Thank you both for this post. This is giving lot's of trouble to understad. Am I correct in assuming that, since Mercari reports shipping expenses that are not profit to you as total sales (buyer pays), therefore itemizing just means your telling the IRS that although they see 26k in sales, about 3k of that was (buyer paid shipping), meaning shipping costs (part of the sales) that is 'not income' I receive. Otherwise the IRS will tax you thinking that was also income you received?
Example: When buyer pays, Mercari generates label using that charge, so I don't get that money, nor any extra concerning the difference, since Mercari will pocket the difference in label price.
Do I have this option if I DON'T itemize my taxes, meaning I just take the standard deduction or is this an option everyone has 'third party shipping' itemize? And if I don't have this option, should I just switch to free shipping in which which case your putting the shipping expense built into the price of the sale, and therefore I can deduct as C.O.G.S since it's an 'expense' that I incurred as part of the sale. Am I missing something?
