[Discussion] Downsizing/Minimizing Sneaker Collection or Quitting Collecting (WITH TIPS/RESOURCES)

Yes they do

Figured. I swear I wish a platform would pop up to facilitate sales for people wanting to do like a one time yard sale. They should have added in a provision where it's $600 OR if you sell things in more than a single month in a year. Like sure some resellers could dodge things by selling everything in march, but certainly there are releases all year and that would ruin what they try to do. If a shoe comes out in May, somebody''s going to wait til the following March to buy it if they want it, but the vast majority of people would not. Anyway, I really loathe trying to go the craigslist/facebook route and I'm wary of doing sales with no way to do it safely and securely without drama. And nothing I'm selling is of the Yeezy/Kobe variety. I may just have to do like 4 pairs a year and be content with that. So frustrating.
 
Does Ebay hit you with the tax form and you have to report your earnings after you hit $600 in sales?

They are SUPPOSED TO this year. The threshold changed last year from the old $20,000 in sales AND 200 transaction per year to the new $600 per year amount BUT the IRS were not ready for it and at the last minutes of the calendar year, they passed on it and said it would be the old limits. Pissed a lot of people off too as many more could have taken advantage of that. It will be interesting to see if they actually go through with it.

Personally the change from the old to new limits is a joke. For some people, who just want to get rid of some old crap they got laying around, this REALLY screws the normal people. Yeah, I get some people make a living selling on eBay, but others who just want to off some old stuff, whether it's their own items or say their parents had stuff and the adult kids are cleaning up after a parent passes, to make Joe Smith have to pay tax on $600 of stuff is crap. Should have done a reverse scale to have the limits roll back in time..maybe go from $20k/200 to $10k/100 the next year then half it again to $5k/50 until they get to their appropriate limits.

I got like 20 pairs of OGs from the late 90s. Nothing really wearable but stuff some collectors would want to have sealed in plastic for their shelf. So I'm gonna sell them for cheap just go avoided the threshold. I'm already a few hundred dollars in from selling an brand new Jordan/Pippen/Rodman NOS Nike Poster. I got the original Wings poster that is worth several hundred. I sell that at going rate, I'll be over the threshold. Sucks! I'm no pro eBay seller, just some dude selling a few of my old things to help with some bills since I'm on long term disability.
 
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IM NOT SAVY IN THE TAX REALM… BUT PAYING TAXES ON STUFF THAT TAXES HAVE ALREADY BEEN PAID ON IS 🤯🤯🤯. THIS IS 1 REASON IM HUNG UP ON GETTING SHOES OUT MY CLOSET.
 
You can claim your COGS (Cost Of Goods Sold) against your revenue to net it out pretty close to zero if you have some evidence to support it under audit.
 
You can claim your COGS (Cost Of Goods Sold) against your revenue to net it out pretty close to zero if you have some evidence to support it under audit.

I honestly have no idea what that all means. Not trying to be funny, I just don't. Do you mean prove what one paid for something vs what they sold it for. Yeah that isn't possible. For example the wings poster I got, I bought that many many years ago. Still sealed. So I know if I offer it with a make offer of going rate, I'll be over the $600 limit and will pay taxes on it.

Let me ask one other thing. Is the $600 on what you sold in total or the dollar amount one gets after eBay takes their cut?
 
Yeah, it's what you paid for it. For your poster, that's a tricky one. I have that wings poster as well (OG vintage), but it has pin holes in it from when I tacked it to my wall...heh. It's your revenue after fees. eBay will send you a 1099 form with that info, so you won't need to calculate it.

As someone noted, the $600 wasn't implemented last year; I wonder what will happen this year. That limit is just too low. The spirit is to crack down on business operators who aren't paying taxes, not mom and pops selling off personal items. So lame. You can talk to your accountant, but if they're treating us like a business, we can also write-off home business expenses like a proportion of certain house expenses (the square footage of your office space as a proportion of the size of your house) as a sole-proprietorship. That's another way you can reduce your revenue from sales.

Sold off a dozen shoes so far this year. Have another 10 listed, and more to list. It's a process.
 
