When my column on paying income tax on eBay profits ran it brought a wave of emails on whether you were required to report income earned from eBay sales to the IRS sparked a number of additional questions and comments from eBay sellers who were hoping that I could somehow validate that their eBay activities were mere hobbies instead of actual businesses and therefore not susceptible to IRS taxation.
Several folks argued that just because their little eBay hobby generated a little cash, that didn't make it a full blown business. It seems they consider the income from their little hobby to be financial manna from Heaven and thereby not taxable by earthly tax collectors. I've always been amused by folks who try to impress me with talk about their ?little side business? but when the subject turns to taxes they suddenly refer to it as ?my little hobby.?
All arguments aside, the conclusion that I came to after reading each of the emails was always the same: while you may think selling on eBay is just a fun pastime and the money you're making is not reportable as income, depending on the circumstances, the IRS would probably disagree with you.
It seems that everyone likes making money, but hates carving off a piece for good old Uncle Sam. Welcome to free enterprise, folks. If you're going to come to the dance you have to pay the fiddler.
The IRS rules are clear: you must pay taxes on all personal and business income and that includes money you make selling on Ebay.
In its most basic sense, the IRS rules can be interpreted to mean that if you buy an old vase at a garage sale for $10 and sell it on eBay (or elsewhere) for $20 you made a $10 profit and therefore must report it as income and pay Uncle Sam his fair share.
In reality, if you are a casual seller who only sells a few items on eBay every now and then it's doubtful the IRS is going to let loose an army of agents to collect taxes on the few bucks you make. However, if you consistently sell on eBay the IRS may deem your activities to be business oriented and you will be required to file a Schedule C and claim the income.
As mentioned last week, the IRS uses a number of factors to determine if an eBay hobby that generates sales revenue is actually a business. These factors include:
? Do you carry on the hobby in a business-like manner?
? Do you spend considerable time working on the hobby?
? Do you depend on income from your hobby for your livelihood?
If the answer to any or all of these question is yes, you're running a business, not carrying on a hobby, and you are responsible for paying taxes on your income.
What's eBay's take on all this? Naturally eBay is vehemently opposed to anything that might rock the eBay boat. eBay does not issue 1099 tax forms to sellers, nor does it report seller's sales figures to the IRS.
Ebay considers itself merely to be a facilitator, meaning that they provide a marketplace in which buyers and sellers come together to do business.
Furthermore, under its current system it would be impossible for eBay to issue accurate 1099s to sellers. eBay does not track if a seller actually gets paid by the buyer, so eBay has no idea how much money - if any - actually changes hands at the end of each transaction.
On the bright side, if you do sell on eBay as a business you can deduct a number of business expenses, including the cost of inventory, listing fees, shipping, envelopes, packing materials, etc.
You might also be able to deduct things like the purchase of a computer for business use, office space (even if it's a home office), office supplies, and more.
Talk to your accountant if there's any doubt as to whether you should or should not be paying taxes on your eBay earnings
With your autoresponders on set and forget, and your product flying off your virtual shelves you'd think this project was done wouldn't you? Nope, not by a long shot. There are a number of things you should consider when you are running a marketing campaign to maximize your monetization of that campaign.
To take shortcuts is simply leaving money on the table. The fact of the matter is that most products have a relatively short shelf life because people are fickle and will quickly move on to ?bigger and better?. This truth is even more evident with digital products. There's a little secret amongst many in the Internet Marketing community that goes a little something like this, ?If you can't afford something you want, wait four months and it'll be free?. Shhh, don't tell.
So, what does that have to do with you and your campaign? Well, it means you have a limited window in which you can capitalize on your product or program that you so brilliantly developed. And you need to make the best of that window or you will lose money.
One way that you can additionally leverage your product or program's existing popularity is with the One Time Offer. I'm sure many of you have seen them and didn't even know that was what you were looking at. The One Time Offer comes in many different shapes and sizes but they all do the same thing, they add new revenue and fully leverage the popularity of your campaign.
Let's revisit Part 1 of this series and combine it with Part ?Deux? to see how this all ties together-
1)You advertise your newsletter or free giveaway in return for prospect's information 2)Prospect gets freebie and or begins receiving newsletter 3)Prospect is redirected to your main sales page and views your offer. If he/she makes the purchase, they are then directed to your One Time Offer for additional monetization. If prospect clears out and makes no purchase they continue onto number 4. 4)Your autoresponder begins to market the prospect with a series of well written and well timed messages promoting your original offer. 5)If your prospect does purchase as a result of one of your 10-15 follow up messages they are then directed to?what? Yes, your One Time Offer.
Let's hit on key components of a One Time Offer that will increase your chances of success with it. Don't call it a ?One Time Offer?. People like personalization, and One Time Offer has been used to death'so call it Franks Special Deal?Today Only!, or Sam's Super Sale, Now or Never!?you get the gist. Just be certain to emphasize that this deal is only available while the prospect is on that page; and if they leave without dropping the hammer it will be available for much more elsewhere.
Your objective is to create a sense of urgency that adds new revenue to your bottom line. There are definitely things your do NOT want to do?don't offer products irrelevant to your primary campaign. If your campaign is horse shampoo and your One Time Offer is for ?The Surefire Blackjack Beater? you're not gonna sell squat, and you'll lose all your subscribers just as fast as you get them.
Also, never offer garbage. Don't just slap together 5 reseller items that your buyer can get anywhere else for free or for next to nothing. Lastly, don't go ballistic on price either. You're a marketer, so you are looking to profit, but you don't need to get obscene with it.
With this technique you completely leverage your relationships with your subscribers and you are monetizing your campaign to the best of your abilities. However, let me throw in a twist on this that I haven't seen anywhere else and which has been working quite well for me?again, Shhhh. ?The New Subscriber One Time Offer'it looks a lot like the post-purchase One Time Offer, but not exactly.
With this technique you will actually redirect your recent newsletter or free giveaway subscribers to a One Time Offer sales page once they have registered. Your pitch would read something like this, ?As a subscriber you are entitled to special offers that you cannot find anywhere else. Right now, and right now only, you can get such and such for only $X? Get it?
You will be able to monetize brand new subscribers in a way that's not being done anywhere else. And here's the really cool part. If you are double opting your subscribers, you already know that 10-30% will never complete the confirmation. If you get a One Time Offer in front of them, you will be able to cash in on some of those which you never would have been able to before. If they don't complete the second opt-in then you can't mail them. No mail, no money. Well, here's your opportunity to benefit from their first opt.
So, now you truly have leveraged your existing customer base and you learned how to leverage those cats that just couldn't seem to complete their double opt confirmations. You've done this with the One Time Offer or its twisted sister, ?The New Subscriber One Time Offer?. You are the epitome of leverage and monetization. Tune in next week when we discuss one other ?hot? item on your Post Launch Laundry List.
Both Tim-knox & John Hostler are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Tim-knox has sinced written about articles on various topics from . Tim KnoxEntrepreneur, Author, SpeakerTim Knox is a nationally-known small business expert who writes and speaks frequently on the topic.For more information or to contact Tim please visit one of his sites below.. Tim-knox's top article . to your Favourites.
John Hostler has sinced written about articles on various topics from E Books, Site Promotion and How to Sell on Ebay. John Hostler, aka the Internet Renegade, has been marketing successfully both online and off for 6 years. He released his widely anticipated book on the subject of Internet Marketing on 02-01-06. To find out more about John or his newest release check o. John Hostler's top article generates over 49500 views. to your Favourites.