I sell merchandise on consignment. Do I need to send 1099's to the people whose work I sell?

It depends.

You need to send 1099's to the people whose work you sold IF you sold more than $600.00 for that person in the year.  It would be a 1099-Misc.

If you did not sell more than $600 for that person, then you do not need to send a 1099-Misc.

If you would like to read more about 1099-Misc, please visit this IRS page.

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/am-i-required-to-file-a-form-1099-or-o...

Consignment is one of those IRS grey areas when it comes to federal tax laws. SO I also recommend you issue the 1099-MISC if the requirements are met. One thing that sticks out to me though is the wording in some of the responses.

Your requirement to issue a 1099-MISC has nothing to do with what you sell or for what price you sell it for. It only has to do with what you pay the individual you do the sale for. If you pay an individual more than $600 in a tax year, then you are required to issue the 1099-MISC. (I use the word "required" loosely, because this is that "grey area")

So if you sell an item for $600 but only give the individual $590 and that's all they get from you for the entire tax year, you are not required to issue them a 1099-MISC.  Just understand that if you're not required to issue one, that doesn't mean you can't. You can issue a 1099-MISC to an individual you only paid $1 to if you want. It's optional in that case - not required.