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Except this isn't going to hurt the big online retailers undercutting local brick-and-mortar stores. Companies like Amazon have whole divisions that deal with s

by mreome 8y ago

Except this isn't going to hurt the big online retailers undercutting local brick-and-mortar stores. Companies like Amazon have whole divisions that deal with sales tax (in the US and globally). They won't be happy about this ruling, but they won't have real problems being complaint. This hurts small online niche and specialty businesses with very thin profit margins, the mom-and-pop online shops and one-man-startups.

ghaff 8y ago
Except a lot of local sellers lost the fight to the big chains and then the big online retailers a long time ago. There's maybe one local photo place in the Boston area who could compete with B&H and they're inconvenient enough I haven't been there in years. B&H probably will be hurt by this a bit. Compliance probably won't be a big deal and they beat out Amazon for a lot of specialty equipment. But they also sell a lot of DSLRs and the like too. They just basically lost their price advantage of Amazon for many items. (And, for those of us with Amazon credit cards, Amazon will mostly be cheaper once these rules go in place.)
- mreome 8y ago
  I agree that battle has largely already been lost, I was just making the point that this ruling isn't going to significantly help brick-and-mortar retailers as they are in competition with large online retailers who are already undercutting the local B&M shops by far more then the sales tax rates and won't have issues staying in compliance with lots of complex laws. I only see this negatively effecting small online business, the niche stories, single-person operations, etc. I'm not familiar with B&H specifically, so I couldn't comment on them specifically.
  - maxxxxx 8y ago
    In photography equipment the local sellers are actually often very competitive if you set aside sales tax. If B&H starts charging sales tax I'll definitely go more to local seller.

by mreome 8y ago

ghaff 8y ago

Except a lot of local sellers lost the fight to the big chains and then the big online retailers a long time ago. There's maybe one local photo place in the Boston area who could compete with B&H and they're inconvenient enough I haven't been there in years. B&H probably will be hurt by this a bit. Compliance probably won't be a big deal and they beat out Amazon for a lot of specialty equipment. But they also sell a lot of DSLRs and the like too. They just basically lost their price advantage of Amazon for many items. (And, for those of us with Amazon credit cards, Amazon will mostly be cheaper once these rules go in place.)

mreome 8y ago
I agree that battle has largely already been lost, I was just making the point that this ruling isn't going to significantly help brick-and-mortar retailers as they are in competition with large online retailers who are already undercutting the local B&M shops by far more then the sales tax rates and won't have issues staying in compliance with lots of complex laws. I only see this negatively effecting small online business, the niche stories, single-person operations, etc. I'm not familiar with B&H specifically, so I couldn't comment on them specifically.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  In photography equipment the local sellers are actually often very competitive if you set aside sales tax. If B&H starts charging sales tax I'll definitely go more to local seller.