When did Reverb overtake Ebay?

[Samir]

The taxes you paid when you bought it were sales taxes collected by your state.
The taxes you pay when you sell something are income taxes. Completely different stuff...

Actually, when you sell something used on ebay, et al, even if you bought it new they still charge sales tax. The income tax portion is why they send you a 1099, and technically you're supposed to report a 'gain' even if you don't get a 1099.

 

[Samir]

The internet, especially places like eBay, reverb, easy gave thousand (millions?) of folks and opportunity to easily sell "stuff" for relatively very low fees. Many of you seem to not remember how you used to sell stuff...
You could take out ads in newspapers that cost a lot in relation to how many people would see them. You had to pay whether or not stuff sold. You could sell on consignment or at auctions with fees at least 20-25%.
Now, you can eat a gummy and sell your cowbell for what you bought for used...it takes a minute and you pay 13% if it sells.

Very interesting retrospective on how it used to be. I wasn't old enough to have to sell anything, but I do remember all that and publications like the Thrifty Nickel.

 

[Samir]

It's a loss when you declare what you paid for it as an expense.

I think you meant gain?

 

[Rich K.]

Hopefully someone in here is a CPA, but If you sell your stuff for less than you bought it then it is a loss and there is not profit or income to pay taxes on in the first place

Profit and income are two different things.

 

[Ox Han]

Profit and income are two different things.

No argument there. I think you’re confusing business taxes and personal taxes. I’m not a business and I don’t sell things online as a business. People do not need to amortize their personal possessions

It’s like this. I had income in 2019, paid taxes on that income, and used some of that income to buy a drum set. In 2021, I sell that drum set for 75% of what I paid for it. I would not need to pay taxes on getting 75% of that money back because taxes were already paid on it in 2019. If I were a business, maybe I could file it as a loss, but I’m not a business. It’s technically not income because Selling your personal stuff at a loss is not income. If it were a gain and actual income maybe it would be different. I’ll let you know the day I sell drums and make money on them.

 

[poot]

Ebay turned a blind eye to shill bids. I refuse to bid there now. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME, someone bids up in minimum bid increments and then retracts. And ebay flat out doesn't care because SHILL BIDS INCREASE THEIR FEES

Simple solution. Stop bidding. Get an eSnipe account, set the max amount you're willing to bid, and it will be entered seconds before the end of auction. Takes the anxiety out of bidding. Outbid? There's always another deal.

 

[Gotdrums]

Simple solution. Stop bidding. Get an eSnipe account, set the max amount you're willing to bid, and it will be entered seconds before the end of auction. Takes the anxiety out of bidding. Outbid? There's always another deal.

eSnipe takes their share too after you use it a few times, last time I looked. Is that the case still?
I used eSnipe once to bid for me on a very rare snare and it went to a bidding war on Ebay. Because I used eSnipe, they bid for me at the last second and I won the snare. It was very near my max bid. If one of the other bidders bid just $5 more, they would of won.

 

[dcrigger]

Actually, when you sell something used on ebay, et al, even if you bought it new they still charge sales tax. The income tax portion is why they send you a 1099, and technically you're supposed to report a 'gain' even if you don't get a 1099.

Regarding sales tax - of course they do, because sales tax is about taxing the "sale" - not the item. Every time an item changes hands for money, it's a new sale - with each new buyer paying tax on that sale.

As for 1099, exactly... they are just reporting that money changed hands. They don't even explain how and for why the money changed - that's what tax returns are far... Disclosing all revenue, declaring all expenses - and paying tax on whatever profit is left over.

 

[dcrigger]

No argument there. I think you’re confusing business taxes and personal taxes. I’m not a business and I don’t sell things online as a business. People do not need to amortize their personal possessions

It’s like this. I had income in 2019, paid taxes on that income, and used some of that income to buy a drum set. In 2021, I sell that drum set for 75% of what I paid for it. I would not need to pay taxes on getting 75% of that money back because taxes were already paid on it in 2019. If I were a business, maybe I could file it as a loss, but I’m not a business. It’s technically not income because Selling your personal stuff at a loss is not income. If it were a gain and actual income maybe it would be different. I’ll let you know the day I sell drums and make money on them.

