Collection Purchase and Sale Ledger

Who this is for

See whether buying and selling is paying its way. Purchases go in one part with their cost including postage and fees; sales go in the other, matched back to the purchase they came from, so each sale shows a profit or loss and the year shows a net figure.

Collectors who buy, sell and trade pieces through marketplaces, auctions, fairs and friends, and anyone thinning out a collection who wants to know what came back.

What this helps you track

• Every purchase with its seller or platform and full cost
• Every sale with its buyer or platform and net amount received
• Profit or loss on each item sold, against what it cost you
• Total bought, total sold and the net for the year
• A reference trail linking each sale to its purchase

How to use it

1. Write the collection, your name and the year at the top.
2. When you buy, give the purchase a reference number and write the date, item, seller or platform, price, and postage and fees.
3. When you sell, write the date, item, buyer or platform, price and any postage and fees you paid.
4. Copy the purchase reference and its net cost onto the sale line; profit or loss is worked out in the browser and the workbook.
5. On paper, net for a purchase is price plus postage and fees, and for a sale price minus postage and fees.
6. Check the year totals now and then, and keep the ledger with your receipts and listings.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

What goes in postage and fees?

Whatever the transaction cost you on top of or out of the price: postage, packaging, marketplace or auction fees, payment charges. The ledger supplies no fee rates; enter the amounts you paid.

How do I match a sale to a purchase?

Give each purchase a reference, such as P1, P2. When that item sells, write the same reference on the sale line and copy the purchase's net cost into the cost column. Profit or loss is net received minus that cost.

What about items I already owned before starting?

Add a purchase line for them with what you remember paying, or leave the cost blank and note it. A blank cost shows the whole sale as profit, so a best estimate is more useful.

Does this work out any tax on sales?

No. It records what you bought and sold and the difference. Whether any of that needs reporting depends on your circumstances and the rules where you live; check them separately.