davidd’s A DOLL A DAY 2022

[davidd]

18 January - A Doll A Day 2022:

18 January - Integrity Toys "Beach Babe" Poppy Parker

Question: keep or sell?

Purchase price: $99 USD.
Currently selling on eBay for $165 and up plus $14 or so for shipping, so around $180 USD. Almost double the original price.

I also purchased a genuine Integrity Toys outfit for the doll. I paid about $60 USD, which I thought was absurd. Now the same outfit is bringing $150 USD.

Poppy Parker "Walkabout" Outfit

Unfortunately, despite my best efforts to be careful, I managed to damage a corner of the box while first inspecting the doll:

Approximately 1-inch / 2 cm tear in box corner

My first inclination is to sell! I mean, this is a glorified Barbie doll. Not even particularly glorified, actually. And I can get nearly twice what I paid for the doll, and over twice what I paid for the costume. I might be able to sell everything for $300 or even slightly more. Initial investment was $160.

But then... I have to factor in shipping costs and eBay fees. I usually use a rough rule of thumb that gross take after eBay and other fees is around 75% of the selling price. That would lower my "profit" to around $225. More than I paid, yes, but not double what I paid.

However... and this is what is going to surprise a lot of people a year from now, in early 2023: the US Federal Government is now taxing eBay and Etsy and other online sales. As long as you don't sell more than $600 per year, eBay will probably not report your sales. However, if sales exceed $600 per year, eBay will report gross sales to the US Internal Revenue Service (the tax collectors). The government will levy the tax on gross sales, unless sellers have documentation to support claims of ex-penses related to selling. I have not yet been able to learn for certain whether the tax also applies to what sellers charge for shipping. If shipping costs are rolled in to the item price, then shipping costs are obviously taxed.

If I sell this item, I am likely to sell other things over the next 11-1/2 months, and my total sales are likely to exceed the $600 reporting threshold. Assuming, then, that I can sell this doll and costume, even with the box damage, for $300, I will be taxed approximately $90 by the federal government, unless I want to add a fairly significant level of complication to my tax return next year.

$300 - $90 in federal taxes = $210. I have already calculated that my eBay and other selling-related fees will be approximately 25% of my selling price, or $75. My total cost of selling, then, between taxes and fees, will be in the neighborhood of $165. My total "net," then, would be $300 - $165 = $145.

I paid... what did I say I paid? $99 + $60 = $159.00 USD.

So if I sell this doll on eBay for the current going rates, which are approximately double my initial investment, I will end up losing $14.

I guess I'll be keeping her.

Further, unless I'm selling "old junk" that I absolutely do not care about, or I am desperate for quick cash, my days selling on eBay are largely done.

Selling items that appear to have appreciated in value over a few months, even if they appear to have doubled or tripled in value, is a losing proposition.

Scary, isn't it?