No, but if you collect $1000 for a drum kit you spent $1500 on (as you say a loss) - that $1000 you've collected is revenue - that s supposed to be explained on your return. If this happens once in a blue moon, then it probably doesn't matter one way or the other - and on the off hand, if you were ever audited and it came up, you'd have your $1500 receipt on the original purchase. Because if not, that audit could result in you being delinquent of under-reporting by $1000 and charged both the tax and the late fee on that money (if your return showed you would've owed tax on that money in first place).

Because while you may not be in the "business" of buying and selling instruments - selling something, selling anything is always considered a business activity - a way of generating revenue. Regardless if your total sales are $10 or $10,000.

which still doesn't mean you should report that one sale - just keep the receipts and see what happens (which will probably be nothing) (I mean, you are supposed to - whether you should is a personal choice...) IMO

 

[dcrigger]

Simple solution. Stop bidding. Get an eSnipe account, set the max amount you're willing to bid, and it will be entered seconds before the end of auction. Takes the anxiety out of bidding. Outbid? There's always another deal.

Don't bid on much stuff anymore - but the I do... I always use esnipe. It just makes the whole process sane for me. Figure out my absolute top top top amount I'm willing to spend - put that amount into Esnipe - and I win or I lose because someone else wanted for more than I was willing to pay. No frame, no checking, no last minute hand wringing, or constant rethinking how much I'm willing to spend. I decide the max in front - and that's it. Love it.

 

[Ox Han]

No, but if you collect $1000 for a drum kit you spent $1500 on (as you say a loss) - that $1000 you've collected is revenue - that s supposed to be explained on your return. If this happens once in a blue moon, then it probably doesn't matter one way or the other - and on the off hand, if you were ever audited and it came up, you'd have your $1500 receipt on the original purchase. Because if not, that audit could result in you being delinquent of under-reporting by $1000 and charged both the tax and the late fee on that money (if your return showed you would've owed tax on that money in first place).

Because while you may not be in the "business" of buying and selling instruments - selling something, selling anything is always considered a business activity - a way of generating revenue. Regardless if your total sales are $10 or $10,000.

which still doesn't mean you should report that one sale - just keep the receipts and see what happens (which will probably be nothing) (I mean, you are supposed to - whether you should is a personal choice...) IMO

Yap. This is what worries me

 

[dcrigger]

Yap. This is what worries me

If it worries you and if you have an accountant or tax preparer.... ask them. I guess, my point is, unless you are doing lots of volume and it's adding up to a bunch of money - then the tax consequences aren't going to be that significant either way - and even less, if you have receipts or proof of your original purchases. Which is simply a good habit to have regarding anything you buy that you might someday resell. Again, especially if you're are selling things a lot.

It's really no difference regarding folks that have bands that work for money. Doesn't matter much if it's just a couple of gigs a year - but when the monies changing hands - between clients and the band - and within the band itself. It's a good idea for the band to get it's business act together.

Because again, when it comes to money changing hands, there really is no such thing as "hobby" transaction. No matter how much everyone may want it to be that way... IMO

 

[Whitten]

Back to the topic.....
I'm not sure Reverb has replaced Ebay in the UK.
I have listed things on both and often achieve a sale on Ebay, while my ads on Reverb sit for weeks without any action. It's not just me. I have 'watched' items I am interested in on Reverb and a year later they are still for sale.
I can search Ebay for something quite rare and come up with a coupe of auctions, search Reverb and have no results come back.
The is not to say Ebay is better than Reverb, just that maybe Reverb hasn't taken off as much in the UK (Europe?) as it maybe has Stateside.

