1099K from eBay - Sales of Personal Items/Collectibles with No Purchase Records

[TaxNoob0718]

I sold quite a few personal items on eBay last year (mostly model railroad supplies), and I've received a 1099K (gross sales were roughly $10K). 

The problem: most of these items were acquired years ago at shows, where I paid in cash or traded other items. I have no record of what I paid for each one. Without records of what I paid, how can I file my 1099K without overpaying taxes on the full $10K? Of course, eBay fees, shipping costs, etc. can be easily deducted, but I'm not sure how to account for the value of the items themselves. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

[KrisD15]

We can't tell you what you paid for the items that you sold. 

You should have some sort of idea. Do you think you sold them at a loss? That would be no problem since you don't need to report sales of personal items that sold at a loss, only things that sold at a profit. 

If you went to trade shows, you should have a pretty good understand if these items went up or down in value. Google around, ask other people that deal in model trains what they know.  

Do the best you can, if you honestly don't know and have no idea what you paid for the items, you can claim the sale as all profit. 

HERE is how to account for Form 1099-K

If you sell items online as a business, enter on Schedule C

f you sell personal items online similar to a garage sale enter following these steps:
In TurboTax enter the 1099-K under:
Income
Other Common Income
Income from Form 1099-K     START
On the “Did you get a 1099-K?” screen, select “Yes”
On the “Which type of income is your 1099-K for?” screen, select “Personal item sales”     CONTINUE
Enter the 1099-K as it was reported

CONTINUE

On the next “Personal Item Sales” screen, make the correct selection. 
Choose “I sold some items at a loss or had no gain” if you made a profit on any individual sale
Chose “All items were sold at a loss or had no gain” If ALL the items were sold and you did not realize a gain on any single item, (they sold for less than or only for as much as you paid to purchase the item in the first place) you would not need to enter any sales.

Enter the amount of the 1099-K that represents the cash you got for selling items at cost or under. 

So, if the 1099-K reports $1,000 and the only item you sold at a profit was an item that sold for $50, you would enter 950.
$950.00 on that 1099-K does not need to be address. 
Also, remember that this is NOT saying you MADE $50, only that someone paid $50. The profit would be less because you need to subtract what you paid to buy it. 

CONTINUE

Finish the interview and select done on the “Your 1099-K summary” screen, 
YOU ARE NOT DONE if you made the first choice that only SOME items sold at a loss,
that would mean that at least one item sold at a gain, for a profit. 
Now you need to report the sale, go to 

• 
  Income
  Investment Income
  Stocks, Cryptocurrency, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Other    click UPDATE
  The next screen should show “Personal items sales (1099-K)” 

Click REVIEW to open 

The next screen has an input screen for the Personal items you sold at a
profit/gain.
Enter one sale at a time.
Report when purchased, when sold, how much you paid to buy it and how much they paid to buy it from you

The next screen asks for selling fees, but those are USUALLY deducted before they pay you, so would not be included on Form 1099-K
If they were not, enter here

Once done, you should see the amount of proceeds you needed to address ($50) and the profit you made from that (those) sales. 
The profit is Capital Gain listed on your 1040 line 7