bclarkie wrote:Sorry John. I can help myself sometimes when people start lying.

People lying on the Internet???

I am shocked at the very idea!  Shocked!!!



Cheers,
JohnH
aka Wandering Monster

serleran wrote:Unfortunately, shipping is retarded high.

Ain't it the truth.

I've got a list of issues that I specifically want, yet I've never picked them up because it's not worthwhile paying to have them shipped -- especially since it's almost guaranteed to be cross-border.

Pipswich wrote:The extent and total of my previous error was to use "account" in a way that you interpreted as "unique user ID".   I did not intend it to be interpreted as a particular ebay user id... you just went and found one of our id's and held it out to the community as the sum and total of my account.  

I likely grabbed some BIN's that upset you and that will likely continue to happen.  At this time I do not think I can productively contribute to and enjoy this forum because of you.  So I "think" I am done with the forum.  If circumstances change, I will rethink that position, and if I decide to be an active member again, unless told otherwise by the owner/administrator, I will do so as and when I chose.  Meanwhile, there are several/many sites where I am having none of these issues.

I didn't misinterpret anything previously, just like I wasn't wrong about you negotiating that BIN yesterday, your attempts to dodge the facts and change the subject nothwithstanding.

Your attempt at slithering your way into the good graces of sellers here yesterday after reveling in the fact that you took such great pleasure in screwing over people DSRs secretly, by putting up a facade of "caring" about sellers and their businesses was and is as transparent as can be.  The BIN that I posted is proof of that, not that I didn't already know anyway.  I have dealt with BSers & liars my entire life and I can pick them out immediately, its really not even that hard anymore.

With that said, believe me, I have no doubt you will be back.  Either under this ID or some other ID pretending to be some one else and trying to hide who you really are.  The ones who flame out the loudest ALWAYS come back(See your good buddy Radovarl and his 6 or so user names as proof on this forum alone), I have seen it at least a hundred times now on internet forums.   It took you all of 19 days after the previous flame out to come back, so we'll just set the over/under number at 20 days and work from there.

Until next time.

Wandering Monster wrote:

As others have mentioned already, DRAGON Magazines tend not to do well on eBay at the best of times, unless they're issue #50 or below.  (At least, this has been my experience.)

For example, I have the remnants of a large collection that I purchased in March 2008, and 95% of the remnants are DRAGON Magazines that aren't in the best of shape to begin with (loose, torn or missing covers, rusty staples, etc.).  I've culled what issues I need for my collection (mostly the later issues after I stopped subscribing), but the rest I'm essentially stuck with.

Sometimes what I do is bring them to a nearby book/RPG store and just give them to the owner (who's become a semi-friend) so he can try to unload them.

Do people here still have any use for DRAGONs like this, out of curiosity?

Cheers,
JohnH
aka Wandering Monster

If a Dragon isn't in perfect condition (no damage, rust, loose pages or cover, missing inserts, etc) I toss it in the pile for the used bookstores...half price books will give you a few bucks for these. They aren't worth the trouble of selling on Ebay unless they are in really nice shape. Barring that, I cannabalize the books by cutting out the various genre articles (example: Star Frontiers, Gamma World, Top Secret) and throwing them in when I sell an aforementioned box set of these as "extras".  If you manage to accumulate a small stack of the modules, you can surprisingly get a few bucks for them on ebay...



Mike B.

Badmike wrote:If a Dragon isn't in perfect condition (no damage, rust, loose pages or cover, missing inserts, etc) I toss it in the pile for the used bookstores...half price books will give you a few bucks for these. They aren't worth the trouble of selling on Ebay unless they are in really nice shape.

And yet, every day around 16:05 PST, Troll and Toad uploads around 100+ individual issues of Dragon Magazine on eBay.  I don't get it.  

It does seem that, at least so far, the rare stuff has largely retained its value, although the number of bidders near the sale price may be only two or three.  (I always seem to be the second or third highest bidder on those.  See, e.g., the Strategic Previews recently up.   )   I suppose that means that if only one person drops out, prices could start coming way down.

Yeah, like I should be so lucky.

Wandering Monster wrote:Do people here still have any use for DRAGONs like this, out of curiosity?

I think the lack of interest in the magazines could be for a couple different reasons.

Trying to collect a set of monos or all the B or I or UK modules or even ALL the (non-insanely rare) 1E modules is probably easier than putting together a run of Dragon... even if you limit yourself to 1E era only.  And it certainly takes up a lot less space than a run of the magazines!

I'd also think that some people just grab the Archive or suck down some PDFs.  It just doesn't seem quite as important to have physical copies maybe.  At least, that's how I felt.

