Selling on Ebay and collecting sales tax

[Tony H]

I went to sell something on Ebay and learned I need to collect sales tax. Has anyone dealt with this? There is a tax table to set up with every state that collects sales tax-like 40 or so. Looks like a real PITA and time consuming for a small seller. I guess I will save my stuff until I want to put the time into it or sell it on CL. There is no sales tax here so as a buyer I was not aware of it.

[merc lover]

Depends what your goals are. If you are looking to make a go of an online business, amazon.com is the way to go. Ebay has lost much credibility due to shipping problems. I've received more than one package from Ebay sellers that arrived DAMAGED. I contacted Ebay and received no response. They simply don't care if the buyer received the goods intact.

If you are just trying to unload a few personal items, Craigs List is the way to go.

[Tony H]

Yea my market here is somewhat limited for CL. Just selling extra stuff. Shipping is so expensive it's hardly worth it unless it's a high dollar item.

[INSIDIOUS]

I think ebay automatically charges and handles the sales tax on electronic payments. In person cash, no clue.

[Mxfrank]

Originally Posted by merc lover

Depends what your goals are. If you are looking to make a go of an online business, amazon.com is the way to go. Ebay has lost much credibility due to shipping problems. I've received more than one package from Ebay sellers that arrived DAMAGED. I contacted Ebay and received no response. They simply don't care if the buyer received the goods intact.

If you are just trying to unload a few personal items, Craigs List is the way to go.

Wrong, as usual. Ebay prints out UPS or USPS tickets as the seller chooses, at a discount to the regular rates. After that, the usual carriers handle the delivery. If you see a difference from Amazon, it’s because the individual sellers are inconsistent. And few of the goods sold on Amazon these days are sold by Amazon, so differences are leveling out.

If you sell thorough Craig’s list, you are responsible for collecting and remitting any taxes due. And if the sale is local, there is no exemption.

[vwnate1]

Thanx .

I thought it was done by E-Bay when they paid .

I'm in California , I *think* this is one of the states that charge tax on internet sales .

I mostly buy things, rarely sell and when I need to sell a thing I take pictures and box it up and give my buddy the description and tag words to use in the listing, he's a professional E-Bay seller and says I do pretty good because I know what to put in the listing to make people look .

HINT : it isn't the usual 'retro', '!RARE!' etcetera foolishness that wastes everyone's time .

[Mxfrank]

Nate, my friend, there's a story here.

Until about two years ago, sellers were only required to collect taxes for shipments to states where they had physical presence. So a California individual or business would be responsible only for taxes if the item was sold to someone in California. If you happened to have an unrelated property in Arizona, you would also be required to collect and remit Arizona taxes for items shipped to that state. But if you shipped to Utah and had no physical presence there, then taxes were the duty of the buyer. Essentially nobody declares that they owe tax for out of state purchases, so the states were "losing" this revenue.

Then a court decision...South Dakota vs Wayfair...blew away Federal safe harbor protections and allowed states and local jurisdictions to require vendors to remit sales tax on any and all transactions which delivered goods inside their borders. There are about 300 tax jurisdictions in the United States, and an online seller needs to collect and remit taxes to any jurisdiction to which he sends goods. Needless to say, unless you have a simple way to file 300 tax returns on various schedules, that's a big complication.

Big platforms like Amazon, Etsy, Ebay, Walmart, etc can afford the considerable cost of accounting software and state filings. But for small companies and individuals, it's no longer cost effective to open an independent storefront. The industry doesn't have a satisfactory solution, other than to use one of the big guys (for a fee) for payment processing. This is grossly anti-competitive. In effect, anyone entering an online business has to funnel payments to larger, more powerful competitors or pay a considerable sum for compliance. If the papers weren't obsessed with other things, they would be all over this.

Many jurisdictions have "de minimus" rules, meaning that if you only post a few transactions to, say, South Dakota, you won't be required to file there. It doesn't matter one bit. Because every single jurisdiction has the right to audit your records for compliance. In time, there will be only huge vendors and tiny, inconsequential vendors offering online sales. For the occasional online seller, the only thing that makes sense is to sell on E-Bay and let them handle it.

