The Free Ride (such as it was) has ended

[anthonysemone]

Adorama is now charging Sales Tax. Not so w/ BH, yet. Here's a copy from my sales cart for the x100s i had in it

Cart Summary

Cart Subtotal: $1299.00

Shipping & Handling: Free

Taxes: $115.29

GRAND TOTAL: $1414.29

 

[Guy Mancuso]

I put a Fuji x-e1 in my cart at Amazon and I got tax on it. I backed off and went to my local dealer since I wanted immediately. Party maybe over

 

[anthonysemone]

Yep, I noticed that on Amazon as well, Guy. Strange that BH has not done it yet. Local B&M folks must be ecstatic!!

 

[corposant]

Surprisingly Adorama is not collecting for CA.

California went after Amazon hard and finally last year they bit the bullet and started collecting sales tax. The only benefit is three new warehouses are being built outside SF and LA and there are rumors of one-day (and same day) shipping.

One big trick we have learned here - Amazon only collects on orders fulfilled by Amazon LLC. Try to find a product that is fulfilled by another camera dealer. They are not required to collect sales tax on those orders.

 

[anthonysemone]

Aha, good catch, Sir, I didn't know that. thank you

 

[axiom]

Surprisingly Adorama is not collecting for CA.

Really?

 

[anthonysemone]

Helen Oster, the Adorama ombudsman who has an seriously helpful presence on FM suggests it may be a software glitch, asserting that the charge is incorrect and that she's having their IT department check it out this AM

 

[Deleted member 7792]

I don't know about Adorama's sales tax collection policy, but for most online retailers, the policy varies by state. Here's Amazon's policy (from their website):

Items shipped to certain states are subject to tax.

Items sold by Amazon.com LLC, or its subsidiaries, and shipped to destinations in the following states are subject to tax:

Arizona
California
Kansas
Kentucky
New York
North Dakota
Pennsylvania
Texas
Washington​

 

[Deleted member 7792]

And from Adorama's FAQ:

What Is Your Sales Tax Policy?

Local sales tax applies to residents of New York and New Jersey. We do not accept resale or tax exempt status on online orders. If you wish to apply a tax exempt form to your order, please place your order by phone, email or fax.

International orders are subject to tax, duty and import fees. See International Orders.​

 

[anthonysemone]

Hi Joe,

it appears to be a software glitch. Helen Oster is still tracking it down. Yes, I was not surprised to see Amazon doing it. I was however quite surprised to see that Lens Rentals has begun recently to do it.

 

[DeckardTrinity]

New Jersey will be added to that list from Amazon later this summer. The writing is on the wall folks, stock up now before the holiday is over!

 

[thompsonkirk]

I'm not sure the ride is over. CA said Amazon would have to (a) charge sales tax or (b) give up all its CA sub-sellers, the folks who offer used stuff & items Amazon doesn't have in stock. After long legal/political hassles, Amazon decided on the former as its policy.

But with companies like Adorama and B&H that do not have in-state presences beyond NY/NJ, we're still on the tax-free bus.

 

[anthonysemone]

The Sales Tax added to my order is indeed an interaction among the new sales cart templates Adorama is using coupled with OSX 10.8.3 and, most important, Safari 6.0.3. I launched Google Chrome, placed the order, and no Sales Tax was logged. Adorama IT confirmed the glitch, and Helen Oster and Ken Rockwell helped out as well.

I reckon we can just sit back now and await the next government shake down