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I think legitster is suggesting that the sticker price on the product should be the price paid, rather than a uniform sales tax code. If the seller knows what t

I think legitster is suggesting that the sticker price on the product should be the price paid, rather than a uniform sales tax code. If the seller knows what to charge the buyer, then they know what they need to put on the sticker.

runako 2y ago
Local retailers would oppose this in very strong terms as a thumb on the scale in favor of online retailers. Online retailers would presumably still be able to show pricing before knowing a shipping address, so their pricing would be pre-tax. That would make the apparent price differential even greater, and on every item. I think this would make the marketplace less clear for consumers.
- joshuaissac 2y ago
  Online retailers could be required to use the best available estimate of the user's location to calculate the tax, like they do for ads. So if they are logged in with an address on file, it could be that. If not, they could use geolocation, with a note that the tax is estimated. And let the user input a location in a box to show the exact tax.
  - runako 2y ago
    > they could use geolocation, with a note that the tax is estimated So we'd go from the current regime where the displayed price is wrong to another regime where the displayed price is wrong? Allegedly, something like 40%+ of Americans use VPNs. They would pretty much always see the wrong price. In practice, the ramification of this would be that your local indie retailers (where we are much less likely to be persistently logged in) would be forced to incorrectly show higher prices to a set of people, while the giant retailers who already have your billing info can show you 100% accurate pricing all the time, regardless of VPN. I don't see any clear wins in that scenario.
    - thehappypm 2y ago
      40% of Americans using VPNs cannot possibly be true.
      - runako 2y ago
        Sounded off to me, but I wasn't able to find a better number when I looked. Maybe it's counting work computers where the stack is maintained by IT staff?
- olddustytrail 2y ago
  Oddly enough, the average EU consumer has no problem understanding that the label price is the full price of a purchase, while online prices might include extra stuff such as delivery. Maybe you're just less intelligent than the average consumer and need some more protection? Or is it something else?
  - runako 2y ago
    > Maybe you're just less intelligent than the average consumer I'm not one to police tone, but really? Did it make you feel better to say that? > is it something else? Yes, the something else is that you're missing the point that my comment was specifically about the disparity in the prices large online retailers would be able to display (e.g. without sales tax) versus what offline retailers would display (with sales tax). If Amazon and a local retailer are both aiming for the same $1,000 for an item net of tax, this would mean that Amazon could display $1,000 as the price while my local retailer would have to list it for (say) $1,100. I don't think local retailers would like that very much, even though the consumer would end up paying $1,100 either way. You may disagree.

runako 2y ago

Local retailers would oppose this in very strong terms as a thumb on the scale in favor of online retailers. Online retailers would presumably still be able to show pricing before knowing a shipping address, so their pricing would be pre-tax. That would make the apparent price differential even greater, and on every item. I think this would make the marketplace less clear for consumers.

joshuaissac 2y ago
Online retailers could be required to use the best available estimate of the user's location to calculate the tax, like they do for ads. So if they are logged in with an address on file, it could be that. If not, they could use geolocation, with a note that the tax is estimated. And let the user input a location in a box to show the exact tax.
- runako 2y ago
  > they could use geolocation, with a note that the tax is estimated So we'd go from the current regime where the displayed price is wrong to another regime where the displayed price is wrong? Allegedly, something like 40%+ of Americans use VPNs. They would pretty much always see the wrong price. In practice, the ramification of this would be that your local indie retailers (where we are much less likely to be persistently logged in) would be forced to incorrectly show higher prices to a set of people, while the giant retailers who already have your billing info can show you 100% accurate pricing all the time, regardless of VPN. I don't see any clear wins in that scenario.
  - thehappypm 2y ago
    40% of Americans using VPNs cannot possibly be true.
    - runako 2y ago
      Sounded off to me, but I wasn't able to find a better number when I looked. Maybe it's counting work computers where the stack is maintained by IT staff?
olddustytrail 2y ago
Oddly enough, the average EU consumer has no problem understanding that the label price is the full price of a purchase, while online prices might include extra stuff such as delivery. Maybe you're just less intelligent than the average consumer and need some more protection? Or is it something else?
- runako 2y ago
  > Maybe you're just less intelligent than the average consumer I'm not one to police tone, but really? Did it make you feel better to say that? > is it something else? Yes, the something else is that you're missing the point that my comment was specifically about the disparity in the prices large online retailers would be able to display (e.g. without sales tax) versus what offline retailers would display (with sales tax). If Amazon and a local retailer are both aiming for the same $1,000 for an item net of tax, this would mean that Amazon could display $1,000 as the price while my local retailer would have to list it for (say) $1,100. I don't think local retailers would like that very much, even though the consumer would end up paying $1,100 either way. You may disagree.