Tax deductions for resellers
The fees are the obvious one. Here is what else a reseller can deduct, how stock is counted, and what each puts back at your tax rate.
Free. No bank login. Snap a receipt and see what it puts back.
What resellers miss
Not the laptop or the phone; everyone finds those. These are particular to the work, and each is shown the way Reimburse would log it.
Sourcing trips
Driving to thrift stores, estate sales and the post office for the business is mileage at the rate of the day.
Platform and payment fees
What eBay, Poshmark or Mercari keep. The 1099-K reports your sales before the fees.
Cleaning and repair supplies
Getting stock ready to sell: steamers, lint shavers, sneaker cleaner, thread.
Storage for stock at home
When your home is the business’s only fixed location, a separate space where you regularly keep stock counts, even if it isn’t used only for that.
Postage
Labels you pay for, when the buyer’s shipping doesn’t cover them, are an office expense.
Where a reseller’s receipts go
Each goes on its own line of Schedule C. Start from this page and Reimburse reads your receipts as a reseller’s, so the line is right the first time.
| On the receipt | Where it goes |
|---|---|
| Stock bought to resell | Cost of goods sold, figured in Part III and carried to line 4, counted when it sells. |
| Platform and payment fees | Commissions and fees, line 10. |
| Promoted listings | Advertising, line 8. |
| Mailers and tape | Supplies, line 22. |
| A storage unit | Rent on other business property, line 20b. |
| A label printer under $2,500 | Supplies, line 22, all in the year you buy it, if you elect the de minimis safe harbor. |
What to write on it
- What did each piece cost? Cost of goods sold needs what you paid for the stock, item by item or lot by lot.
- Stock, or a supply? What you sell is inventory; what you ship and clean it with is a supply.
- Personal, or for resale? Your own closet sold off isn’t business stock.
- Where did you source, and how far? A mileage record needs the date, the miles and the business reason.
A reseller’s year
An example, not an average: a reseller sourcing clothes and vintage at thrift stores and estate sales and selling on eBay, Poshmark and Mercari, clearing $26,000. What the stock cost is counted separately, as cost of goods sold. Every amount is priced at your rate; change it below and the year moves.
| What | Schedule C | Deductible | Back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fees the platforms kept | Line 10 | $8,400 | $3,029 back |
| 4,800 sourcing miles | Line 9 | $3,564 | $1,285 back |
| A storage unit for stock | Line 20b | $1,800 | $649 back |
| Poly mailers, boxes and tape | Line 22 | $1,400 | $505 back |
| Promoted listings | Line 8 | $1,100 | $397 back |
| Postage the buyer didn’t cover | Line 18 | $900 | $325 back |
| Phone, 70% business | Line 25 | $672 | $242 back |
| A steamer, cleaners and repair kit | Line 22 | $560 | $202 back |
| Lights and a mannequin for photos | Line 22 | $380 | $137 back |
| Crosslisting software | Line 27a | $350 | $126 back |
| A label printer and a scale | Line 22 | $220 | $79 back |
| The year | $19,346 | $6,976 back |
Sounds deductible, isn’t
Or has a catch.
- Selling your own things at a loss
- A loss on personal items isn’t deductible, and it isn’t a business.
- Stock you haven’t sold
- It counts as cost of goods sold when it sells. What’s left at year end stays in inventory.
- Stock you keep for yourself
- Take it out of cost of goods sold. It was never sold.
- A sourcing trip on vacation
- The trip has to be mainly for the business, not a holiday with a few thrift stores.
Questions resellers ask
What can resellers write off?
Platform and payment fees, sourcing miles, shipping supplies, postage you pay, storage, promoted listings, cleaning supplies and tools like a label printer. What the stock cost counts through cost of goods sold as it sells.
Do I pay taxes on things I sell on Poshmark or eBay?
Selling your own used things for less than you paid isn’t a taxable gain, and the loss isn’t deductible. Buying to resell is a business, and the profit is income.
Can I deduct thrift store purchases?
Yes, as cost of goods sold when the items sell, not when you buy them.
Are eBay fees tax deductible?
Yes. Final value fees, payment processing and store subscriptions go on Schedule C, with promoted listings as advertising.
Priced at your rate
What a deduction puts back depends on your state, your profit and how you file. Change any of it and every figure on this page reprices.
I run in . I file , and this year the business should clear about , with from a job or anything else.
of every dollar you spend on the business comes back to you.
14.1¢ is self-employment tax, 7.4¢ federal income tax and 0.9¢ California.
Your answers come with you. Next is your first receipt.
What every freelancer can deduct
Checked on September 25, 2026 against Instructions for Schedule C, Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business, Publication 587, Business Use of Your Home and Standard mileage rates. An estimate for your records, not tax advice.
Snap the next receipt.
Set up for resellers and Reimburse reads each receipt as a reseller’s, files it on its Schedule C line and shows what it puts back.