FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I have a few questions on selling plants.
1. If I am only selling infrequently, and not making much, do I have to include sales tax?
2. Should I collect payments before I send plant material?

I know the answers may vary from person to person, but I'm interested in hearing your thoughts!

1. As far as collecting sales tax, that would depend on the laws of your state. Whether or not most people obey those laws is a different issue. I know that in my state, online sales to an out of state customer do not require sales tax.

2. You should collect payment beforehand. That is standard practice.

Ya it varies state to state so read your states online tax expectations it’s probably based on total taxable sales yearly. I’d recommend it the IRS is ruthless they run in and shoot everybody in the *neighbors house.

With some luck I will have at least $20 for trades. It's not much, probably because I have been underpricing most of my stock. And my free shipping on orders $25+.

Another thing to consider is the IRS has changed the rules. It used to be that you were allowed $20,000 in sales annually before you were required to pay federal tax, now it's $600 annually. The payment platforms (PayPal, Venmo, Etsy, etc.) are required to report that now. That does not apply if you're sending the money as a gift or sending to family, only if it's for goods and/or services.
You could sell them, specifying that the buyer use the friends and family option, and that circumvents the tax for a hobbyist. But many buyers hesitate to do that because it's much more difficult to get a refund if the sale gets disputed.
Pros and cons.

Sometimes very good pictures of your plants can help "lure" people in. At least they do for me. (but I have to resist it)

Soon I can start my CP sales. Grow Marston Dragons, Grow! Using a ton of MaxSea

How are you selling your plants? Instagram or something?

If you're just selling a few extras I don't think sales tax is necessary, even if you do live in a state that requires it. Before covid I used to sell at Reptile Expos and such and acquired a vendors permit so did charge sales tax just to be safe, although I was selling a good amount of plants and still nobody ever asked me if I had a vendors license, so I think it would have been fine without. Like Dean said there's a new $600 thing, so make sure your customers know to send payment via F&F, NOT G&S, and if they do send G&S the combined total for the year needs to stay under $600.