bergalon

Wow

Thanks for closing the loop on this! I would love to argue with IRS about their definition of collectible but it may depend on what HA submits more than anything? The amount I had to pay wasn't much compared to your situation (super jealous btw since one of my original goals I had back in '98 or so was a sealed BB set, which I failed totally atl) so it may be worth risking an audit, sending letters, etc. Here's where the vagueness is spelled out in content-less form (408m): https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:26 section:408 edition:prelim) OR (granuleid:USC-prelim-title26-section408)&f=treesort&edition=prelim&num=0&jumpTo=true#substructure-location_m

My accountant said yup, they will take 28% regardless. Worse still, if you can't show the original purchase price they will assume that all of fair market value is the "gain"; so it would be 28% of that full amount! The examples on investopedia also agree with this. It's just because a 1099K (?) isn't auto-generated by PayPal/ebay (yet) until you go over 20k or so that we have ignored this. Apparently, we should have all been paying 28% on every Nintendo Fiber, POG, and NES cart I'll just claim the "turbo tax didn't have that box" defense in the future. I look forward to hearing what they say! Thanks!

I think it's because if you sell it within a year then that will be at your own tax rate, so you could pay less than 28% if you sold that quickly.

Let us know how it goes. My understanding was all gains tax on collectibles was 28%, no graduated rate or anything based on income.

Maybe but then I want a new accountant It was less than six figures and was about 5 years ago. I'm not sure that the capital gains on collectibles was a graduated tax. I thought it was just 28%..? Our taxes followed: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/061715/how-are-collectibles-taxed.asp I also do some consulting and get paid via a sole proprietorship LLC. Capital gains there are around 15% because it is not profit on an alternative asset. Sucks to pay so much tax without a guaranteed retirement pension or healthcare but that's the US system for you and I could rant at length if you are bored.

My experience (in IL) and for an order of magnitude less sale than yours was this wasn't the case. I did my usual Schedule D and had to pay 28% since I had the item for more than a year. I was able to prove my net profit was a little less than the sale price but that's about it. Hopefully you found a work around (it's painful to pay 28% on a sale but only 15% on grant money!). I have an LLC, but perhaps if you make an s corp you can do something to reduce the rate and pay yourself as an employee type thing. Given the large sum I'd definitely get some professional advice, although maybe stressing out isn't the best way to enjoy a bunch of cardboard becoming worth a house We talked to a few accountants but were still stuck with over 50k in self-employment and capital gains taxes. Congrats again on the sale!

Late to the show, I know but bestine is a nice solvent but isn't for every adhesive. I've had stickers that won't budge with Goo Gone or Bestine and the only thing that works (in my experience) is heat; of course, not an option here.

Too late for me, but nice sale dude!

I understand not liking grading. I survived VGA grading and laughed at 10k for SMB sealed for years because I thought giving in would change game collecting and turn it into an "investment opportunity" for speculators, which it absolutely did IMHO. I think the point here is that if you want the benefits of Pokemon and WATA hype then you have the responsibility of putting up with the annoying/slow submission process, HA fees, etc. If on the other hand you want to sell if for the $2500 I have my old NA paypal fired up

Kid Icarus I love you!

Is there a reason you don't turbo warp this thing to WATA? With the risk of a low grade gone you'll increase your high-end buyer pool significantly.

Has anyone got a hold of the developer since? He was such a nice guy and I love this game (never made it past level 2 myself lol). I think mine is the standard edition (says #99) in the bottom right corner but has manual and box.

I'd love to know who the second bidder was too. Any bets on whether it was a prudent and careful collector of rare and wonderful plastic making an informed decision about an "investment" or a simple case of "Damn I have too much tesla stock and this money hurts"?

Yeah the switch for retro games is essentially a youtube meme at the moment. Lots of folks show hauls worth hundreds and hundreds for a switch lite with nba9k or whatever. Some of my friends who sell all the time get really annoyed at the lowball offers but it's all part of the fun IMHO