Last week to avoid higher taxes 6 6

[Hockeyflow33]

On 1/2/2022 at 8:37 AM, John E. said:

Up until yesterday I was a regular seller on eBay for 8 years selling a mix of collectibles and household goods, and man, it has really affected the way I see the value of things. I don’t consume a lot because l understand the lack of resale on a lot of this stuff. Whereas in the distant past l used to justify frivolous purchase because if it didn’t pan out I could always throw it eBay. Now I look at something at the store and estimate it’s resale value and how much it costs to ship and just put it back on the shelf. Case in point are DVDs (don’t hold value) and bulky toys (not cost effective when it comes to shipping). Also men’s dress shirts (for starters they flood secondary markets like thrift stores and chic second-hand clothing stores). That’s how I justify the money I dump into OA; outside of that I don’t buy a lot of junk. It makes it that much harder for my wife to shop for me for birthdays etc because she doesn’t see me buy things. 

The statue world has really lost the secondary market over the last few years and people act like you're a monster for wanting "collectibles" to at least hold onto their value. It was great when you could buy a Bowen for $200 and shipping was $13, you'd never worry about losing too much money, if at all. Now a statue is $1,000, the initial shipping is $200 and you get hit with sales tax. The secondary market has totally collapsed for the majority of pieces when you need to sell that same piece for almost $1,600 just to break even. 

 

[cstojano]

On 1/2/2022 at 10:36 AM, Hockeyflow33 said:

The statue world has really lost the secondary market over the last few years and people act like you're a monster for wanting "collectibles" to at least hold onto their value. It was great when you could buy a Bowen for $200 and shipping was $13, you'd never worry about losing too much money, if at all. Now a statue is $1,000, the initial shipping is $200 and you get hit with sales tax. The secondary market has totally collapsed for the majority of pieces when you need to sell that same piece for almost $1,600 just to break even. 

 

I cashed out of most statues several years ago. I hop onto the old boards occasionally just to see what is up. The hobby seems sort of dead to me. How many of the same characters can these places possibly make? The entire hobby seems to have gone more high end as you note. Sideshow ruled the day, then these new start-ups studios started appearing where bigger is always better. My last purchase was the Uman Witchking, for which they delivered a 900 dollar shipping fee on a 1290 dollar statue. Its just too big. The boxes (yes multiple) take up so much room I cannot imagine how anyone with a large collection stands the clutter.

Edited January 2, 2022 by cstojano

[John E.]

On 1/2/2022 at 1:31 PM, cstojano said:

I cashed out of most statues several years ago. I hop onto the old boards occasionally just to see what is up. The hobby seems sort of dead to me. How many of the same characters can these places possibly make? The entire hobby seems to have gone more high end as you note. Sideshow ruled the day, then these new start-ups studios started appearing where bigger is always better. My last purchase was the Uman Witchking, for which they delivered a 900 dollar shipping fee on a 1290 dollar statue. Its just too big. The boxes (yes multiple) take up so much room I cannot imagine how anyone with a large collection stands the clutter.

I imagine that $900 in shipping is the result of the heavy weight of the statues but that number still sounds criminal. I have considered moving on to more affordable, less stressful hobbies other than OA, like putting together a collection of vintage Joe figures or Transformers, etc. l then stop to think about the clutter, the weight, and what kind of art $1000 could buy me. 

[Hockeyflow33]

On 1/2/2022 at 2:31 PM, cstojano said:

I cashed out of most statues several years ago. I hop onto the old boards occasionally just to see what is up. The hobby seems sort of dead to me. How many of the same characters can these places possibly make? The entire hobby seems to have gone more high end as you note. Sideshow ruled the day, then these new start-ups studios started appearing where bigger is always better. My last purchase was the Uman Witchking, for which they delivered a 900 dollar shipping fee on a 1290 dollar statue. Its just too big. The boxes (yes multiple) take up so much room I cannot imagine how anyone with a large collection stands the clutter.

I just received the new XM Hawkman 1/6 statue a couple days ago and the box is like 30"x20"12" and weighed 22 lbs. What was the biggest Bowen box? Thanos on Thone or Sentinel or Giantman and that was not even half the size if memory serves me. 

