unknown pleasures

This is a super important fact that I'm surprised no one else has brought up - there are two ways to report this income: as either hobby expenses or business expenses. If it's hobby expenses it's super simple: you just add the 1099 to your Schedule A and you're done. It's income, you're not allowed to write anything off and that's that. If it's business income, it goes on Schedule C and that's when you can start writing off cost of goods, fees, mailing supplies etc. BUT if you ever get audited, the IRS is going to want proof that this is a legitimate, for-profit business and not just a "hobby" where you're selling off some extra records on eBay. If push came to shove, I think a lot of the casual sellers on VC would have trouble justifying their write-offs if online sales aren't their day job.

Q: What's the easiest way to make $19k selling records on eBay? A: List $38k worth of records for half price.

$600 has always been the threshold you were supposed to report income, it’s just now they’re enforcing it. Like, legally you were even supposed to report a garage sale if it cleared $600 in the past but I’m sure almost no one did.

Honestly, for a some people - especially those who are only selling close to the $600 limit - it will be easier to just not write off the costs and pay taxes on the full amount rather than trying to keep up with recording costs and risk getting in trouble with penalty interest, etc. on the rare chance you’re audited. They do do random audits, still, and I don’t see the government paying less attention to income taxes going forward. Quite the opposite, as the very fact this change was made shows.

Seriously! And don’t even get me started on the buyers from New Zealand…

I was referencing the post literally just above mine which gave serious answers.

If we’re doing serious answers, how can it be anything but a Beatles album?

I remember him and honestly didn’t think he was joking.

If my records were stored somewhere that made them feel warm to the touch, I'd have moved them in less time than it took you to type this. You don't mess with heat and vinyl, period.

Would make more sense than the way Other Music used to do it…

Yes sir: a semi-anonymous collective of crypto currency buyers wishing to transform ownership of this album into an NFT was obviously the next logical step in this record's journey... https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/wu-tang-nft-album-once-upon-time-shaolin-1244859/

When you charge $300 for an action figure, it probably distorts the revenue breakout a little…

The craziest thing is how these guys used to do vinyl as a fun little niche side project when they were releasing Maniac and stuff but now they’re pretty much a record shop that sells some expensive merch like tiki mugs and silk-screened posters on the side…

My guess is they had the best intentions to start but at some point in the project, they could see this wasn't going to turn out how they envisioned and instead of trying to make it right - or even just own up to their mistakes - they decided to just go with the subpar effort and hope no one would notice... ...but they obviously did.

At least in that case it’s actually the band and not their “estates”…

Still can’t believe how much material gets milked out of Nirvana, Sex Pistols and Joy Division when they were each around for so short a time. Feel like there’s more box sets around for these bands than the Stones…

Ladies and Gentlemen… our shipping rates are floating in space.

This one’s been up a while, these are usually instant sellouts. Maybe that AmRep/Melvins magic is wearing off?!

Because these were only available in a box set, I doubt they came individually shrinkwrapped. It also looks like they were only available in Europe where records are very rarely shrinkwrapped so it makes it even less likely they came this way “from the factory.” Edit: There is one scenario where they could be brand new - sometimes record shops in the 70s/80s would special order imports and those would sometimes be put in shrink by the distro or even the shop themselves but in either case it wouldn’t be the factory or label applying it, it would be after the fact… but technically, they’d be “brand new in shrink.”

Hadn’t noticed that - I just saw 20+ in stock so figured it was new. Maybe it was copies they held back…

Banquet's getting in on the action: https://www.banquetrecords.com/angels-%26-airwaves/lifeforms/Rise485-7

Probably doesn’t help that they’re 10”s, the most hated of vinyl formats.

Maybe his face is starting to match his ego?