B&H and Adorama Observation (Page 7): Not quite. The customer is charged for the merchandise (and s&h if applicable) and sales tax but when using a Payboo card, the tax amount is...

henryp Loc: New York, NY

tcthome wrote:

I believe they discount the product the amount the sales tax would be.

Not quite. The customer is charged for the merchandise (and s&h if applicable) and sales tax but when using a Payboo card, the tax amount is instantly refunded.

johngault007 Loc: Florida Panhandle

henryp wrote:

It sounds like you're referring to our Rewards points program. More on that here:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/HelpCenter/Payments.jsp#bhRewardsProgram

If a customer uses a Payboo card to buy an item that's eligible for Rewards points, the customer earns the points and receives the tax refund benefit of the Payboo card also.

Yes, thank you Henry. I wasn't aware of it until I received the online gift cards, which was nice little surprise.

henryp Loc: New York, NY

scubadoc wrote:

Why are you distinguishing between online and brick and mortar stores? Would you walk into your local camera store, where you have done business for years, and ask them to eat the sales tax? Good luck with that. When you charge a B&H purchase to a Payboo credit card, owned by B&H, they are counting on people to not pay the balance by the due date. The high monthly interest rate applied to the balance more than makes up for the sales tax which is being “eaten” by B&H.

You are mistaken, twice. First, a customer from NY state or a customer buying in our Manhattan store who uses the Payboo card gets the same tax relief benefit as a customer shopping online who is in (for example) Texas or California. Second, if a card holder fails to make a full payment on time and is assessed interest, the interest goes to the bank which issued the card, not to the retailer.

henryp Loc: New York, NY

billnikon wrote:

Adorama does not charge sales tax. Your information is incorrect.

Your information is incorrect. They do now. From their FAQ:
https://www.adorama.com/help/ordering?OrigTerm=sales+tax&searchredirect=true#sales_tax_policy
Orders shipping to an address in a state which requires us to collect sales tax will have local sales tax assessed. In certain cases, we may provide an estimated sales tax amount until your exact location is finalized prior to order completion.

henryp Loc: New York, NY

scubadoc wrote:

A subtle difference, since the card is marketed only by B&H and accepted only by B&H. As you are aware, B&H is paying the sales tax, rebating it to you if you use their card, and making it up by the fairly high interest rate you pay if balance not paid in full.

That presumes we can count on a certain percentage of customers carrying an assumed amount of debt who will not pay in full, resulting in predictable income to B&H. Since we cannot predict those values it is impossible to count on this income to offset the sales tax amount.
AND
When a customer is assessed interest on an unpaid balance, that interest goes to the bank, not the retailer.

Retina Loc: Near Charleston,SC

henryp wrote:

That presumes we can count on a certain percentage of customers carrying an assumed amount of debt who will not pay in full, resulting in predictable income to B&H. Since we cannot predict those values it is impossible to count on this income to offset the sales tax amount.
AND
When a customer is assessed interest on an unpaid balance, that interest goes to the bank, not the retailer.

If I understand this correctly, B&H rebates the sales tax amounts to Payboo customers but not to conventional customers. There has to be a financial incentive for B&H. There could be contractual fees between the bank and the retailer. At the very least, there are increased sales to those who would spend more just to avoid a sales tax. (I love it when a sales clerk tells me how much I just saved using their discount card. I reply "Save? I thought I just spent fifty bucks!")

The percentage of customers who will misuse credit cards and to what degree are very predicatble, but B&H does not have to bother itself with that. Credit card companies and banks hire financial statisticians as part of their marketing strategy. It's a cost of doing business which is passed on to the customer through buffers. "They have a lot of buffers" to borrow from a famous film script, except there is nothing nefarious here. "It's just business."

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Thank you Henry!

Nancy Miller

Starman441 wrote:

I recently made a $400 purchase from Adorama and NO sales tax was charged. Free shipping & great accessories (filters, Corel, Case,etc.) also included. Same deal not available at B & H.

Adorama started charging sales tax on January 2nd for all States that collect sales tax.

Nancy Miller

billnikon wrote:

Adorama does not charge sales tax. Your information is incorrect.

We have started charging Sales tax as of January 2nd.

tjw47 Loc: Michigan

I had no difficulty with using the Payboo card. Spent $1500 on a Pentax telephoto lens.
Signed up for Autopay and had them pay the entire invoice on the payment date.
On that date, the payment was recorded! So no interest was charged. I basically used their money for about 45 days! Saved $90.00