I started selling on eBay in 2020. The first 6 months I only sold items and collections from my own home, and then started selling other items purchased in 2020 at garage and estate sales. My total sales for the year (before any expenses for shipping, fees, supplies, etc.) were approximately $7500. Of that only $1,500 were from those recent purchases – the rest (approx. $6000) were personal items from my home.
I want to use the cash method where I only deduct the cost of the goods at the time the item sells. That is easy on the recently purchased items.
However, for the personal items that were purchased years past (and I don’t have receipts that tell when/where and how much) I am using the “Lower of cost or market value” method. Most of the items I’m sure cost more than what I sold them for so I am using the sold price as the current market value. The rest I am using what I believe to be around the lower original cost.
How can I choose both of those methods on the schedule C? T Tax only allows me to check on or the other – not both. Or do I just choose the “lower of cost or market value” since even the recently purchased items have an original cost.
