Selling small items on ebay?

[jessegirl]

Ok, so I told my attorney about the paypal account. She asked me what was in it. I told her about 5.00, she said don't worry about it. Your allowed to have a certain amount of money in your accounts. But, I forgot to ask her if I can still sell on Ebay and use paypal.

So now I will ask you wonderful people - Can I still sell on ebay? I need to pay my attorney fees. I would only be selling clothes, shoes, pocketbooks, etc. Small items nothing big. The most the clothes will go for is maybe max. 100.00. If I have a big auction with alot of clothes. So what do you think?? Will the trustee be pissed went he finds out that I am selling items on ebay to pay my attorney fees?

I haven't filed yet and we are planning on filing either sept or oct. and maybe longer if we cannot pay the fees......YEKS

[MomIcantFindmy]

If you have already filed you cannot sell anything as it is property of the trustee until discharge. If you are before filing then make sure you are getting fair market value and not selling to insiders..other than that...go for it.

[Reddrocket07]

Sell the stuff on Craigslist, those are generally cash transactions and they have no fee. You can get away with selling clothing you own. I dont think the trustee goes through your closet to count how many shirts, purses, or shoes you might own. So its a safe bet to sell that kind of stuff most likely.

[yorkin]

That is the exact question I asked my attorney...we have retained one but not filed yet...I asked if it would be ok if I'm selling things on EBAY and he said "that's what they expect you to do...you have to eat, right?" He said after we file that we would have to stop for probably 30 days-that's until the 301 meeting. That is our only income...granted, We've also used Craigs List for some larger ticket items with no paper trail...I think as long as the income stays below the mean amount in the 6 months prior to filing...believe me, we are so ready to file but don't have the $2550 we still owe him!!

[yorkin]

Oops, I meant the 341 meeting!

[jktrading]

If you have already filed you cannot sell anything as it is property of the trustee until discharge. If you are before filing then make sure you are getting fair market value and not selling to insiders..other than that...go for it.

eBay is an actual job for some. I wouldn't think you would have to quit your job if you file BK. I do see your point about property though. What if it's on a small scale, ie. hundreds of dollars, not thousands? I just can't believe they wouldn't let you do your job altogether. Of course, I don't know, and not everything makes sense in this world.

[Flamingo]

Ok, so I told my attorney about the paypal account. She asked me what was in it. I told her about 5.00, she said don't worry about it. Your allowed to have a certain amount of money in your accounts. But, I forgot to ask her if I can still sell on Ebay and use paypal.

So now I will ask you wonderful people - Can I still sell on ebay? I need to pay my attorney fees. I would only be selling clothes, shoes, pocketbooks, etc. Small items nothing big. The most the clothes will go for is maybe max. 100.00. If I have a big auction with alot of clothes. So what do you think?? Will the trustee be pissed went he finds out that I am selling items on ebay to pay my attorney fees?

I haven't filed yet and we are planning on filing either sept or oct. and maybe longer if we cannot pay the fees......YEKS

Since you have not yet filed and are basically selling items that could be sold at a yard sale, this should not be an issue. If you were selling off high-end items, then that could be an issue. Attorneys and Trustees are well aware of eBay and Paypal accounts now as many folks have businesses running auctions on eBay. There are also those that do not sell but sell for other folks on eBay taking just a percentage of the item sold.

But as I always state, please inform your attorney as to what you are doing...you ask our opinions and are looking for approval - we do not represent you. Always ask your attorney. I really don't think there will be a problem at this point.

[cupcake]

Would the money made by selling personal items on eBay be considered income?

[jessegirl]

Hey cupcake - Yeah I gather that it would be income from what i am reading. It would of been a great idea and really helped us out with paying the attorney fees. I have never sold of craigslist, but people tell me that there is alot of nutty people on craigslist. There are also some on ebay, but i only ran into 1 or 2 nuts thus far. LOL. The thing with craigslist is people have to come to my residence and on ebay they don't....

[TEW]

Unless you are far below means I wouldn’t do it. Its income and you will need to report it when you file.
Have you run the means test? Are you planning on a 13 or a7. How concerned are you about getting the interest of the UST?

[soleprop]

keep in mind that when you sell an exempt asset (clothing, typically) you're actually converting it into a usually nonexempt asset (cash). all things in moderation.

[hnhlvr]

Hey cupcake - Yeah I gather that it would be income from what i am reading. It would of been a great idea and really helped us out with paying the attorney fees. I have never sold of craigslist, but people tell me that there is alot of nutty people on craigslist. There are also some on ebay, but i only ran into 1 or 2 nuts thus far. LOL. The thing with craigslist is people have to come to my residence and on ebay they don't....

There are nutty people on CL. The other problem is unlike ebay, where a person bids and then is obligated to buy the item if their bid is the highest, people on CL can bug you, send tons of emails, act extremely interested, be given your home address and then never show up. It's a bit creepy!

I have sold items on CL and I just make sure my DH is home with me at the time. Also, you don't necessarily have to have a person meet at your house. Once I sold two child car seats and met the buyer in a grocery store parking lot.

I still do sell on CL because there isn't a fee or a paper trail.

[epiphany]

I have a small part time business on eBay. This income was included in my BK but I am still under the means.

My lawyer did not tell me to stop selling and he exempted my inventory. I do not think it will be a problem for you, unless, as another poster said, the generated income throws you over the median.

Good luck,
ep

[Help!]

Would the money made by selling personal items on eBay be considered income?

I can't speak for anyone else's case, but we had to include it as income on the means test. Ours was an unusual case and the UST was involved. We sold some things during the months before filing to try to stay afloat, collecting about $360 via PayPal.

[paintinrosesred]

I also sell on ebay and I'm going to exempt my inventory. I wasn't told to stop by my atty. It's my job. But the money is considered income.