Why do people “flip” clubs like the Jailbird? Are you really making money after having to claim paypal payments for taxes?

[adamwittman]

4 hours ago, southpaw72 said:

I’m not knocking that at all I know it’s big money. I meant people are career flippers and keeping you and I from the Hawaii Scotty cover drop that we would love to game on our trip to the plantation course this year, or hang on the wall with the rest of the collection we’ve assembled etc.. that’s all that’s why the hate on “flippers” 

Wellll, to be devils advocate, if you have the money for a trip to kapalua, which will blow your mind, probably can afford to buy the headcover at an increased price:)

[adamwittman]

19 minutes ago, the bishop said:

This is an undervalued post.

I was hoping wes bryan would win on pga tour with takomo. Now im hoping next year kirkland endorses a tour player and he or she? Wins with a full kirkland deal. 

[Sparky14]

Note that the IRS does not treat this as business income - you can't combine profits and losses for a "net" effect.

 

Sell one club at $100 profit. Sell 10 other clubs at $10 loss each. You will be taxed on the $100 profit - you don't get to count the losses against it.

[Puttersaurus Rex]

23 hours ago, PureStrikes54 said:

Not sure anyone that knows anything about flipping bought these with sole intention to pocket an easy flip profit.

There was at least one poster who admitted to this exact scenario in the Jailbird thread.  A few others were more discreet, but they were also flipping the Jailbird and the Rahm release.

Edited September 20 by Puttersaurus Rex

[jholz]

2 hours ago, the bishop said:

This is an undervalued post.

 

Thank you, your eminence! I heartily agree! 😃

Edited September 20 by jholz

[xabia]

I am categorically not a flipper, it would be too stressful for me. 

 

But why do people on this forum, whenever the next hot item appears, feel like they deserver the opportunity to purchase a limited commodity at whatever time point they want and at whatever the suggested price is? It's just not how the world works and being a club nerd does not exclude you from the realities of limited edition items

 

[southpaw72]

7 hours ago, adamwittman said:

Wellll, to be devils advocate, if you have the money for a trip to kapalua, which will blow your mind, probably can afford to buy the headcover at an increased price:)

Right it’s all perceived value but the point is why would anyone want the middle man involved who doesn’t do it for genuine love/appreciation/interest of the game. I don’t want to buy a sc cover off a Seattle hipster who just loves drop culture lol. 

[adamwittman]

3 hours ago, southpaw72 said:

Right it’s all perceived value but the point is why would anyone want the middle man involved who doesn’t do it for genuine love/appreciation/interest of the game. I don’t want to buy a sc cover off a Seattle hipster who just loves drop culture lol. 

Bruuuuuuutal. Brutal lol

[brew4eagle]

On 9/20/2023 at 12:56 PM, Sparky14 said:

Note that the IRS does not treat this as business income - you can't combine profits and losses for a "net" effect.

 

Sell one club at $100 profit. Sell 10 other clubs at $10 loss each. You will be taxed on the $100 profit - you don't get to count the losses against it.

This is not true in my experience.  I've had to claim sales the last 2 years since I'm in VA and the forms were based on net proceeds, which were negative for me, so bottom line was $0 profit and no taxes owed.

Edited September 21 by brew4eagle

[ALX]

It's hard to come out on top if you go through eBay with all the fee's and shipping, but it is certainly possible to "flip" clubs for money. I mainly sell to recoup some funds and lessen the hit I take when a club doesn't work for me lol

[bkirkley09]

On 9/20/2023 at 12:56 PM, Sparky14 said:

Note that the IRS does not treat this as business income - you can't combine profits and losses for a "net" effect.

 

Sell one club at $100 profit. Sell 10 other clubs at $10 loss each. You will be taxed on the $100 profit - you don't get to count the losses against it.

Not being a business only disallows your loss against your taxable income. Calculating your net profit by taking your overall sales less your cost of goods sold including shipping/fees is perfectly normal in my experience. So in your example if you do that full calculation and you had $100 profit on one club but had $10 loss on eleven clubs you could not deduct the $10 loss ($110-100) from your taxable income. You would just not claim any additional income as you did not make any resulting in $0 of taxable income on reselling. 

