When is it safe to do Ebay again?

[DivorceRuinedMe]

I closed my Ebay "business" down appx 10 months before I filed for C7. I say business in quotes b/c it really wasn't a business, I would sell kids clothes that I would buy for my kids that they couldn't wear or that I found a really good deal on. I didn't keep any records of how much I paid for something or how much it sold for. It was more of a hobby than a business. I never made any real money worth filing self employment taxes on (even for a loss - I just didn't think of it as a biz).

On my bankruptcy paperwork I listed the business but wrote that it was never considered a biz and never made any money. The trustee was fine with that. My attorney said I probably should stay away from Ebay though for awhile so as not to give the trustee any reason to poke around that further. If she did I don't even know what i would show her - LOL. I literally have no records!

My C7 isn't discharged YET but next week the UST's motion to extend my discharge is set to expire. Do you guys think it's okay for me to start up Ebay again? I have a TON of my kids clothes that they've grown out of in the past year and a half that I'd like to sell now. I NEED the money desperately as I have 2 of my children's birthdays coming up and no money to buy them presents. I don't want to hurt myself by starting Ebay again too soon though.

What do you guys think? Is it okay for me to sell again?

[rrockinggramma]

try craig's list in your area, cheaper than listing on ebay now.

[DivorceRuinedMe]

try craig's list in your area, cheaper than listing on ebay now.

There's really not a market for what I have to sell on craigslist. I've looked into that but thanks for the thought!

[almost]

Does the UST have your ebay account info. You could always have a friend list them for you.

[car67]

do not do ebay or anything od the sort until your fully dischaged.

[HHM]

Go ahead and sell your crap on EBAY.

Again, the operative date for the BK estate is the date you FILE. Don't worry about it, if you want to sell some "minor" stuff on e-bay, go ahead.

But there is a caveat, you don't want to sell big ticket items. Until you are discharged, technically, all your assets are part of the BK estate, and hence, under the control of the trustee. (you are merely a debtor in possession, but the trustee has "legal" control of your assets)

Side note, if selling that stuff on e-bay doesn't make you any money, why not just donate the clothes. (I am willing to bet that trying to sell stuff like that probably cost you money? )

[DivorceRuinedMe]

Thanks HHM. I was hoping you'd respond. It doesn't make me any money in the sense that I've already used the clothes on my kids and now I'm reselling them to buy them new clothes. I mean, I guess it does make me money because I'm selling something of value but I did pay for the clothes in the first place, it's not like I got them for free. And I surely would never get what I paid for them when they are used. I used to use what little money I would get for them and turn around and respend it on Ebay for their new "used" clothes. If I just donated them (which I do for stuff that is non-saleable), then I wouldn't have any paypal money to spend on Ebay thus freeing up money I need to buy them clothes for birthday presents!

So, you think it's okay to sell some of their old clothes now and not wait until discharge? (which I'm not even sure will happen around the 19th or if it's going to take longer than that b/c of the motion to extend my deadline).

[HHM]

Yeah, you can sell that kind of misc stuff. No one is going to care.

I was thinking more in terms of the transaction cost and opportunity cost of selling such low ticket items on e-bay may not be worth it. I have no problem with you trying to salvage some value out of used items

[Flamingo]

You are selling used children's clothing that you paid for and there should not be any issue selling those in eBay or anywhere else (yard sale, garage sale, flea market, etc.). If you donated them, you would get a receipt for a tax deduction which you can deduct if you itemize for 2008. It's not like you have an actual "business" where you have a license, purchase items new and sell them new, etc. Ebay has gotten expensive to sell clothing due to the shipping costs and new seller's fees. You may do better by doing a big yard sale and advertising in your local or regional paper, flyers at the area schools, etc. Organize a group of mothers from your kids' schools/clubs to have a big group sale and advertise with free flyers at local kids organizations, schools and hang outs as to time, date and what all the kids items available. You'd be surprised as to how big those go over, especially if you have infant and baby items. You'd make much more compared to eBay and the costs involved. Ebay is great for collectible and hard-to-find items or new/lightly used designer clothing. There are too many people selling on there now with the same items. It's hard to make any profit off used clothing. Best of luck!

[One Half Full]

I'd say put it all in a box and wait a while till you are free.

[justplaintired]

Ok, I too used to sell on ebay. We quit about Nov of last year and before that it wasn't much, maybe $100-$200 worth of stuff over a 6 month period. Haven't really sold anything much since middle of last year. I didn't say anything to my attorney due to the fact we had quit. It was sorta the same thing. I sold small dollar items, things I didn't want anymore.... I did buy somethings at garage sale to resell. We have a paypal acct and an ebay acct. Haven't had much in paypal for well over 6 months, I think right now I have $8.00. So should I tell my attorney about this?

I kept my paypal and ebay acct because I too buy some clothes and other items off ebay from time to time. I hadn't really given this much thought til I saw this post. I do have some transfers maybe 3 last year total, but they were well over 6 months ago and we did disclose we had sold 2 old motorcycles to our attorney. This was on ebay, total was $400, DH spent $250 when he bought them. Not much profit. I didn't keep much in the way of records. We bought all our clothes at garage sales, goodwills...., junk I sold I had for a long time, or I bought at garage sales. So if someone wanted to see records what do we do?

