How do I record a sale made outside of eBay?

For any sales you generate outside of eBay, you can manually enter those sales into Flipwise.

There are two ways to add a sale manually in Flipwise:

1) You can add a new item to your inventory for the sole purpose of marking it as sold on a non-eBay marketplace. Go to Sold in the main navigation and click All sold. Once on the All sold index view, click the green button to add a new sale.

2) You can mark an item that was previously listed on eBay as sold on a non-eBay marketplace. To do this, you must first end the listing on eBay, and then go to Inventory on the main navigation and click into the Ended index view. Click in to view the details of any Ended product you wish to manually record a sale for, click the three-dot action button, and click Mark as sold.

Additionally, you can mark a multi-quantity item as sold if the item is actively listed on eBay and it has a quantity unlisted value that is greater than zero. So if you sell one unit of a multi-quantity item off eBay, reduce the quantity listed on eBay first, then mark that unlisted unit as sold in Flipwise.

What information is required when adding a sale to Flipwise manually?

You must specify:

• The name of the sold product (if adding a new item)
• The marketplace that the item sold on (for example, Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace)
• The sale date (when it sold)
• The sale amount (how much it sold for)
• The quantity (how many units sold; defaults to 1)

Additionally, you can include these optional values:

• Your acquisition data (purchase price, purchase location, purchase date)
• A photo of the product
• The date it was listed on the marketplace it sold on
• Any fees you paid to sell the item
• The fulfillment status (unfulfilled, shipped, or picked up locally)
• Shipping cost (if applicable)
• Tracking number (if applicable)

Which items in my inventory can be marked as sold manually?

Any item in your inventory that is no longer actively listed on eBay can be marked as sold manually. If the item in your inventory still has an active eBay listing, you will need to end that listing before marking as sold manually.

Additionally, you can mark a multi-quantity item as sold manually if the item is actively listed on eBay and it has a quantity unlisted value that is greater than zero. So if you sell one unit of a multi-quantity item off eBay, reduce the quantity listed on eBay first, then mark that unlisted quantity as sold in Flipwise.

Can I delete an order that was manually added?

Yes, look for the “delete order” button at the bottom of the order details on the product’s timeline.

You cannot delete a product that has a manual order associated with it. If you want to delete a manually-added product entirely, you must delete all orders associated with the product first.

Can I change or delete a product photo?

If you uploaded a photo when manually adding a product, you can change that photo or delete it by clicking the three dots hovering over the existing photo as shown below:

Can I change the name of a product I manually added?

Yes, the product name can be changed by clicking into the product detail page and clicking the name.

Why can’t I see how long it took for a manually-added order to sell (Time to Sell)?

In order to calculate a time to sell, you must specify a List Date for the order. When marking an item as sold that was previously listed on eBay, the List Date will be automatically set to the first known list date on eBay. When adding a sale for an item that was never listed on eBay, you will need to specify a List Date manually in order for Time to Sell to be calculated.

Do sales I add manually count towards my store size?

No, manually added sales are not included when calculating your store size for billing purposes. Only sales on eBay that were imported automatically count towards your store size.

How do I enter fees for sales that happen on marketplaces where buyers pay the fees, not sellers?

There is no perfect answer here, and the most important thing is that you have an accurate Net Return for each manually added order for tax purposes.

Certain marketplaces, like Mercari and Depop, have shifted their marketplace fees, which are typically paid by the seller, to being “buyer-paid.” 

However, it appears these marketplaces will be reporting a total gross income to the tax authorities that includes buyer-paid fees. This means that, from the perspective of the tax authorities, you actually earned the total sale amount (including fees and shipping costs paid by the buyer) as income, and you will need to report the buyer-paid fees and shipping costs as an expense — just as you would with seller-paid fees — to reduce your total taxable income to the correct amount.

For this reason, we recommend that you enter the gross income for each sale on these platforms, which is the total amount that the buyer paid for the item, inclusive of buyer-paid fees and buyer-paid shipping costs. When Flipwise asks you to specify the fees and shipping amount for the sale, enter in the amount that the buyer paid in fees and shipping (as if they were your own expenses) so that your total taxable income is reduced to the actual net amount you earned from the sale.

If you decide instead to record the amount that you as the seller made from the sale as the sale amount and enter $0.00 for both fees and shipping costs, that is OK, too; that will result in the same taxable net income. But when tax time rolls around, keep in mind that these marketplaces might report a total income that exceeds what Flipwise says, and your actual expenses will need to be calculated by taking the difference between the total gross sale amount reported by the marketplace to the tax authorities and the net income calculated by Flipwise.

Should I enter a shipping cost for sales on marketplaces where the buyer pays shipping?

Again, there is no perfect answer to this question, and the most important thing is that you have an accurate Net Return for each manually added order for tax purposes.

Some marketplaces, like Poshmark, charge the buyer for shipping and provide the seller with a label at no cost. However, some marketplaces may report a total gross income to the tax authorities on your behalf that includes buyer-paid shipping costs.

For this reason, we recommend that you enter the gross income for each sale on these platforms, which is the total amount the buyer paid for the item inclusive of buyer-paid shipping costs and any fees, and then record the buyer-paid shipping cost as your own shipping cost (as if it was your own expense) to reduce your total taxable income to the actual net amount earned from the sale.

If you decide instead to record the amount that you as the seller made from the sale as the sale amount and enter $0.00 for shipping costs, that is OK, too; that will result in the same taxable net income amount. But when tax time rolls around, keep in mind that these marketplaces might report a total income that exceeds what Flipwise says, and your actual expenses will need to be calculated by taking the difference between the total gross sale amount reported by the marketplace to the tax authorities and the net income calculated by Flipwise.

Should I include buyer-paid sales tax in the gross sale amount when entering the total sale amount?

Generally speaking, no. Most marketplaces will not include buyer-paid sales tax when reporting your income to the tax authorities, and so you should not either.