Sales Tax online? grrrrrr (Page 8): B&H is giving you a discount on some items that the manufacturer does not allow discounts on directly. Many sellers offer something like that when...

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

1963mca wrote:

If I read the info correct, the sales tax IS being... (show quote)

B&H is giving you a discount on some items that the manufacturer does not allow discounts on directly. Many sellers offer something like that when they include other items in a sale.

And, while B&H is the name on the card, they are most likely not the bank that services the card, so if you owe a monthly fee, B&H doesn't get it, the bank does. (It's not impossible that a bank would offer B&H some sort of kickback, but (1) they wouldn't call it a kickback; and (2) it would probably be a small portion of the fee).

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

olemikey wrote:

Free ride is over, playing field is leveled. The internet sellers now have to do what the brick-n-mortar sellers do, and we should all do, pay appropriate taxes (for your state of residence) if charged. Credit cards have always involved total cost of transaction (product, shipping, tax, any other legitimate fee involved in the purchase) that I recall/or posses.

As I’m certain most of the membership is thinking, the "playing field" is not quite leveled by enforcement of state sales taxes in the U.S., but it’s less "unlevel" as a result. The "online stores" (i.e. those which earn their profits predominantly via the internet,) still pay less overhead than the "mom and pop" stores do. There’s nothing like seeing and handling merchandise in person, as well as in most cases (Best Buy and other such general electronics & appliance stores excepted,) receiving knowledge and advice from salesmen who actually understand photography, and for those who are able to access such stores in person, that can be a real plus.

Unfortunately, this previous inequity between these two types of "camera stores" has already devastated the population of the "mom and pop" kind, which I fear may never come back. I experienced the aftermath of this devastation in Louisiana. Specifically, from roughly a dozen such stores in Greater New Orleans down to just two in a neighboring suburb and from a few in both Baton Rouge & Lafayette to zero point zero currently. My return to the Boston area finds at least a few still standing, only a couple of which are accessible by public transportation.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

agillot wrote:

i cannot believe that a credit card would pay your sales tax , some states up to 10 % . that does not make any sense .

Easy Peasy - Just add it to your purchase and bill you for it.

Stan

Pumble

nadelewitz wrote:

If you are responding to my post, OF COURSE there is a relationship between interest and profit. OF COURSE store credit cards are actually bank credit cards nowadays. Banks are in the lending business. Stores aren't.

The store gets a piece of the interest collected by the bank, for bringing the business to the bank. Just like a car dealer gets a piece of the proceeds on a car loan. That's why dealers love you to use their financing.

I understand what you're saying , but if you don't pay interest then there is no relation to the interest and profit. 0% paid = 0 towards profit. If you pay off the balance every month like me and you're in CT you get a 6.9% discount of the out of pocket total cost and you're paying the taxes. Good deal, interesting marketing idea from BH. Anyone who finances something at 30% on this card is nuts.

MichaelL

For some reason, B&H does not collect Missouri Taxes. They were very good at Illinois Tax but I guess Missouri has not done what needs to be done yet. Amazon collect here but not all of the time.

pendennis

DaveO wrote:

We are discussing an age old practice of collecting and paying sales tax to different jurisdictions and no other functions or cost of business software. Convoluting the issue with sales/use taxes is of no value to the statement regarding the cost impact to a business due to the new law.

To the contrary. Every added dollar in business cost, whether materials, labor, taxes, shipping costs, etc., lowers the profit of a company. It costs the business real dollars to add functionality to collect and remit taxes to over 10K jurisdictions. It's not a zero-sum transaction. Prior to the Supreme Court decision there was no reason for B&H to collect sales/use tax, except for New York sales. At some point the business has to lower its profit margin, or pass along those increased costs to the customer. And in the 21st Century, no one is going to pay a clerk to look up all these disparate sales and use tax rates, and manually apply them to their sales programs.

