Tinbids Experiences?

[coys]

Have any of you bought or sold on TinBids? What have your experiences been like?

Never bought or sold anything there. I'm curious about both buying and selling at that venue, no reason to trust or distrust it specifically but looking for reviews. Anyone had good luck or issues there?

 

[Puffaluffaguss]

I sold on it 1 time not bad but it's a last resort type thing for me personally because I'd rather give the folkes on here first dibbs. It takes awhile to get paid out but it was all smooth and easy.

I have also bought from them 1 time. I would prefer to buy from people on the forum as well but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. It was a perfectly fine experience.

Just be careful when purchasing because some listing can be a bit shill biddy if you catch my drift.

 

[macaroni]

...I sold on it 1 time not bad but it's a last resort type thing for me personally....

I've not yet sold anything there but I'm considering it (I have a few mylared trays of Penzance from the 90's--remember the clear plastic trays?).

Thnx for sharing. Glad it went well.

I'm guessing I would have to pay sales tax at year's end on Paypal's report for any profit, right?

Thnx again
mike

 

[coys]

I've not yet sold anything there but I'm considering it (I have a few mylared trays of Penzance from the 90's--remember the clear plastic trays?).

Thnx for sharing. Glad it went well.

I'm guessing I would have to pay sales tax at year's end on Paypal's report for any profit, right?

Thnx again
mike

I believe that change of regulation was stayed for a year that was going to bring the limits down very low.

 

[coys]

I've not yet sold anything there but I'm considering it (I have a few mylared trays of Penzance from the 90's--remember the clear plastic trays?).

Thnx for sharing. Glad it went well.

I'm guessing I would have to pay sales tax at year's end on Paypal's report for any profit, right?

Thnx again
mike

Thanks. I have heard people say that many bidders are overseas and they often pay high prices, but it takes a long while to be paid out in those cases.

I am not opposed to shipping to anyone who shares our hobby in principle, but I am also not sure about shipping to far corners of the world, who knows what can happen between here and China or wherever...?

 

[macaroni]

Ditto. Good point

 

[jguss]

I'm guessing I would have to pay sales tax at year's end on Paypal's report for any profit, right?

You should be so lucky. I'm assuming you're a US taxpayer. Eventually PayPal is supposed to be issuing 1099-ks which trigger income tax at the State and Federal levels, not a mere sales tax (which is not only much smaller but not an IRS problem; sales tax is up to the rapacity of the individual States). I say eventually because while Congressional legislation set a $600 annual aggregate income to trigger issuance of a 1099-k by an intermediary involved in a transaction, the fantastic burden of tracking that much data has delayed implementation.

Remember, we're not talking about a tax form issued for all transactions over $600, it will be a tax form issued for everyone who generates over $600 in aggregate transactions over the course of the year. So if you sell twelve things for $50/each you'll get a tax form (and of course a copy is sent to the Service). Think how many millions of people who use PayPal, Venmo, eBay etc will be affected.

This cluster**** was supposed to be effective last year. A few months before year's end the IRS said it wouldn't kick in at all for 2023; and for 2024 it is supposed to phase in with a $5000 minimum. Presumably they intend for that to be reduced to $600 in 2025. Well, we'll see. Here's a typical summary of what's going on: The New $600 Reporting Rule Has Been Delayed - https://www.marcumllp.com/insights/the-new-600-reporting-rule-has-been-delayed#:~:text=The%20IRS%20will%20start%20with,the%20IRS%20makes%20additional%20changes.

Of course you owe tax on the net from any sale through any medium regardless of whether you're issued a tax form or not and that's what the government is attempting to track. But trying to gather those taxes by requiring the issuance zillions (I think that's the technical term) of 1099-k's is proving to be a nightmare. It wouldn't surprise me if this gets delayed at least once more. The IRS is understaffed as it is (yes, I know: boo hoo) and this is a huge incremental burden.