Totally true on the space, I only have a handful of 1/4 or larger statues and the boxes fill up my basement 

[cstojano]

On 1/2/2022 at 2:54 PM, John E. said:

I imagine that $900 in shipping is the result of the heavy weight of the statues but that number still sounds criminal. I have considered moving on to more affordable, less stressful hobbies other than OA, like putting together a collection of vintage Joe figures or Transformers, etc. l then stop to think about the clutter, the weight, and what kind of art $1000 could buy me. 

Reformed toy collector here as well. Condition driven hobbies are a recipe for disaster for my personality. New in Box toys have worries about tape yellowing and drying and carded figs have bubble issues. Vintage Joes have internal issues with bands failing and the arms and legs falling off. Sold my sealed Kenner Alien for the same reason. The peculiarities of OA condition are a dream in comparison. But statue collectors are among the worst. There is no third party grading (yet and thankfully) but those people will microscope every statue for some visible flaw to complain about. Compare that to the miniature gaming hobbyist where a shoddy product is expected (cough, Forge World, cough) where spending 4 figures on a piece with air bubbles, warping, and general poor QC is shrugged off as part of the fun. . 

[cstojano]

On 1/2/2022 at 3:37 PM, Hockeyflow33 said:

I just received the new XM Hawkman 1/6 statue a couple days ago and the box is like 30"x20"12" and weighed 22 lbs. What was the biggest Bowen box? Thanos on Thone or Sentinel or Giantman and that was not even half the size if memory serves me. 

Totally true on the space, I only have a handful of 1/4 or larger statues and the boxes fill up my basement 

I wonder if the circle won't come full circle and people will get back to t1:6 statues again.  I mean, who needs a 1:3 or 1:2 scale bust of Sauron in their house??

[cstojano]

On 1/2/2022 at 2:54 PM, John E. said:

I imagine that $900 in shipping is the result of the heavy weight of the statues but that number still sounds criminal. I have considered moving on to more affordable, less stressful hobbies other than OA, like putting together a collection of vintage Joe figures or Transformers, etc. l then stop to think about the clutter, the weight, and what kind of art $1000 could buy me. 

DHL from China in 2-3 days. 

I just paid 1300 in shipping for a Peter Lyon sword from Weta in New Zealand. I was 10k in already so what can you do (besides not pre-order anything).

[Buzzetta]

On 1/2/2022 at 12:36 PM, Hockeyflow33 said:

The statue world has really lost the secondary market over the last few years and people act like you're a monster for wanting "collectibles" to at least hold onto their value. It was great when you could buy a Bowen for $200 and shipping was $13, you'd never worry about losing too much money, if at all. Now a statue is $1,000, the initial shipping is $200 and you get hit with sales tax. The secondary market has totally collapsed for the majority of pieces when you need to sell that same piece for almost $1,600 just to break even. 

 

 

On 1/2/2022 at 2:31 PM, cstojano said:

I cashed out of most statues several years ago. I hop onto the old boards occasionally just to see what is up. The hobby seems sort of dead to me. How many of the same characters can these places possibly make? The entire hobby seems to have gone more high end as you note. Sideshow ruled the day, then these new start-ups studios started appearing where bigger is always better. My last purchase was the Uman Witchking, for which they delivered a 900 dollar shipping fee on a 1290 dollar statue. Its just too big. The boxes (yes multiple) take up so much room I cannot imagine how anyone with a large collection stands the clutter.

To a lesser degree I see the same happening with many hobbies and areas of interest. 

Let's use the example of what was arguably considered one of the best mainline Transformers toys, 2021's Rodimus Prime which appeared on shelves at an $80 price tag.  This is definitely not meant for kids as Hasbro has actually created a separate kids line for the kiddies. 

Since 2016, there have been numerous incarnations.  The unspoken agreement was an out with the old and in with the new type of mentality where you would sell the previous generation on eBay or FB to help fund the latest version.  

I believe we are about to see a shift in how collectors purchase these figures if the thought of keeping track of all the paperwork becomes too bothersome to account for.    If people are not purchasing the product it could further scale back Hasbro and Mattel's production or risk in putting these figures out to begin with.

Everything could be a future Haslab project. 

