This is a great question about seling nursing supplies eBay we received:
I plan on selling a lot (I mean a lot) of old nursing supplies I have around the w house, and I was curious to the amount of income or the amount of items i recieve/sell to be “bumped up” to a business or retail status. If someone could give me a dollar amount or number of items, i would be very pleased. I have looked over the ebay site and could not find a whole lot on this. Basically, at what dollar amount am I considered an actual business as opposed to just an individual personal seller?
Dollar Amount to Be Considered a Business on eBay
In general, as of 2/19/11, eBay does not have a dollar amount that requires you to be a business.
The only time eBay factors in your dollar amount is if they consider your powerseller status. You can be a powerseller whether or not you have a personal or business account, and eBay doesn’t usually differentiate between the two accounts at all to my knowledge. They never tell you suddenly you need to be a business. So the answer to your question with regards to eBay specifically, is that it appears they do not differentiate between business or personal sellers with regards to dollar sales amounts.
In terms of taxation and business license purposes, the dollar amount only matters if you are making income (in most cases). For example: You sell $10,000 a year of your own personal stuff, but it is all stuff you have already purchased for $11,000. In that case, you only got some of your money back on stuff you already owned and didn’t make income (a $1,000 loss). Of course, this can vary dramatically and the purpose of this article is not to suggest tax advice for every possible location in the US or elsewhere. Some locations may indeed require you to file a retail or wholesale license if you sell a certain volume (even if you are selling used items).
However, if you buy stuff and resell (like buy something for $10 and sell for $30 profit), then you have made $20 dollars in income or “capital gain”. The IRS (and potentially local state business license rules) require you to disclose all of our income to them. Of course, you can never escape death or taxes, and as a nurse you will probably experience your share of both =).
So if you made a $1 profit, technically you are supposed to report it to the IRS as income.
In terms of a business license, check your local courthouse/municipality for income requirements. Most locations require you to have a business license and sales tax registration if you make more than $3,000 in income per year. Again, these exact dollar amounts often vary (sometimes even from year to year), so make sure to check with a local accountant or tax advisor for specific details.