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MarkBob S.: You can definitely offset your card gains with your card losses. You can carry forward any nondeductible hobby losses until you have hobby profits. Like Dan said, if you haven't reported these losses you would need to amend your returns (assuming the 3-year statute hasn't run).
It would take a lot of manpower for the IRS to audit ebay sellers. The IRS would waste a lot of time on people claiming they had a higher cost basis than the amount of the sale, but didn't save the receipt for that used lava lamp or lawn furniture. I'm sure a lot of these types of people would take the IRS to court. It would be much easier for states to go after buyers who purchase goods from out-of-state and don't pay their use tax. In most states, if you buy a bb card for your personal collection from an out-of-state seller, you owe 5-8% in use tax. I think states will start cracking down on use tax before the IRS cracks down on ebay sellers.