[delekkerste]

On 1/2/2022 at 8:50 AM, John E. said:

I with you on this. I read quite a few financial articles on the 1099-k and read what the IRS has on the website. I understand it, but I don’t understand it. So even if you deduct expenses like mileage and shipping costs, does that mean you can’t take the standard deduction? How can you use the “Yard Sale” rule on an eBay 1099-k? How are you going to differentiate between the sale of a used household good (which should be excluded from taxation) and a collectible (which, if it made profit, should be taxed like a liquidated stock) made in the same 1099-K? Why can’t the money used from a sale of art be rolled over into more art so it can have a tax protection status like real estate? The only scenario l see is paying full taxes on the gross. I know people here have deducted expenses, but it sounds like a headache for the hobbyist. 

Most costs are not deductible as a hobbyist - I'm not an accountant, but, I would assume that shipping is, but that most other things are not unless you are a dealer (I have some knowledge of this from other activities).   

The IRS explicitly disallowed 1031 exchanges for collectibles in the tax law changes a few years ago (in the same bill where the SALT deduction was capped, IIRC), so, there is no rolling over basis from one piece of art to another anymore. And, to have qualified pre-tax law change, you would have had to both fill out the right paperwork as well as met the 1031 exchange criteria, which literally no one did. 

[Hockeyflow33]

On 1/2/2022 at 6:44 PM, cstojano said:

I wonder if the circle won't come full circle and people will get back to t1:6 statues again.  I mean, who needs a 1:3 or 1:2 scale bust of Sauron in their house??

The 1:6 pieces are like $600 plus $1-200 shipping nowadays, it's nuts! 

Iron Studios produces 1:10 statues that look phenomenal but are anywhere from $160-350. Shipping is definitely reasonable but the prices are nuts for longtime collectors, (I still buy them haha). 

[RBerman]

On 1/2/2022 at 7:50 AM, John E. said:

 Why can’t the money used from a sale of art be rolled over into more art so it can have a tax protection status like real estate?

This one I can at least understand from a policy perspective. It's social engineering. The government wants people to own houses, and to upgrade their houses, thereby paying more property tax, sticking around to spend money in the community in which they just committed to stay, etc.

It's not obvious to me that art sales have a similar ripple effect, unless people were acquiring art to open galleries which employ citizens, beautify the city to attract more industry etc.

[aokartman]

My guess is any 1099 automatically generated by a payment service will eventually trigger an automatic adjustment to your income tax refund or amount due.  It will be a large revenue stream for the government, and as simple to implement as a W-2 or similar reports.  David

[rsouxlja7]

On 1/1/2022 at 6:26 PM, cstojano said:

I have to say that the online articles on this are rather short on details. I know, I know - consult your tax accountant. But everything I am reading makes it seem like there is no way to deduct your cost basis for any hobby income post 2018. I assume these articles are thinking of hobbies in a very general way, and expenses are things like gas/mileage, electricity to rung your pottery wheel, etc. I am just not seeing how you justify your cost to acquire the items you have sold. 

 

I suppose if you don't get the 1099-K you can do the math in your head and report whatever is left on your Other Income line.

But if you get a 1099-K, that is the questions, how to report the cost basis of the items you sold. 

The hobby income designation is confusing because collecting comics/art is a hobby but for the vast majority of the people on this forum selling expensive comics or art you would not file it as hobby income. 

Example of hobby income: you spend $5,000/year on photography equipment and supplies but make $100/year income as a photographer. You do not get to deduct $5,000. 

Example of selling comics: you sell a comic for $1,000 that you paid $500 for 6 months ago. You put it on Schedule C, sales $1,000, cost of sales $500, cost of shipping supplies $10, shipping $25, net profit you'll pay tax on is $465. 

[timguerrero]

I see myself buying less and less comics and increasing my original art purchases. I have the added trouble to be located outside of the USA and have completely stopped selling items on ebay as I don't have a US Bank account for ebay to deposit my payouts so in a way my hobby revenue has already been affected.

[delekkerste]

On 1/5/2022 at 6:45 PM, rsouxlja7 said:

Example of selling comics: you sell a comic for $1,000 that you paid $500 for 6 months ago. You put it on Schedule C, sales $1,000, cost of sales $500, cost of shipping supplies $10, shipping $25, net profit you'll pay tax on is $465. 

Dealers/businesses will put it on Schedule C; the rest of us will put it on Schedule D.