• Posted 12/19/2024.
    =====================

    I am still waiting on my developer to finish up on the Classifieds Control Panel so I can use it to encourage members into becoming paying members. Google Adsense has become a real burden on the viewing of this site, but honestly it is the ONLY source of income now that keeps it afloat. I tried offering disabling the ads being viewed by paying members, but apparently that is not enough incentive. Quite frankly, Google Adsense has dropped down to where it barely brings in enough daily to match even a single paid member per day. But it still gets the bills paid. But at what cost?

    So even without the classifieds control panel being complete, I believe I am going to have to disable those Google ads completely and likely disable some options here that have been free since going to the new platform. Like classified ad bumping, member name changes, and anything else I can use to encourage this site to be supported by the members instead of the Google Adsense ads.

    But there is risk involved. I will not pay out of pocket for very long during this last ditch experimental effort. If I find that the membership does not want to support this site with memberships, then I cannot support your being able to post your classified ads here for free. No, I am not intending to start charging for your posting ads here. I will just shut the site down and that will be it. I will be done with FaunaClassifieds. I certainly don't need this, and can live the rest of my life just fine without it. If I see that no one else really wants it to survive neither, then so be it. It goes away and you all can just go elsewhere to advertise your animals and merchandise.

    Not sure when this will take place, and I don't intend to give any further warning concerning the disabling of the Google Adsense. Just as there probably won't be any warning if I decide to close down this site. You will just come here and there will be some sort of message that the site is gone, and you have a nice day.

    I have been trying to make a go of this site for a very long time. And quite frankly, I am just tired of trying. I had hoped that enough people would be willing to help me help you all have a free outlet to offer your stuff for sale. But every year I see less and less people coming to this site, much less supporting it financially. That is fine. I tried. I retired the SerpenCo business about 14 years ago, so retiring out of this business completely is not that big if a step for me, nor will it be especially painful to do. When I was in Thailand, I did not check in here for three weeks. I didn't miss it even a little bit. So if you all want it to remain, it will be in your hands. I really don't care either way.

    =====================
    Some people have indicated that finding the method to contribute is rather difficult. And I have to admit, that it is not all that obvious. So to help, here is a thread to help as a quide. How to become a contributing member of FaunaClassifieds.

    And for the record, I will be shutting down the Google Adsense ads on January 1, 2025.
  • Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

USA: Read If You Accept Electronic Payments (e.g PayPal) - IRS Law Change

it will be gone by April ..a flat 14% tax on new items ..no tax on food or used items.
its coming and it will be 90% less gov.
research..I/m not going to educate..you won't believe me.. and thats fine I am not looking for a pat on the back.
 
bcr229 said:
Hobbyists can certainly deduct expenses but only up to the amount of gross income; they can't deduct expenses that exceed their income and thus show a loss on their tax returns. Bona fide businesses can post losses but after a few years the IRS figures out that your business is really a hobby and disallows the losses, so you owe back taxes.
Click to expand...

I understand that changed in or around 2019. I could be wrong.

"A hobby isn’t a business because it isn’t carried on to make a profit. If you receive income for an activity that you don’t carry out to make a profit, the expenses you pay for the activity are miscellaneous itemized deductions and can no longer be deducted. "

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p529#en_US_202012_publink10004386
 
WebSlave said:
That is the difference between an "income producing activity" and a "bona fide business entity". There are rules in place related to the number of years that you show an actual profit for a given time period. It may be interesting to note, that a "profit" can be as little as one dollar. Just do that at least three years out of five, if I remember correctly.
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I've heard that three out of five rule, and am banking on it (and hoping next year is a good one). It is much harder to turn a profit from breeding than casual speculation in internet forum posts would have had me believe. :D
 
Socratic Monologue said:
I've heard that three out of five rule, and am banking on it (and hoping next year is a good one). It is much harder to turn a profit from breeding than casual speculation in internet forum posts would have had me believe. :D
Click to expand...

Yeah, it is a tough business. I believe that the trick is that you have to produce enough animals that selling bulk is what actually pays the bills. The gems that you can sell singularly are only going to be icing to the cake and not something you can rely on year after year.
 
TIBOR PAPP said:
it will be gone by April ..a flat 14% tax on new items ..no tax on food or used items.
its coming and it will be 90% less gov.
research..I/m not going to educate..you won't believe me.. and thats fine I am not looking for a pat on the back.
Click to expand...

I guess we will see, won't we?

I read my fair share of what is going on. I seriously doubt you could educate me on this subject, unless you are privy to insider info not generally available to the public. I tend to believe facts that appear to be credible. Anyone can post anything in a message on the internet. That in itself, does not make it factual. The lack thereof, of course, does not make it automatically believable.
 
Rhacosaurus Gex said:
2 out of 7 for animal breeding.
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Interesting.

I could only find this claim applying to all animal breeding on less than credible sites. Legit references I found only note this for horse breeding (https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/26/1.183-1). Do you have any good references that show that the 2 out of 7 criterion applies to the breeding of other animals? I'd sure like it to be true.
 
Socratic Monologue said:
Interesting.

I could only find this claim applying to all animal breeding on less than credible sites. Legit references I found only note this for horse breeding (https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/26/1.183-1). Do you have any good references that show that the 2 out of 7 criterion applies to the breeding of other animals? I'd sure like it to be true.
Click to expand...

I think you are right that it applies to horses.
 
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