Your comment for #3, although correct it seems the taxpayer has no documentation of the cost basis. I think to make a deduction for this misc. income you would need some sort of documentation to substrate your deduction. I did not think you could just 'create' the deductible amount. I would suggest that if he had a list of what was donated, Salvation Army (probably other organizations) has a list of items and associated suggested prices. This would be better than no documentation.