 

[litup]

I sold several tins of Esoterica and got more money for them than I would have been comfortable asking for on here. The transactions went off without a hitch (including one that was an international sale). Tinbids makes the shipping aspect of selling very, very easy since they provide the pre-paid shipping label for you. All you have to do is package up your tobacco and get it in the hands of the USPS.

 

[dcon]

I have bought on Tinbids and all went well. I would not be opposed to buying or selling there.

 

[coys]

I sold several tins of Esoterica and got more money for them than I would have been comfortable asking for on here. The transactions went off without a hitch (including one that was an international sale). Tinbids makes the shipping aspect of selling very, very easy since they provide the pre-paid shipping label for you. All you have to do is package up your tobacco and get it in the hands of the USPS.

That's interesting. I noticed those 8oz bags of Esoterica go for insane prices there.

 

[sean.]

As a buyer my experience has been smooth. Of course it's hard to buy anything at a reasonable price with it being available to the Chinese market. But, you can find the occasional deal. It must be a great place to make some dough, especially if you have some Esoterica to offload. I imagine there are no direct ways to buy Esoterica in China so pipe smokers over there are basically limited to TinBids if they want to get some! Hence the insane prices.

 

[jbfrady]

I've bought and sold on there several times apiece. It's a great spot to land solid deals on aged GLP's and the like. A few weeks back they had some bogus accounts over-bidding to drive the prices up on several things then not paying for any of it. They've since banned those users, but I think it accounts for the general slow-down of Tinbids traffic as of late.

 

[alaskanpiper]

Bought many times with no issue. No major issues selling either, aside from the occasional buyer that doesn’t pay, but tinbids will not print you a shipping label until they receive payment so there is mo risk of loss.

 

[Lyon0oq]

I met the guy who started the site at the Vegas Pipe Show in 2022, he and his wife had a table set up. Nice guy, and in my one experience selling on his site my report is pretty much the same as all the others. Easy experience, got my money, would do it again.

 

[username]

I've sold on their and never had a issue. I'm pretty sure alot of what I sold went to overseas buyers but it just went to a California address I assumed was a holding company.

 

[Servant King]

Bought from them once, and I'd gladly do it again, if the price was right. The entire process was a delight, save for the sender possessing some abnormal antipathy toward packing materials e.g. bubble wrap, wrapping paper etc. But Tinbids is hardly at fault for that part (thankfully nothing ended up getting damaged), so I would just chalk it up to an unrelated case of human stupidity and/or absentmindedness. Never sold on it, but it sounds likewise uncomplicated. Obviously, the price gouging element is an issue, but that's just an unavoidable part of the experience, I think, and one that is easily ignored.

Like others on here, I prioritize the buy/sell section on here, but Tinbids seems to be quite the useful resource. I hope it enjoys financial success for many years.

 

[coys]

I've sold on their and never had an issue. I'm pretty sure alot of what I sold went to overseas buyers but it just went to a California address I assumed was a holding company.

Yes, there are definitely companies that operate in this way, as a shipping middle man for online retailers that don’t ship to your country.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

I’d assume since they are Pipemagazine.com sponsor that they are a pretty reputable operation either selling or buying from. Seems like you’d make out better if you were a seller IMHO. ️

 

[coys]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and experiences. I decided to list a few items on TinBids and I'll report back as to how the experience goes. Hopefully, well

 

[Terry Lennox]

I've sold on their and never had a issue. I'm pretty sure alot of what I sold went to overseas buyers but it just went to a California address I assumed was a holding company.

Yes for buyers in Asia you are almost always shipping to a US address, usually in California. These tend to be freight forwarders. A freight forwarder fills a container with US goods and ships it on to China, Hong Kong or wherever. When I have sold Dunhill pipes on Ebay sometimes the address for the buyer was one of these forwarding companies. You can usually tell because if you Google map the address it is often in an industrial or commercial zone, not residential.