How to report my small eBay income from collectibles without a 1099?

Even without a 1099, you still need to report that income. The IRS requires you to report all income regardless of whether you receive a tax form. The good news is you can absolutely deduct your costs! For your eBay sales, you'll report this on Schedule C (Profit or Loss from Business) since this is considered self-employment income. You'll report your total sales ($3450) as income, then deduct your costs (original purchase price and shipping) as expenses. This will give you your net profit of $1100, which is what you'll actually pay taxes on. Taking the standard deduction for your regular job doesn't affect your ability to deduct business expenses on Schedule C - they're separate parts of your tax return. So yes, you can still deduct the cost of the items you sold. You don't need to submit your receipts with your tax return, but keep them for at least 3 years in case you're audited. You'll just report the totals on your Schedule C.

I went through exactly the same situation last year. Sold about $4000 worth of my old trading cards on eBay and was totally confused about reporting it. I ended up using https://taxr.ai to help me sort it all out. They have this document analysis feature that helped me figure out what I needed to report and how to categorize everything. I uploaded my eBay sales records and my purchase receipts (what I could find anyway), and it helped me determine if my selling was a hobby or a business, and how to deduct all my expenses properly. Saved me a lot of headaches trying to figure out Schedule C vs other reporting options.

Just wanted to update everyone - I took the advice about using taxr.ai and it was seriously helpful! I was in almost the identical situation as the OP (sold about $3k of collectibles), and I was totally lost about how to handle it. The document analysis feature helped me prove I was just selling personal items occasionally rather than running a business. It organized all my eBay receipts and helped me figure out my actual costs vs profits. Ended up saving me from paying self-employment tax since it helped me properly categorize my selling as personal property sales rather than business income. Now I'm actually getting a refund instead of owing more! Really glad I gave it a try instead of just guessing how to report everything.

If you're still struggling with getting answers from the IRS about your specific situation, I'd recommend trying https://claimyr.com. I had a similar eBay reporting question that was really specific to my situation, and I spent DAYS trying to get through to the IRS directly with no luck. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes when I had been trying for literally weeks. They have this system that navigates all the IRS phone menus and holds your place in line, then calls you when an agent is about to pick up. You can see a demo of how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I talked to was super helpful and confirmed exactly how I needed to report my online sales and what forms to use. Definitely worth it for peace of mind.

I gotta admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I figured I'd try it myself since I was getting desperate trying to figure out my own eBay tax situation. It actually worked exactly as advertised. I used their service yesterday, and instead of wasting hours on hold, I got a callback when they reached an IRS agent. The agent clarified that my occasional eBay selling wasn't a business and walked me through exactly how to report it as personal property sales. Turns out I was massively overcomplicating things and nearly paid way more in taxes than I needed to. So yeah, I take back my skepticism - it's legitimately helpful if you need specific answers from the IRS.

From my experience selling on eBay for years, it really depends on your intent. If you're just clearing out personal items you've owned for a while and happen to make some money, that's different from regularly buying things to resell for profit. For personal items where you're selling for less than you paid originally (which is common for most used items), you actually don't have to report it at all because it's technically a loss. For collectibles that appreciated in value, you report the profit as a capital gain, not as business income. Business income (buying with intent to resell) goes on Schedule C and is subject to self-employment tax. One-off sales of personal property usually don't.

Just FYI - eBay is changing their reporting thresholds. For 2022 tax year the threshold was $600 before they issue a 1099-K, but the IRS delayed implementing that. Just be prepared that you might get 1099s in the future for much smaller amounts of selling.

I've been dealing with similar eBay tax confusion myself. One thing that really helped me was keeping detailed records of everything - not just the sale prices, but also what I originally paid for each item, when I bought it, and any selling expenses like shipping and eBay fees. The key distinction everyone's mentioned between hobby vs business is crucial. If you're just selling personal collectibles you've owned for years (like cleaning out your collection), that's very different from regularly buying items with the intent to flip them for profit. The IRS has specific tests for this - they look at whether you're doing it regularly, if you depend on the income, and if you're putting significant time and effort into making a profit. For your $1100 net profit, definitely keep all your documentation. Even if you don't get audited, having those records makes filing much easier and gives you confidence you're reporting correctly. And like others said, you still need to report the income even without a 1099 - the IRS expects you to report all income regardless of whether you receive tax forms.