ebay and sales tax on coins

[eaxtellcoin]

Evening everyone!
Today is my birthday so I thought I would buy my self something, not extravagant - a nice AU - UNC Buffalo. I've been looking at a coin now for 2 weeks - this seller has reduced his price once and is now closer - with the pics to what he is asking for the coin sooo. I hit buy it now. To my surprise - e-pay wants to charge me tax - On a coin????? Is'nt this legal currency ?? How can we charge a tax on an item that if someone doesn't know better can sell if for $.01 or .05 because that is all it's face value is!! Have we lost our minds in the country??
I'm going to try and not charge sales tax on my site. The first person who purchases something and uses purchased an item - ""I mean Paypal imposes a tax"" should tell me the tell tale Illinois has lost there mind... again...

Sorry just my rant...
Eric

[GrumpyEd]

Catch 22 situation.

It is not allowed to sell money like currency on ebay anyway. The reasons are many, first of all if we were pals you could sell me currency at face (even send it by transfer) and earn ebay bucks and cashback or pay with giftcards you get at a discount and create some sort of scam so they don't allow it, they allow selling collectibles including coins but that is different than selling money at face value.

On top of that, if you sold a 1969 DDO and it got lost in the mail or bought one and it was lost and never delivered would you accept one cent as a refund from the buyers/sellers protection?

And beyond that, the USPS will not insure money sent in the mail.

LOL, so you are selling collectibles not money and will pay tax on it.

[Justafarmer]

If evading sales tax is your goal just rent a PO Box from Mail Boxes etc in Delaware, New Hampshire, Montana, Oregon or Alaska. These states do not impose a sales tax. There are also states that do not impose sales tax on the sale of numismatic items. I don't know off hand which states those are. Also not sure Ebay's tax collecting software has progressed to the capability of making such a distinction for these small variations in all the 45 different State Sales tax codes. Anyway have all your Ebay purchases shipped to your non-taxed state PO box then once a month or so have the contents of your box forwarded to your home address. You'll still owe use tax on the purchase in your home state and I'm sure if caught and the scheme discovered the tax penalty will be fairly significant.

[DoubleYou]

There is an exception on coins in Pennsylvania, where I live. But sometimes eBay does not seem to know that, which is frustrating. This is yet another reason why buying coins on eBay is a pain.

[eaxtellcoin]

""And beyond that, the USPS will not insure money sent in the mail.""

This is not true in my experience Ed, If you are sending coins to PCGS and they get lost then you are correct.

If you sell a group of coins say $20 to a buyer and there is a descriptive note on your original PAYPAL receipt, they - the buyer purchases insurance then the seller sends the buyer a postal service form that states the coins were not delivered and the postal service will refund the $$$ to the seller.

[eaxtellcoin]

This is still money. This is also why I do not list on e-pay ever.

""If evading sales tax is your goal""
You see it one way, I see it another. I don't believe its fair to charge sales tax on an item that on the other hand you can LOOSE money on. I have quite a few cents on my page that I Purchased at $1.00. If the coin is VF then I list them for $1.50. After I accept paypal payments and ship for free right at $30.00 I may be loosing on the transaction. I've had this happen already once. I had $28 in a coin, listed it for $30 on the page because of a scratch.

What I think I will do is ask for checks or money orders. The buyer may have to wait for the check to clear but at least they will receive what they order and not have to pay MORE, ""Because I have to raise the price"" because the states want to fill there chauffeurs.

[uglycent]

One problem with "loosing" money on a collectible is that if you "gained", legally you have to pay capital gains on every transaction, They collect some tax while they can and not loose on under reporting later.

[kloccwork419]

Sales tax is usually by state on eBay. Some dont charge you. Others that do usually have an actual store and also sell on eBay. Its buying a collectible, not currency

[GrumpyEd]

""And beyond that, the USPS will not insure money sent in the mail.""

This is not true in my experience Ed, If you are sending coins to PCGS and they get lost then you are correct.

If you sell a group of coins say $20 to a buyer and there is a descriptive note on your original PAYPAL receipt, they - the buyer purchases insurance then the seller sends the buyer a postal service form that states the coins were not delivered and the postal service will refund the $$$ to the seller.

I mean sending cash money, not as collectibles, If I send you a $100 bill and insure it and it gets lost they'll only cover up to $15 unless it was sent registered mail.

https://faq.usps.com/s/article/What-are-the-Limits-for-Insuring-Cash-and-Checks

[Petespockets55]

When I purchased some items at the State of Florida unclaimed property auction about 3 years ago they didn't charge sale tax on numismatic items.

[eaxtellcoin]

Its buying a collectible, not currency

No matter how you slice it Collectable or Currency at the bottom it's still CURRENCY

[kloccwork419]

and when you make a purchase, you pay tax. Up to the seller if they want to charge it or not. Its an alternative investment. Its usually from a seller that's from the same state its being sold to. It all depends on the state, and if the seller gives a

[eaxtellcoin]

I mean sending cash money, not as collectibles, If I send you a $100 bill and insure it and it gets lost they'll only cover up to $15 unless it was sent registered mail.

Ok, - I will say in 20 years of sales I have only seen 2 people send cash through the mail. I guess what it really boils down to is if the sellers reputation for sending you the coins is good. If I receive payment - the buyer gets the coins.

Let me ask you this. If the person submits an e-mail with the coins he wants to purchase and you receive the check and send the coins back to him with insurance - this is still proof of what the purchase was - value of the purchase and at the end the buyer states the shipment did not arrive. I would and have sent this one time in 15 years and they " the USPS" has paid for the shipment.

I'm a reputable seller - If you sent me $100 then you would get the coins as long as you actually sent the check or Cash. Correct though - If you didn't wrap the $100 in an index card and someone could see it was money then you are at the risk of people steeling your mail.

[kloccwork419]

Youre all over the place Eric...lol. What happened? If you send priority I think its insurance included to $50. Express is $100. I would never send cash in the mail, maybe a bday card. There's always a chance someone steals it. I put tracking on everything. If it does get "lost" , you play hell trying to get USPS to take responsibility anyway.

[eaxtellcoin]

I did a little investigation. Looks like it was my state IL not the seller's state Kansas. I sent an e-mail to my congressman.
Funny they tried to charge tax, I didn't complete the purchase and will not. I then went to the tax policy - State - and it's blank even though they charge a tax.
E-Bay or Pay putting the cart before the horse.