 

[Drum Mer]

Back to the topic.....
I'm not sure Reverb has replaced Ebay in the UK.
I have listed things on both and often achieve a sale on Ebay, while my ads on Reverb sit for weeks without any action. It's not just me. I have 'watched' items I am interested in on Reverb and a year later they are still for sale.
I can search Ebay for something quite rare and come up with a coupe of auctions, search Reverb and have no results come back.
The is not to say Ebay is better than Reverb, just that maybe Reverb hasn't taken off as much in the UK (Europe?) as it maybe has Stateside.

It usually depends more on what you sell, what its price is, what it cost to ship, and (for some locations) where you are located.

For instance a 14” Remo rototom was posted by a seller im helping out these day, earlier this week for a high price in the EU.

It sold to the US (which cost a lot of shipping and sometimes added import taxes) within three days.

All my watched items (some
regular, some rare) sell in days to weeks.

In my personal low key selling experience (I still sell more on FB and spots like the German Kleinanzeigen), my listings have sold on Reverb within days or sometimes weeks for fair or higher then market fair prices.

It could be a UK thing or more item specific. Europe in general starts to turn more and more Reverb orange since it started the European roll out in 2017 (in which I played a big part when I worked for them back then)

PS.

A great way to list on both eBay, Reverb, FB, a personal website, and more at the same time, is this platform called Shopify.

 

[Whitten]

All my watched items (some
regular, some rare) sell in days to weeks.

I'm talking about a PDP hi-hat pedal, a bit of a rarity. It's in Germany. I made the seller an offer, they refused, a year later it's still there.
A Noble & Cooley classic 7 x 14" in the UK, £900, not really over priced by UK standards, still unsold after weeks.
If you search Camco, there are kits and some snares in America that have been listed for over a year.
Maybe if you are offering mainstream gear at competitive pricing.

 

[Drum Mer]

I'm talking about a PDP hi-hat pedal, a bit of a rarity. It's in Germany. I made the seller an offer, they refused, a year later it's still there.
A Noble & Cooley classic 7 x 14" in the UK, £900, not really over priced by UK standards, still unsold after weeks.
If you search Camco, there are kits and some snares in America that have been listed for over a year.
Maybe if you are offering mainstream gear at competitive pricing.

What a coincidence.

I offered on that PDP hihat too (I need a spare) but they dont take offers (I contacted them through Kleinanzeigen where it is for sale too) really strange they leave the offer option open.

My stuff (and the stuff im watching) is mostly quite rare, prototypes, or slightly above regular priced to cover the higher shipping gear.

I would say 900gbp is indeed too high (especially if you added the currency conversion which is almost 1200USD today, and added fees and taxes), so it will still sit until they lower their prices. The same thing goes for the US (where Camco is easier to get, but sending it out will cost a lot more).

Kits (and Amps etc) are so hard to ship due to the ship prices and taxes too, its just not feasable for a lot of sellers and buyers.

 

[Whitten]

I would say 900gbp is indeed too high (especially if you added the currency conversion which is almost 1200USD today, and added fees and taxes), so it will still sit until they lower their prices.

The drum and me are both in the UK, so there is no currency conversion, fees or taxes.
I misremembered, it is basically £1000, which is a bit high, but still patently no one has made them a lower offer. And it's a 1989 star series single ply snare, very desirable.
I just mentioned a few items, I still see many things sit on Reverb for months, albeit yes items bargain priced sell pretty quickly.

 

[KillinBill66]

Yes, my items on Reverb never seem to sell for more than my minimum acceptable amount.

 

[Drum Mer]

The drum and me are both in the UK, so there is no currency conversion, fees or taxes.
I misremembered, it is basically £1000, which is a bit high, but still patently no one has made them a lower offer. And it's a 1989 star series single ply snare, very desirable.
I just mentioned a few items, I still see many things sit on Reverb for months, albeit yes items bargain priced sell pretty quickly.

I almost bought a black Star model on Kleinanzeigen for just under 650gbp a few weeks a go.

To stuid I didn’t had any money spare as I would loved to have checked such a snare irl.

 

[dustjacket]

The internet isn’t fun anymore…
I miss the Wild Wild West days