Bracton wrote:And yet, every day around 16:05 PST, Troll and Toad uploads around 100+ individual issues of Dragon Magazine on eBay.  I don't get it.

Tangent: is there a way to block a seller on eBay, so you just won't see their listings?  I don't need to see all those Troll and Toad listings...

Bracton wrote:
And yet, every day around 16:05 PST, Troll and Toad uploads around 100+ individual issues of Dragon Magazine on eBay.  I don't get it.  

It does seem that, at least so far, the rare stuff has largely retained its value, although the number of bidders near the sale price may be only two or three.  (I always seem to be the second or third highest bidder on those.  See, e.g., the Strategic Previews recently up.   )   I suppose that means that if only one person drops out, prices could start coming way down.

Yeah, like I should be so lucky.

I actually do ok selling individual issues in complete, better than average shape.  Every week or so someone buys one issue here or there to fill a hole, or because they want a particular article. Every few months someone buys 10-15 of them at a time to finish off some spots in their collection, and I have a reputation for selling above average condition copies. Pre #50 issues do the best, although I have had some luck at selling stuff over issue #250 (since these weren't in the CD rom).  3E issues go VERY slowly and there seems to be quite a few out there.

Mike B.

Badmike wrote:
I actually do ok selling individual issues in complete, better than average shape.  Every week or so someone buys one issue here or there to fill a hole, or because they want a particular article. Every few months someone buys 10-15 of them at a time to finish off some spots in their collection, and I have a reputation for selling above average condition copies. Pre #50 issues do the best, although I have had some luck at selling stuff over issue #250 (since these weren't in the CD rom).  3E issues go VERY slowly and there seems to be quite a few out there.

Mike B.

I guess I should feel fortunate that the average has been around $1 per then. Only have about a dozen left in the 170-220-ish range, and they're not very used at all. Doubt my local used book store will give me that much for them, though. Paperbacks only get you 25-50 cents a piece at best (done much better on EBay in that regard), and there has so far been very little in the way of games there, 85% has been 3E stuff (it's only been open a little more than a year).

benjoshua wrote:

Questions(this may need another thread):

I used to buy as much as I sold and was under the impression that taxes weren't much of a concern for the IRS.  It was less than $500.00 a year of buying and selling.  The past several years, that has changed for me and I make more than I buy, so I should have realized this could be a problem.  I still buy stuff, but not as much as I sell.

Anyway, do you report your profit or your total sales?  If I sold $1000.00 of stuff and bought $300.00 of similar stuff for my collection(s) or whatever, is that information relevant to this concern?

If it is profit, is there a way to figure out that total from Paypal?  

Whether it is profit or not, my guess is that you could subtract all expenses involved, including gas to the gas station. Certainly eBay fees.  True or false?

If I bought something from the store and paid taxes on it and then resold it on eBay, do I pay taxes on the total again?  My guess is yes, but it seems weird.

Maybe I should have just asked, "Mike, how do you handle this?"  Please share your wisdom.   Or anyone else can chip in how they handle this.

Ben-



Time for a little tax education. First off, unless you are incorporated in some way - LLC, S-corp, C-corp, etc., you cannot do what you are trying to do to avoid tax implications. You need a federal (and probably a state) tax identification number. I am assuming you do not have one - just like the vast majority of those who buy and sell on ebay.



The reason that is important is that the purchases you are making and then reselling cannot be used as "expense" for purposes of lowering your tax liability.



For example: you buy a PHB for $8, then resell for $10, so the taxable value would be $2 in your eyes. (forget all the other stuff - mailing, fees, etc). So you might think your tax liability would be on the $2 profit. Well it is not.



The IRS is going to look at you as an individual who sold an item worth $10 and tax you on that "income." You can't even subtract the ebay and paypal fees. Your income was $10 regardless of any costs associated with that sale. Unless you are a "real" business, you cannot deduct ANY costs associated with that sale.



On the other hand, if you are a business and you correctly track and apply your expenses, you can deduct all business-related expenses from your gross sales to determine taxable income.



If you are not a business, you could be considered to be - at best - operating an illegal business (unregistered) and - at worst - committing tax fraud.



I am not try to scare anyone, but that is the reality. They can tax you on everything you sell at a garage sale - ebay is no different.



Addionally, you need all of those proceeds to be processed in a commercial business bank account and not your personal bank account.



So, in a nut shell, everything you sell adds up to a certain number each year. Every dime of those sales is considered personal income by the the friendly people at the IRS. You, as an individual, cannot deduct a single penny from that income - even if you lost your butt.



So your assumption is correct. You need to claim your total sales as income. Now uncle sam, or obama, can get their 25%.



A word of warning, though. When the IRS sees misc. income, it raises a red flag for them.



I hope that helps - I know I feel better