Craigslist is a huge black hole for sales tax, and always has been. Since most Craigslist sales are local, informal, cash transactions, tax cheating is common. Someday, there will be a flood of individual state enforcement actions that "fix" that.

[vwnate1]

Thanx ! .

[merc lover]

Originally Posted by Mxfrank

Wrong, as usual. Ebay prints out UPS or USPS tickets as the seller chooses, at a discount to the regular rates. After that, the usual carriers handle the delivery. If you see a difference from Amazon, it’s because the individual sellers are inconsistent. And few of the goods sold on Amazon these days are sold by Amazon, so differences are leveling out.

If you sell thorough Craig’s list, you are responsible for collecting and remitting any taxes due. And if the sale is local, there is no exemption.

Wrong, as usual. I now have quite a collection of auto parts from Sleeze Bay sellers that arrived damaged. When I contacted the seller concerning their inadequate and substandard packaging which had resulted in the damage during shipment, they copped an attitude. I then contacted the mothership, Sleeze Bay itself asking for assistance. I sent photos to back up my claims. Sleeze Bay didn't lift a finger to help. As a result of both the sellers and Sleeze Bay's attitude concerning DAMAGED SHPMENTS, I haven't bought or sold anything on Sleeze Bay for the past five years.


There is an old saying, "Once the seller has your money, he'll be a MUCH tougher customer than you ever were."

[merc lover]

At least Amazon stands behind their merchandise. Refunds are not a problem. Perhaps Sleeze Bay could learn a thing or two from Amazon?

[vwnate1]

Every classic vehicle I've bought off E-Bay was mis represented and trashed / rusted out / junk .

Every vehicle I've sold on E-Bay was well received and I was told after they'd driven them from California home a few states away, they couldn't believe they got them so cheaply .

Not everyone on the Bay Of E is a crook but it sure seems like a magnet for crooks to me .

It's up to each person to have sufficient self respect to treat others as you'd like to be treated .

Character is what you do when no one is looking .

OTOH, doing the right thing is often like pissing your pants in a black suit : you get a warm feeling but no one else notices .

I love most of the stuff I've bought off Amazon and yes, they're good about refunds .

[Tony H]

Ebay does collect and remit taxes on behalf of the seller but it is up to the seller to set up the tax tables for each individual jurisdiction. Each state can have dozens of jurisdictions since lots of city's tack on their own tax package. I know a few Ebay sellers-maybe I will ask how they deal with it. Ebay vs Amazon-two totally different venues. I have bought some junk on Amazon and the return windows closes fast. I like the reviews on Amazon. I use them on purchases from physical stores as well.

[merc lover]

A few weeks back, stopped by the local professional camera store. Sales associate and I discuss cameras offered on Sleeze Bay. He informed me that many of the cameras offered on sleeze bay are STOLEN. Basically, Sleeze Bay doesn't do anything to vet out whether the item being sold is stolen or not.


Apparently, the cities and states don't give a rats rip if the merchandise on Sleeze Bay is stolen or not just as long as they get their sales tax (did the state spend $$$$ to advertise or market your product?). Thank you but no thank you.

[Mxfrank]

Originally Posted by Tony H

Ebay does collect and remit taxes on behalf of the seller but it is up to the seller to set up the tax tables for each individual jurisdiction. Each state can have dozens of jurisdictions since lots of city's tack on their own tax package. I know a few Ebay sellers-maybe I will ask how they deal with it. Ebay vs Amazon-two totally different venues. I have bought some junk on Amazon and the return windows closes fast. I like the reviews on Amazon. I use them on purchases from physical stores as well.

This has changed since SD v Wayfair. EBay still supports tax tables, but automatically collects in states that require tax on net sales. It's not possible to opt out for those states. The tax tables only allow you to opt in/out for those states that do not have a net law, but in which you have a tax obligation due to physical presence or other legal anomaly. For the typical individual seller, the tax tables can and should be disregarded.

[merc lover]

Question; if the state governments are collecting sales tax on items they KNOW are stolen, aren't they now ACCOMPLICES to criminal activity? Or, is it simply easier to turn a blind eye?