You can talk to your accountant, but if they're treating us like a business, we can also write-off home business expenses like a proportion of certain house expenses (the square footage of your office space as a proportion of the size of your house) as a sole-proprietorship. That's another way you can reduce your revenue from sales.

Thanks for the tips. I'm obviously just guessing but as helpful as this info is, I'm thinking most sneakerheads don't have accountants. I'm not really directing that at you, just saying I hate that we have to drift into this area of tax evasion (in the legal sense, tax avoidance if you will) just to do what happens all weekend every single weekend for the past like 70 years of American History - essentially a Yard Sale.

It just seems like they need to get a way for us Yard Sale folks to sell online, because everyone in the country knows that people who have yard sales make more than $600 and they damn sure aren't worried about paying taxes on it, maintaining records for audits or filling out forms. It's hore**** and I hate it.
 
Thanks for the tips. I'm obviously just guessing but as helpful as this info is, I'm thinking most sneakerheads don't have accountants. I'm not really directing that at you, just saying I hate that we have to drift into this area of tax evasion (in the legal sense, tax avoidance if you will) just to do what happens all weekend every single weekend for the past like 70 years of American History - essentially a Yard Sale.

It just seems like they need to get a way for us Yard Sale folks to sell online, because everyone in the country knows that people who have yard sales make more than $600 and they damn sure aren't worried about paying taxes on it, maintaining records for audits or filling out forms. It's hore**** and I hate it.

100% agreed. And yes, it's NOT tax evasion whatsoever; it's legitimate tax planning. I agree, there should be a better approach, but that would require politicians to apply logic, deep thinking, and some degree of intelligence. Unfortunately, that's not the nature of that type of "job", and the people supporting them who actually know what's going on don't care about "the little guys".

For most offloading unwanted sneakers, even just purely paying the tax on the 1099 revenue really won't amount to any kind of fortunes lost, and if you're on the threshold, you can spread it over calendar years to minimize it.
 
I used to be worried about the tax stuff, but it'll have minimal impact on me financially. I'll probably break even between stuff sold at a profit and items sold at a loss. And even if the scale tips toward me making a profit, paying taxes on a couple thousand dollars isn't a huge deal.

My biggest issue is the PITA it is to keep up with all the info (price initially paid, price sold, 1099s, etc.). Seems like entirely too much hassle to offload my personal items I no longer want.
 
Yeah, it's what you paid for it. For your poster, that's a tricky one. I have that wings poster as well (OG vintage), but it has pin holes in it from when I tacked it to my wall...heh. It's your revenue after fees. eBay will send you a 1099 form with that info, so you won't need to calculate it.

As someone noted, the $600 wasn't implemented last year; I wonder what will happen this year. That limit is just too low. The spirit is to crack down on business operators who aren't paying taxes, not mom and pops selling off personal items. So lame. You can talk to your accountant, but if they're treating us like a business, we can also write-off home business expenses like a proportion of certain house expenses (the square footage of your office space as a proportion of the size of your house) as a sole-proprietorship. That's another way you can reduce your revenue from sales.

Sold off a dozen shoes so far this year. Have another 10 listed, and more to list. It's a process.

Thanks buddy. I figured it had to be the net dollar amount after fees. My Wings poster is also vintage still sealed up, so it's worth a few hundred. Gonna sell it to help pay some bills.

And it was me who mentioned the IRS didn't implement the new regulations. It is stupidly too low. Yeah, I see some businesses taking advantage back in the day but normal people like you or me selling off some knick-knacks or other stuff (shoes or clothing) to get a few bucks for bills or whatever. Totally screws us and it sucks rocks!
 
I used to be worried about the tax stuff, but it'll have minimal impact on me financially. I'll probably break even between stuff sold at a profit and items sold at a loss. And even if the scale tips toward me making a profit, paying taxes on a couple thousand dollars isn't a huge deal.

My biggest issue is the PITA it is to keep up with all the info (price initially paid, price sold, 1099s, etc.). Seems like entirely too much hassle to offload my personal items I no longer want.