That B&H, or any other retailer, resorts to using incentives to maintain their business share percentage, is just another sales promotion. They anticipate increasing volume to compensate for lost revenue. However, this only lasts until Adorama, Cameta, Best Buy, etc., all trot out their versions.

Pumble

lev29 wrote:

As I’m certain most of the membership is thinking,... (show quote)

I think there are a lot of other reasons. The reality is sales of DSLRs and other photography equipment is down due to cells phones and other technologies that hurt the mom and pop stores more than internet stores. Remember internet stores like BH, Amazon and the like all have to have warehouse real estate to store and ship and those Mom and Pop stores could've put up their own websites but chose not to. BH and Amazon were once small but they had the drive to push new technology and evolve. Think Ritz Camera...
Mom and Pop could've done the same, but the internet is just a fad, isn't it?

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

Taxes have become way too much about redistribution of wealth and not the functions government should be focused on. People cry that Trump didn't pay enough taxes...how much taxes does Amazon pay... That's right, as little as they can get away with...

Blair Shaw Jr Loc: Dunnellon,Florida

SportQue wrote:

Seems due to a new law companies are now required to charge sales tax on online purchases for out of state buyers. Anyone know of ways to skirt that? B&H is offering a credit card that pays your sales tax for you but I'm leery about getting another card online because of the personal information you have to give up, possible hidden fees etc. Also I need another CC like a hole in the head.

I try to use pay Pal for most of my on-line purchases and have managed to not pay taxes on most of those buys.....don't know why??? Especially the Free-Shipping posts....worth a shot . Go for it.

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

Online retailers like B&H have a 30 day return policy usually. So, do your research, buy it and try it. If it's not what you want return it. My local camera store doesn't have a fraction of the items I can access online. And they don't even stock the last body I purchased online. So much for the handle it...and their advise is often biased by personal views of the staff and what the store wants to sell. I do buy some small items there when I can but if they close my world will hardly end. Just like if I move or die they will carry on...

lev29 wrote:

As I’m certain most of the membership is thinking,... (show quote)

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

Pumble wrote:

I understand what you're saying , but if you don't pay interest then there is no relation to the interest and profit. 0% paid = 0 towards profit. If you pay off the balance every month like me and you're in CT you get a 6.9% discount of the out of pocket total cost and you're paying the taxes. Good deal, interesting marketing idea from BH. Anyone who finances something at 30% on this card is nuts.

Okay. If you pay off the credit card immediately, then you in effect are getting a discount on the purchase, and the store doesn't recoup anything. Great.

That is how I buy tires with my Goodyear credit card. I buy tires when Goodyear offers rebates, and they double the rebate if you use their credit card. The interest rate is 30% but I don't care because I have the money and pay the balance immediately. Good for me, not so good for Goodyear. But they make it up on folks who carry a balance.

BebuLamar

nadelewitz wrote:

Okay. If you pay off the credit card immediately, ... (show quote)

I think they are just happy that you buy Goodyear and not Bridgestones.

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

Notorious T.O.D. wrote:

Online retailers like B&H have a 30 day return... (show quote)

And then there are the very fine brick-and-mortar stores who grew with the times and added very good online businesses. Even B&H, Adorama etc. existed before the Internet as brick & mortar stores. They grew their businesses by MAIL ORDER. Remember the huge multipage ads they ran in the print photo magazines?

"Mom & Pop" photo shops have ALWAYS had to compete with those who expanded their markets nationally. That's business.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

PGHphoto wrote:

There are 50 states in the country at last count a... (show quote)

Follow the thread. The discussion is not whether or not software is needed. Amazon and LLbean, like many others, has long ago implemented software to collect and pay sales tax as required. All this means is that the data base is expanded to include the other states. Not a big deal and any who are versed at all with software are aware of this. Speculation is totally unnecessary.

Jer Loc: Mesa, Arizona

Business have to pay the taxes. Whether they pass it on to you is their decision.