How Far Back Does Your eBay Shopping History Go?

by: etectra

I've used the following the procedure below for years since many purchases are business related and I need to save a record of the purchase for my tax records.

1. Create a folder on your computer using a name consisting of the purchase date and a brief description of item; for example, "1-18-25 Milk Glass Bottle".

Since I record business purchases in a ledger where every entry is assigned a record number I simply name the parent folder after this record number, such as "4023".

2. Use a browser extension to save a PDF and / or PNG copy of the entire listing page on eBay to this folder. You want an extension that will save the listing as a unbroken file without page breaks. Many browser's built-in ability to save a page as a PDF will create page breaks, making it difficult to read.

3. Go to the gallery for this listing and go to the enlarged view. As you click on each one of the images in the listing open them into a new browser tab. Go to each one of these tabs and save the full size image to the same folder.

4. Save a PDF or PNG of the invoice for the item from eBay.

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The above procedure will vary slightly for other sites.

On Menard's web site the typically have two tabs of information for each item such as "Description & Documents" and "Specifications" so I will save a PDF or PNG copy of product page set to both of those tabs. I may also download any supporting documents they have available such as a manual, installation guide and so forth. I also save a copy of the invoice, receipt and any rebate forms to this folder.

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If you want a lot less problems in the future learn to be anal retentive about saving records.

by: smallstuff

My ebay purchases are visible on the website back to 2017 as the original poster found.  I keep records of almost all of my purchases that matter, such as art work.  It is not perfect and some of our collectibles were purchased from other dealers or auction houses.  Some things never get tagged with a number and some of them have lost their tags over the years.  For the things I sell, I have six spiral notebooks and numerous computer files.  I try to take screenshots and save some of the individual pictures.  I've found that outlook on my desktop is very good at searching for additional information, like invoices from ebay and auction houses.  Record keeping is the job of every collector.  It doesn't pay to rely on the websites to keep ''forever'' records.  I used to rely on TurboLister to keep descriptions of ebay sales I made, but that functionality no longer exists.  This posting reminds me that I need to figure out the cost of some of my purchases that are not included in my six spiral notebooks.  Maybe there is still time to go back and get those records.  At one time we purchased a lot on LiveAuctioneers.  I can still see their records back to 2011 and include many of my purchases.  Where it gets tougher is when I try individual auction houses which may or may not post past results.  And what happens when they close up shop or merge with another company?  Or when I buy something casually because I like it and it is now a significant sub-collection.  Those other collections don't matter unless I decide to sell them and need a basis for tax purposes.  Or decide to give them as a donation.    

by: NJSRR

Try Worthpoint for Ebay purchases.  I just did a random search and it took me back to 2006.  If you aren't a subscriber then the selling price won't be available but the description and selling date of the original listing should.  No seller or buyer information of course.   Results aren't 100% however.  There are some listings that don't turn up.

by: LasVagueness

I use Outlook and have folders set up for my two eBay accounts: items purchased and items sold. I started my folder system in 2008 and have personal records dating back that far although I was buying/selling years earlier. Some listings show the lead photo while most do not. As I often resell purchases, I may expand to @etectra's pdf file system above.  

by: FH991586

I still have some print outs of closed auction pages from 1999 to 2003, but there's a great gap since then. Fortunately, most of what I bought in the past 20 years are of little interest to keep (definitely not for resale). And I still have my emails as a minimal archive material.

by: rfm

You can make a special request for a report of your purchases (and/or sales and/or lots of other information) for a specified time period back to the creation or your account (and possibly any guest transactions if you provide the right data): https://www.ebay.com/help/account/requesting-personal-data/requesting-
personal-data?id=5089&st=12&po...  This is only a report with limited fields displayed, not the actual listing.

by: Andy

I have a Hotmail account for use with eBay business and absolutely nothing else. All my eBay notifications (sales, etc.) go to that address and I never delete them, so I can find info going back to my very first sale in the early 2000s.