Exactly right. Like who has receipts from retro shoes from 2000? I sure as hell don't. Never kept them so I can't remember what I paid. And since I don't have that info, I have to pay tax on the whole $600 or whatever instead of the next from what I paid for it, minus the supplies to ship vs what I sold them for. So so so stupid. And yet, millionaire barely pay any tax whatsoever! 🤬🤬🤬
 
Down to under 30 pairs of Jordans now. I'm lucky in that it's easy as hell to sell shoes in person around here. Just walk into a mall on a busy Saturday with a stack of shoes and they'll all be gone in about 30 minutes.
 
Down to under 30 pairs of Jordans now. I'm lucky in that it's easy as hell to sell shoes in person around here. Just walk into a mall on a busy Saturday with a stack of shoes and they'll all be gone in about 30 minutes.

You definitely are lucky. There are 5 or 6 obvious pitfalls for trying that in my area.
 
Lol

It's risky here doing it. You just have to know the area.

Think I may break my no Jordans streak and pick up some White Cement 3s. Be the first Js I've bought since the Playoff 12s. Was kinda interested in the DMP 11s, but they've messed those up making the mesh leather. No thanks.
 
I was at the gym earlier and realized i wanted to further scale back my collection, i picked up a few shoes in the past few months and still haven’t broken them out.

Also i don’t see myself buying Jordans too often in the future, the fact that retail is $210 before tax is absurd. That’s only $10 removed from what Foamposites used to cost.

It’s more cost efficient if i want a GR now to wait a few weeks to a month after the release and then pick up a VNDS pair for cheaper rather than fork over retail on release date just for them to sit in the closet.
 
i'm sure a lot of NTers who are upsizing their collections would bite if other NTers who were downsizing their collections were selling at $50 per pair so possibly another avenue to get rid of things.

Very true. If I was in the still acquiring stage, I'll be interested in something like this. But honestly, If people want some OGs for their collection only (not really for wearing) I'm going to throw on the last 25-30 pairs I got that are for collections purposes only (though if someone wants to soleswap then fine by me) on eBay hopefully this week for like $100 a pair OBO. Hopefully this will get some people to bite, or if anyone wants to see what I got I'll be glad to send pics of the shoes I have left. Just want these final pairs gone. 🤔🤔
 
$50 + shipping on ebay seems to be the sweet spot for moving pre-owned kicks pretty fast. You end up with about $30 after fees and stuff.
Thats very helpful. For $30 all the trouble it takes to go through I may as well find a nearby charity where I can donate lightly used joints. Actually kinda tough to find charities that arent scams but there are a lot of needy folks in my area.
 
$50 + shipping on ebay seems to be the sweet spot for moving pre-owned kicks pretty fast. You end up with about $30 after fees and stuff.

👍👍 Better than nothing that's for sure. 👍👍 I sell 30 pairs at that amount, close to a grand give or take. Think I'll start my sales what I mentioned in my prior post ($99.99/OBO) and see how it goes for a week. 👍👍
 
👍👍 Better than nothing that's for sure. 👍👍 I sell 30 pairs at that amount, close to a grand give or take. Think I'll start my sales what I mentioned in my prior post ($99.99/OBO) and see how it goes for a week. 👍👍

You might want to do 100.01 b/c if it's a hundred bucks or more you get authentication, which projects you from buyer fraud tactics. And, I believe if you accept an offer lower than that, it's still authenticated.
 
You might want to do 100.01 b/c if it's a hundred bucks or more you get authentication, which projects you from buyer fraud tactics. And, I believe if you accept an offer lower than that, it's still authenticated.

Thanks, but the issue i have is, I REALLY don't want some eBay hack handling a pair of OG shoes that can possibly get damaged. For example, I have an OG pair of Foamposite Max. The Duncan shoe. I don't recall ever wearing them. If I did, maybe 1 or 2 times tops. No box, but in great shape for someone who just wants them in their collection, once they get them sealed up in plastic wrap. There is NO WAY IN HELL I want those morons handling them as I would ship them, each shoe wrapped in bubble wrap to keep them from banging around inside a plastic shoe box. That's why I don't want them authenticated. Same with some other late 90s shoes I got. 👍
 
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