PayPal Community

The Flat Rate Envelope is the same rate as the small Flat Rate Box.  That's what I have used.  ... View more

Hi and thanks for your reply.    The IRS looming over our lives has a way of instilling fear.  Since we all can't be experts in everything, we do the best we can in areas that are our strengths and solicit help from experts in other areas.   Even the two guys who started Google recognized that they didn't have the necessary business sense to run the finances of a large corporation so they went out an hired an expert for their CFO.  You, as an artist, are very gifted in your talent as an artist and that you may not be as equally talented in the business world so you seek the advice of others.  I might suggest to you that you find someone local who us an expert in business and tax matters to provide guidance to you.  It would be to your advantage to do that.   If you had some terrible medical symptoms you would visit a doctor to find out what was wring rather than try to treat yourself, right??  It should be the same with financial metters.   I'll climb down from my soapbox now.  I wish you a great life and good look to you.   Bob ... View more

I own a tax preparation business so let me address a few items that should answer your questions.   1.  Pay Pal has no way to know how much money you earn.  The only thing that they can provide you (and the IRS)  is a 1099 that states you sold over $5,000 worth of consumer goods, and that would be from eBay and not Pay Pal..  While they know the amount of money that flows through your account, there is no way for them to determine what is income and what isn't..  It's the same thing with your checking account.  The bank knows how much you deposit and how much you spend, but they have no way to determine what's income.   2.  If you sell your used household items on eBay, the "income'" is not taxable.  It's the same as a garage sale.  You originally purchased the items at retail and are selling them to recoup part of what you paid for them.   3.  If you buy wholesale to resell on eBay then that income would be taxable and you'd better keep really good records.  I sell both used items from home and wholesale things I have purchased to resell on eBay.  I use the Custom ID field in Turbo Lister to keep track of the separate items.  I also sell used stuff that my family wants to get rid of.  I report those separately too.   4.  Sales tax can get tricky but in most cases, used household stuff are things you already paid the sales tax on when you purchased it.  As such, like at a garage sale, you don't have to charge sales tax.  But, if you are buying wholesale and selling retail, you have to charge sales tax for those items shipped within your home state.     ... View more

Calling the IRS won't help you.  You can't use an answer from them as a defense should you get called into an audit.   The official rules - The IRS does not care how or where you earn your money.  They only care that you pay taxes on it.  If you check your history, Al Capone was jailed for income tax evasion and never for any other alleged crime.   A "donation" button may lead people to think that it might be tax deductible for them to donate so you have to be clear that your are not a 501(c(3)) entity and that donations are not tax deductible.  There is nothing illegal about asking people to donate money.  The illegality comes from fraud or misrepresentation.   Now, if you are going to use a mode such as this for "earning" money, you need to be very scrupulous in your record keeping and report all money received either on your Schedule C (assuming you are a sole-proprietorship) or other business tax form (1065, 1120-S etc).  I you are none of these, then this gets entered on the front of your Form 1040, line 21 (at least on this year's form).   Receiving solicited donations constitutes income and not a "gift".  the IRS will also consider it as income.   FYI--I own a tax preparation business in California. ... View more

You can go to your transaction details in your Pay Pal account and print the detail for the payment to the Post Office.  Go to your Overview screen in Pay Pal and scroll down to the transaction for the postage purchase.  Click on details and then print out that screen. ... View more

Check your internet options for allowing cookies on the pay pal website. ... View more

I ship about 10 packages a week internationally and I've only had problems with one package I sent to Mexico.  I use the Post Office Shipping Assistant software to create my labels so the customs tag is combined with the mailing label.  So much easier than having to fill out all that paperwork.  Plus it prints a customs tag number that gets scanned at the post office.   I have the Post Office stamp the receipt that is generated when I print the label sp I have my evidence that it was mailed.  Unfortunately Pay Pal doesn't accept that as evidence.  So for the lost package to Mexico I had to refund the money.  I have shipped several packages to the Netherlands without any problems.  I ship a lot to Canada  and Austrailia too.  Again no problems.   I've found that the amount I sell to international customers more than makes up for for the one or two problems I might have per year with missing packages.    You can ship international through Pay Pal but your choices are Priority or Express.  International First Class isn't an available option.  I limit Mexico and South Americal to Priority.  I won't ship any other way.  Since the postage is 3 times as expensive, I don't get customers from those countries.  If you use Turbo Lister, you can set that up in your shipping options. ... View more

I had a simlar experience with shipping an item to Mexico.  The customer claimed it never arrived and had now way to prove or disprove it.  I shipped it via First Class International (an option NOT available with Pay Pal) using the Post Office's Shipping Assistant software.  I use this software with all my international shipments.  It makes customs tags so much easier because it is all incorporated on one label.   Well, I had my copy of the mailing label and the evidence that the item had been scanned at my local post office.  Unfortunately, Mexican Post Offices are not as diligent in scanning packages as they are here in the US.  And since I didn't use Pay Pal to do the shipping, I had to refund the customer's money.  To add insult to injury, they just took the money from my account and refunded it to the customer.   As such, I have revised all my listings and will only ship to Mexico via International Priority Mail (an option on Pay Pal) and that has increased the cost of shipping to that country so that I probably will have zero sales there.  That's fine with me too.   I ship to Canada and Europe with no problems at all.  And I ship 10-15 international packages every week. ... View more

I have experience this about once a week with my eBay sales.  Usually the problem is from the person using a period or abbreviation that the Post Office doesn't like.  I have made the necessary edit to get the label to print and then I enclose a note to the buyer suggesting that they edit their address to conform to the post office requirements.   I had a sale last week that was going to a soldier over in the middle east.  His APO state code was AE according to him.  I tried and tried to get Pay Pal to print the label but the Post Office software would not accept it.  Since I also have a Post Office Account, I logged into the USPS website and after some playing around, I found out that the Post Office has added an additional code to APO addresses and it's AD.  Changing his AE to AD worked and the package is on its way to him.   I wish the Post Office (or Military) would let customers know when their address is changed.  It would also help if Pay Pal wouldn't confirm addresses that don't me Post Office standards. ... View more

As a tax preparer, I can confirm what Amanda says.  Interest earned of less than $10 does not have to be reported to the IRS.  If you don't receive a 1099 and your interest earned is over $10 for the year, then you have an issue.   Some banks will send 1099's for any amount earned.  I've seen them from my clients for amounts as low as 12 cents.  It's a PITB for us because we have to include the information with the tax return so that the taxpayer doesn't get an automatic letter from the IRS for not reporting interest income.  I know it's dumb. ... View more