Edited September 23 by bkirkley09

[awtryau89]

If anyone wants one of these Jailbirds at regular retail I know where 5 of them are new in wrapper. I could buy them and try to flip them but I would hate myself afterwards. 

[me05501]

On 9/20/2023 at 6:00 PM, xabia said:

I am categorically not a flipper, it would be too stressful for me. 

 

But why do people on this forum, whenever the next hot item appears, feel like they deserver the opportunity to purchase a limited commodity at whatever time point they want and at whatever the suggested price is? It's just not how the world works and being a club nerd does not exclude you from the realities of limited edition items

 

 

I agree 100%.

 

Some anti-flipping posters have an interesting sense of morality. By their standards every retailer on the planet would be guilty of "flipping" merchandise. After all, they buy stuff at wholesale and sell it at retail. 

[AzSuperHack76]

Not a fan of flipping personally especially in the WRX community, but... Who the hell cares what another person decides to list and item for and what another person decides to spend their money on? If you don't like it, scroll on, it's not hard. 

[RangeBaller]

On 9/17/2023 at 12:48 PM, avidgolfer23 said:

I’m just curious with the recent law change where you have to claim funds paid on PayPal/Venmo now, and then you’re ultimately taxed on it when you file your taxes, that doesn’t it nearly cost you money to try to flip a club?

 

i.e. You buy the putter for $399 + tax which ends up being $425 or so, then you try to “flip” it on eBay or any forum and then PayPal takes 3%, you have shipping costs, and then you’re taxed at your applicable tax bracket when you file your taxes and have to claim online payments, right?

 

Or have I misinterpreted the having to claim PayPal/Venmo funds for tax purposes?

 

Thanks!

 

You think people think through tax implications?  Most people couldn't even file taxes without TurboTax...

[swgolf12]

On 9/17/2023 at 8:00 PM, bcjim said:

As I understand, you can't claim a loss for a loss taken on selling personal items (ie you aren't "running a business", just doing occasional purchases and sales). But, you also don't have to pay taxes on the 1099 documented money you got for selling something at a loss.  Example, you buy a set of irons for $1000 and sell them for $800 and get a $800 paypal 1099. There is a way to document that on your taxes that explains you sold a personal item at a loss and did not "make" $800.   Google the specifics or better yet ask your tax guy/accountant.  You cannot generally write off the $200 loss however unless  you are operating an actual business and the irons were "goods" and not a toy you wanted to test drive, is my understanding.

 

This is where it gets interesting though, because if it's 1 transaction then yes is your personal item for a loss.  But what if you buy 200 clubs in a year?  You sell half, you're holding the other half? Now you seem more like a small business in the buying and selling of sporting goods than an individual who sold a personal item at a loss.  All I know is that if the IRS is looking for a 1099 from me, it's getting run through a full schedule C with an expensing of my home office, mileage for trips to the post office, etc. and have them try and prove otherwise, gonna be hard for them when you have all the reciepts.

[bcjim]

19 minutes ago, swgolf12 said:

 

This is where it gets interesting though, because if it's 1 transaction then yes is your personal item for a loss.  But what if you buy 200 clubs in a year?  You sell half, you're holding the other half? Now you seem more like a small business in the buying and selling of sporting goods than an individual who sold a personal item at a loss.  All I know is that if the IRS is looking for a 1099 from me, it's getting run through a full schedule C with an expensing of my home office, mileage for trips to the post office, etc. and have them try and prove otherwise, gonna be hard for them when you have all the reciepts.

Then you'd have to treat it as either a hobby or a business. Plusses and minuses to each and I think the IRS can decide for you if they don't like your decision. If you want it to be a business, you have to be profit motivated. Then you can deduct all the expenses etc. And pay additional self-employment tax on any profit.

 

Definitely at 200 a year you'd want to keep good records for sure and be able to go either way.  And you sound like you know all this already.

[me05501]

All you have to do to “be a business” is do a Schedule C. It’s almost as easy as Michael Scott declaring bankruptcy. 🙂