Ebay Business Advise

[mikess]

WOW! The ebay thread is nowhere to be found....lol.

Anyway, I'm getting to where my ebay is a business a need to make it legal. I will soon be getting my license and state tax stuff. I really thought that making it into a business would be a big headache with paperwork and taxes, but the extra money really comes in handy for those vacations (and I am an ebay addict).

So here is my question:

How do you guys deal with paperwork? (Ebay & Paypal statements, recepts, ect.)

I have never ran a business before and I'm look for the quickiest & easiest way for me and an accountant.

Thanks for the help........

 

[nuzmom]

I've helped my friend with her ebay business. This is what she does. (this may be too "small" for you, but here it goes)

After she lists an item, she goes to it and prints out the listing and staples the pages together. She boxes up the stuff (don't tape it incase someone has a question) and put the listing with it and sets it aside.

After it is purchased, she prints out the mailing information (I can't remember exactly where this is, but it has who you mail it too, etc.). She makes a notation on the listing sheets of how the person paid and any special remarks to include in feedback (like - quick payment, great communication, etc.) She uses USPS Priority lables from on-line and keeps the receipt half with the listing also. After mailing she tapes the mailing receipt with the listing, too.

Then once a week (or so) she uses her ebay statement and paypal statement. She had a stamp made up with the following:

Total Amount Seller Pd
Listing Fee
Postage Paid
Final Auction
Paypal Fee
Ebay Profit
Purchase Price
Net Profit

She stamps the listing pages (with everything taped or stapled to them) with the stamp and fills in the blanks. The "net profit" is copied onto a master list and the listing pages is filed (by date).

She keeps receipts for any mailing material, all mileage to post office and to purchase supplies, etc. as a group, not per item. She also files her internet service fee with her business receipts.

You would also need to keep track of sales tax, but that wouldn't be too hard. For our home based business, we only have to file quarterly, but that will depend on the amount of your sales.

Again, this may not be "big" enough for your business, but it works for hers.

 

[mikess]

Do you really have to fill taxes quarterly? I thought it was yearly for small business.

I will only be doing between $3,000-$10,000 in sales.

Maybe I am getting over my head with TOO MUCH paperwork!

 

[nuzmom]

In PA, the least you can file your state SALES tax is quarterly (even for small businesses - ours does about $2000 per quarter). We don't have to file anything else, but once per year.

If you think you have a ebay good business, I say go for it. Figure out the paperwork that will work for you and try it.

We're probably going to close our home business but for other reasons (it's an archery shop - we coach and people always want stuff delivered to the club that we belong to - yuck - there's also the "I'll pay you next week" thing). I've thought about doing ebay more than I already do (I like that you set the hours you work and no one comes to the house), but don't know anything about setting up a store front and how much business you need to do to be profitable with an ebay store.

Good luck with you business.

 

[mikess]

Thanks for the help nuzmom.

On ebay, out of 200+ sells of just personnal items, I have only sold about 5 to people in my state, so state sells tax is not a big deals for me.

I'm planning on asking my mother-in-law for a little help as well. She has owned a few small arts-n-crafts businesses.