If you have ever sold anything online, especially on eBay or Etsy, you have to keep track of your expenses and fees. If you don't then the IRS might get a little testy about your earnings. Just selling one or two items is not going to get you in trouble but say you found something that was really a hit and you were actually making a good living. Then you would have to report your earnings and the IRS would want to know if your really made a profit or a loss. In fact you might have made a loss because you did not keep track of everything.
So what can you do? You could keep an extensive Exel spreadsheet. Or you could try a free online accounting program or bookkeeping software. Yes they are out there. Some are made just for eBay and Etsy sellers. The programs will cover current fees for PayPal and even take into account your shipping costs that are not tracked in your payments, like the cost of paper and boxes. Have you ever sent out a package that only costs $2.50 for postage but the packing material cost $5,60? I have and ended up losing money on shipping.
Yes if you try to make money online you have to keep track of all your expenses otherwise you might be losing money in the long run rather than making money.
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