Anyway, we are C7 below median income in our area by about $30K, our income verses expenses is about even.

I am not considering ebay right now, I just took a bunch of junk to Goodwill. I actually think sometimes I lost more then I made on ebay. Sort of thought for awhile ebay could save us and spend valuable gas money driving around looking for junk to sell.

So do you think this could be a problem? We have not filed yet, we are still waiting for all the lawyer's paralegal to get all our papers together and sign them. Thanks for any help.

[Flamingo]

Ok, I too used to sell on ebay. We quit about Nov of last year and before that it wasn't much, maybe $100-$200 worth of stuff over a 6 month period. Haven't really sold anything much since middle of last year. I didn't say anything to my attorney due to the fact we had quit. It was sorta the same thing. I sold small dollar items, things I didn't want anymore.... I did buy somethings at garage sale to resell. We have a paypal acct and an ebay acct. Haven't had much in paypal for well over 6 months, I think right now I have $8.00. So should I tell my attorney about this?

I kept my paypal and ebay acct because I too buy some clothes and other items off ebay from time to time. I hadn't really given this much thought til I saw this post. I do have some transfers maybe 3 last year total, but they were well over 6 months ago and we did disclose we had sold 2 old motorcycles to our attorney. This was on ebay, total was $400, DH spent $250 when he bought them. Not much profit. I didn't keep much in the way of records. We bought all our clothes at garage sales, goodwills...., junk I sold I had for a long time, or I bought at garage sales. So if someone wanted to see records what do we do?

Anyway, we are C7 below median income in our area by about $30K, our income verses expenses is about even.

I am not considering ebay right now, I just took a bunch of junk to Goodwill. I actually think sometimes I lost more then I made on ebay. Sort of thought for awhile ebay could save us and spend valuable gas money driving around looking for junk to sell.

So do you think this could be a problem? We have not filed yet, we are still waiting for all the lawyer's paralegal to get all our papers together and sign them. Thanks for any help.

If you do a Paypal search on this forum, you will find quite a bit that has been discussed about eBay and PayPal. If you are selling items such as motorcycles on ebay or similar items, then you have something to worry about. Selling things like used children's clothing should not be an issue. However, if you keep a lot of money in a Paypal account, that could be an issue because a Paypal account is considered a "custodial" account (listed in their legal jargon right on the website) and that means it is money that is available to you and, therefore, an asset. In order to open a Paypal account, you need to utilize a checking account and/or credit card to utilize as a backup and, therefore, it creates a link to one of your accounts where it is traceable. If you utilize the account for selling a lot on eBay, it could present an issue and would need to be discussed with your attorney.

I believe what the OP is trying to find out if selling used childrens' clothing on eBay would create an issue for her and since she could sell the same at a yard sale/garage sale or donate the items and get a tax deduction for its value for her 2008 taxes, there should be no issue as to her selling the same on eBay since it's not like she has an eBay Store or Business where she generates a good bit of business on new items or collectible items.

However, when in doubt, always check with one's attorney as to your particular situation.

[justplaintired]

I think I should clarify. These motorcycles were in parts. Not even titled. One was a '73 and the other was nothing more then a frame and I forget the year. They were nothing more then projects, something my DH bought thinking he could restore them and never did. He paid $250 for both and sold both in parts, literally came in 2-5 gal buckets with the frames for a whopping $400.00. This was out of the ordinary. Normal items were small trinkets, clothes..., nothing big. It is linked to my checking acct. However there were 3 transfers last year into this acct. I will tell my lawyer, and I suppose it could be reviewed using my paypal acct, however, I did not keep records. So it would all be guess work on what things cost verses what they sold for. When you purchase something at a garage sale, you don't get a receipt. I never had a store, never made big cash, just little bits here and there. This was not a business, this was a hobby, it was started simply to get rid of stuff and maybe make a few dollars. I never even came close to a power seller, was never offered power seller status.

[epiphany]

Yikes! Glad you asked this DRM.

My attorney did not tell me I had to quit selling on eBay. I have tax returns to prove a loss for every year except for 2007---2007 is the first year I showed a profit but it wasn't enough to throw me even close to the median. I still need to sell some stuff to pay the lawyer off. I have a store which has 87 items in it right now....mostly low ticket stuff. Am I going to have to stop selling once I file? I sure hope not.

ep

[JRScott]

I used to sell on Ebay too , mostly sold Magic the Gathering and Star Wars cars back in 2003 and 2004. Most of the money went to fixing my car at the time.

I had stopped back in 2005 long before bankruptcy or the recent changes. I have recently purchased a couple of items on ebay but nothing of note.

I don't think the OP would have problems selling the children's clothing. I don't think that would raise a red flag. If you want to be absolutely safe, wait til after discharge. As HHM pointed out everything you own is considered part of the bankruptcy estate up until discharge. Technically we aren't suppose to sell or dispose of any of it without the Trustees approval. Since the OP mentions the US Trustee I'm assuming we want to avoid them digging deeper, so I'd wait. (At the same time I don't think that they would raise to much of a stink over used clothing since it is really not worth much).

Big ticket items could really raise some flags though . Better to be safe than sorry is my thoughts .