collected on eBay sales on your behalf but paid to the states by eBay. I haven’t looked at my 1099 from eBay yet; if they are showing that as income you need to offset it as an expense.
Cost of Goods (COG). If I recall correctly you are selling a lot of personal items, talk with your accountant about the cost basis for those.
Vehicle mileage. This can add up. The IRS wants contemporaneous records, meaning you recorded the mileage when it happened and what the mileage was for. Talk to your accountant about this and see if they will use your estimates for last year, where that estimate has some basis such as daily trips to the post office, etc. Start a mileage log now for 2020 if you haven’t already.
Business use of your home. There are very specific IRS requirements on this, go by what your accountant tells you. In general, this would be a portion of your home used exclusively for the business and if you qualify then probably a % of your utilities, real estate tax, etc., might also be deductible. This is a biggy to get the accountant’s advice on since it is one of the IRS audit triggers.
I suggest you pick an accountant now and set up a consultation to discuss specific information they will want you to provide, and do that soon since the closer to April 15 it gets the busier they will be. And again, take this advice and any outside advice with a grain of salt and get/use your accountant’s advice on specifics. Getting these specifics might also lower your stress level if it gives you a specific game plan to follow.
It might seem overwhelming the first time but it really isn’t that bad once you can see the actual picture of what your accountant will require. Filing next year for 2020 sales will be easier for you because you will be better prepared.
Followup: This old pressure cooker sold this morning for $60 + shipping. I pulled it out of my attic when clearing some old things stored there, I think it came from my late wife’s stepfather’s estate about 10-12 years ago. I listed it back in October. http://www.ebay.com/itm/293278675577
I sold this on my personal account which I’ve had for 20 years, I’ve sold a few things over the years but mainly it is for buying.
I really do love the pets at the end of the video, they always improve my day. Your Collie is beautiful and majestic standing on the picnic table.
Good job! Another intangible benefit of a big first score is that your spouse or life partner is more apt to be onboard with you time spent than if you went weeks to make only a few bucks.
I have a large 6-drawer (2 wide by 3 high) bureau that I bought used for personal use many years ago and moved to my shipping area when I bought new bedroom furniture. Depending on the size of the mailer I put them in open-top boxes in one of the drawers, or for larger ones I just stack them. What won’t fit in the drawers for each size is stored in another room and replenished as needed. The top of the dresser is a convenient height to store other commonly used shipping supplies. It’s not pretty but it’s free.
I don’t think “Kitchen Themes” are as popular as they used to be but I have seen Rooster Themes with curtains, canisters, wall hangings, mugs, etc. That would be typical of that type of theme I think.
Here is a little tip that I use when a shipment is running late and the customer is asking about it. On the USPS tracking page, I request updates to be sent to me and then if there is any movement I inform the customer right away. It makes them feel like we are doing everything we can and helps prevent negative feedback I believe. It doesn’t take any significant amount of time and is good customer service.
I have also switched to using Gixen. I don’t do a lot of auction bidding on eBay any more and the free version has been adequate.
My Shopify store is not profitable. I don’t have transaction fees but do have a monthly fee and most months I come out with less than selling the same thing on eBay or Amazon. I have spent money on Google ads with no noticeable effect. The biggest issue is that I sell auto parts and do not have a parts fitment lookup function. There is a round-about way to sort of do that within Shopify, but I don’t want to spend the time to do that work. I keep telling myself this year I will do something with it, but haven’t.
My last bill from ecomdash was $90. That’s quite a bit of money to me personally, I’m sure it is to most, but when I consider the time savings compared to manually adjusting inventory in 2-3 places, and the reduced hassles of overselling due to an inventory error (I hate that), along with the time savings of not having to do a physical inventory audit, it’s worth the cost for me. The time saved is better used for things that make me money, like creating new listings and sourcing products.
