Amazon relents on Sales Tax, sets sights on Same Day Delivery instead (1 Viewer)

[schan1269]

Actually, the drones seem like the perfect neighbor prank.Like, if your neighbors are strictly religious with teenagers. Drop off an enormous box of condoms...

 

[EricSchulz]

Well, it happened. My first Amazon purchase that got sales tax applied.



I knew it was coming as they are building a distribution center about 10 miles from me....

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Eric,

Welcome to the Amazon tax club. They added tax for NJ residents last July.

What state are you located in?

 

[EricSchulz]

WI.

To be honest, the only time I really cared was when I would make a substantial MP3 purchase, since iTunes already taxed and Amazon didn't. And I don't really see any change in my buying habits since Amazon was usually my choice based on selection first, price second. But it WAS nice not to pay it!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Moderator's Note:

Just moved a bunch of posts about Amazon's announcement to hike their rates for Prime shipping privileges from this thread into THIS thread.

 

[Stan]

Eric,

Welcome to the Amazon tax club. They added tax for NJ residents last July.

What state are you located in?

Ron, you got lucky for many years. Being in Washington state, we've always been taxed because they have a "presence" here.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Since I moved into my own place a little over a month ago I've had 27 different orders from Amazon. Just about everything I needed for my apartment was bought through Amazon and last Tuesday I ordered a couple movies just to "enjoy" this weekend. Well, the tracking said they were delivered on Wednesday but they weren't at my door and they weren't in the office where the larger packages usually go. I called Amazon today and they're replaced both items without even questioning me and even agreed to ship them overnight so that I'd get them on Saturday. They even apologized and gave me a $5 MP3 store credit.

I've always heard great things about their customer service but they went beyond my expectations.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I've always gotten good customer service from Amazon too. It's very rare that I've had an issue in the first place, but the few times I've had a problem, they've jumped in. One time I purchased an item from a third party seller via Amazon, and the item never came and the seller never responded; Amazon refunded me the moment I brought it to their attention (rather than going through a dispute process). Another time I accidentally ordered two copies of a discounted DVD by mistake; they refunded me for the extra purchase but allowed me to keep the extra item instead of sending it back. Something missed a guaranteed release date delivery window - normally the guarantee is the shipping is free, but since I'm a Prime member that doesn't really mean anything - so I got a ten dollar credit on the disc.

Probably the best thing I can say about their service is that I've been using them for about fifteen years, and it's taken me ten minutes just to try to think of examples of when I had order problems, and I could come up with only three.

 

[Sam Posten]

Cue cat lives!!!!https://fresh.amazon.com/dashAnyone get an invite?

 

[Sam Posten]

Annual letter:
http://www.geekwire.com/2014/shareholder-letter-amazon-founder-jeff-bezos-innovation-urban-campuses-mayday-marriage-proposals/

 

[Sam Posten]

Thank you Captain Obvious!
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-22/amazon-sales-take-a-hit-in-states-with-online-tax.html

 

[Robert Crawford]

Thank you Captain Obvious!
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-22/amazon-sales-take-a-hit-in-states-with-online-tax.html

Right, once I start paying the sales tax, I'll reduce my spending with Amazon accordingly.

 

[Chuck Anstey]

I'm curious if the 245,000 households knew that they were part of the study? My guess is no.

 

[Carlo_M]

Right, once I start paying the sales tax, I'll reduce my spending with Amazon accordingly.

I thought I would too, but I haven't. With Prime, it's still cheaper and more convenient to get things from them than a Target, Best Buy, etc. And when you factor in where I live (high density, high traffic Los Angeles) I'm more than willing to let Amazon Prime do the work for me, even if the playing field is more leveled with CA tax (which has been in effect for a year now).

I can see for others, where a quick trip to a store is just 5 minutes and not much hassle, where they would decrease their use of Amazon. But for me, it still makes sense to use them.

 

[Rob_Ray]

For me, the issue is that Best Buy and Target are not going to stock the titles that interest me. It's either Amazon or some other online retailer and with my Prime account, Amazon is my first choice.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I can see for others, where a quick trip to a store is just 5 minutes and not much hassle, where they would decrease their use of Amazon. But for me, it still makes sense to use them.

I am with Carlo on this.

Amazon started charging sales tax in NJ almost a year ago due to the fact that
they were moving into this State.

Of course, everyone knows that PRIME was raised by $25 annually.

Has that made me decrease my spending on Amazon?

Not one bit.

Mind you, I am not happy about the extra charges, but I am one of those
people that hates getting in my car and going to the store.

...and I live in a low traffic area.

There's nothing I can really do about the extra charges. However, it's still cheaper
and more convenient than going out to the store.

Cool beans, tho, about the drop in sales. Should make Amazon think a bit -- not
that I expect anything to change.

 

[Chuck Anstey]

Cool beans, tho, about the drop in sales. Should make Amazon think a bit -- not
that I expect anything to change.

Why cool beans? I can think of many good reasons that Amazon should take a hit and plenty of bad ones too but none of the good reasons I can think of have to do with finally paying sales tax other than using their size and infrastructure to drive out competitors because it is more costly for the competitors to implement sales tax.

 

[David Weicker]

The other thing to consider is the actual tax rate. Online retailers use a set percentage. B&M use the local rate. It still might be cheaper to purchase from Amazon. Here in the Chicago area I've seen a 3% difference by just driving a few miles.

 

[sidburyjr]

The other thing to consider is the actual tax rate. Online retailers use a set percentage. B&M use the local rate.It still might be cheaper to purchase from Amazon. Here in the Chicago area I've seen a 3% difference by just driving a few miles.

Can you confirm this? When I lived in PA, I was taxed according to PA tax laws -- 6% on most things, 0 on food, 0 on (inexpensive) clothing.

 

[Chuck Anstey]

On the last two orders I just placed a few days ago, Amazon appears to know and use the local tax rate (7%) and not just use the state-wide tax rate (4%). This is where some have argued that Amazon is now in support of sales tax for online orders because they have the size to implement it but the smaller competitors don't and such a requirement would drive their competitors out of business without Amazon doing anything.