Here's a question

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Smitty37

Passed Away Mar 29, 2018
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We have a interesting conversation going on in another thread about Internet Sales Tax. This is somewhat related to that but from another perspective.

Do you buy on the internet to avoid your state's sales tax? If not, what drives you.

I live in a non-sales tax state yet do a lot of online shopping often not for price but because with gas prices as they are I can buy on-line and pay shipping cheaper than I can drive 35 to 70 miles round trip to get it at a box store. My second reason is selection - for instance, I can get a much better selection of style and color for shirts on line than I can from any one store locally.
 
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Pen related: everything on-line. Nothing closer than a 2 hour drive one way for me.
Other: might order things from amazon for electronics and such.
ebay maybe once or twice a year.
I did order my champion generator from overstock.com, could'nt beat the price and free shipping. Other than that, dont order much on-line.
 
I buy a lot of items from ebay, Amazon, lots of sellers on the IAP and others. I can usually find what I am looking for less expensive than I can find locally and not have to burn up the road and my time looking. Shipping is a factor in my decision on where to buy since some places want to charge more than the actual shipping cost. The most important things to me are customer service, good selection, and quality of the product, I definitely buy where I find all three even if it cost more than buying elsewhere.
I would think that if they start having to collect sales tax and distribute to each state the cost of items will have to increase to cover the accounting and associated cost other than just the tax.
 
Smitty37 said:
We have a interesting conversation going on in another thread about Internet Sales Tax. This is somewhat related to that but from another perspective.

Do you buy on the internet to avoid your state's sales tax? If not, what drives you.PRICE

I live in a non-sales tax state yet do a lot of online shopping often not for price but because with gas prices as they are I can buy on-line and pay shipping cheaper than I can drive 35 to 70 miles round trip to get it at a box store. My second reason is selection - for instance, I can get a much better selection of style and color for shirts on line than I can from any one store locally.
Click to expand...

Lin
 
For most things sales tax is not really part of the equation for me. For wood turnings however; if possible I like to pick out the the stock I'm going to F-up my self. ;) I consider my self lucky (and cursed) because I live within a 45 min dive of a Woodcraft, a Rockler; and a 15 min drive from Exotic Blanks (EB) and another place called Kettle Moraine hardwoods.

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro;...and pens and other things also.:bananen_smilies026:
 
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If it is available locally, I tend to buy locally to support the community. If not, I buy online. Sales tax is not a decision factor.
 
Sorry, I forgot to zip it.

ZIP IT!

When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro;...and pens and other things also.:bananen_smilies026:
 
Recently I wanted to do a survey of my home prior to having installed a fan unit to recirculate roof air into our house the internet turned up with a supplier in China agent ten minutes away with stock. How was this a benefit 20.00 dollars for a laser infrared thermometer. The big branded identical standard for govt here was 300.00 guess what also made in China also picked up a laser rev counter to check my lathe variable speeds 18.00 no freight. Size and cost matter on a pension.

Installation excellent 18 to 20 degrees celcius in the home again today sitting on 20 degrees outside temperature colder getting ready to frost in the morning so fresh air hepa filter mild house lessoned heating bills hooray.

The variation from the industry standard laser was half a degree that is the one used by the installer.

Spent my whole life trying to shop local while everyone it seemed to me spent their time saving on me buying anywhere but. Pays to go to the shop on the net learn more IMHO.

Not bitter.

Kind regards Peter.
 
I dont make many purchase decisions based on sales tax. I often buy online and pay sales tax on those purchases. Its about $8.00 minimum in gas for me to drive to town. Most of the time they dont even come close to having what I need. I have needed something and got the "we can order it" response. Well I can order it also and I dont have to drive back into town to pick it up. I purchase locally when the price is within 10 percent of internet pricing, I have to have it now, or I want to hand inspect/ pick through what Im buying.
 
There are both a Rockler and a Woodcraft locally, tax and stock are usually not my reasons to buy online. I simply hate shopping. If turn around time is an issue, if I just gotta have it, I'll hit the stores first. If there's no rush, clicky clicky and it magically shows up in a few days.
 
I try to be a good citizen and always pay Ohio use tax on everything I buy out of state, so sales tax is not an issue. I often buy online for selection, price, and convenience (in that order). If my local Woodcraft carries something I need, I'll support them and buy locally, even if it's a little more expensive. I purchased all my major woodworking equipment from them so I wouldn't have to deal with shipping.
 
I purchase a lot of things online. I find it much easier to do this than to drive all over the place to maybe find what I am looking for and maybe not. Now I know if you are in Vermont near where I live you are supposed to claim all of your purchases made out of state and pay the state sales tax at the end of the year. New Hampshire where I live has no sales tax so I don't have to pay sales tax. I just get taxed in other ways.. Like every way they can think of.
 
mikespenturningz said:
I purchase a lot of things online. I find it much easier to do this than to drive all over the place to maybe find what I am looking for and maybe not. Now I know if you are in Vermont near where I live you are supposed to claim all of your purchases made out of state and pay the state sales tax at the end of the year. New Hampshire where I live has no sales tax so I don't have to pay sales tax. I just get taxed in other ways.. Like every way they can think of.
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Don't move NH has the 7th lowest total tax burden in the country.:biggrin:
 
Smitty37 said:
We have a interesting conversation going on in another thread about Internet Sales Tax. This is somewhat related to that but from another perspective.

Do you buy on the internet to avoid your state's sales tax? If not, what drives you.

I live in a non-sales tax state yet do a lot of online shopping often not for price but because with gas prices as they are I can buy on-line and pay shipping cheaper than I can drive 35 to 70 miles round trip to get it at a box store. My second reason is selection - for instance, I can get a much better selection of style and color for shirts on line than I can from any one store locally.
Click to expand...

Good question... I live in the highest or one of the highest sales tax states in the nation... but mostly I shop on line because the closest big shopping area for me is 35 miles away - one way... and shipping is usually cheaper than driving.. And for turning kits and supplies, it's even further - closer to 50 miles one way... but I would say I shop on line because that's where the best goods are... more variety and selection... not to avoid sales tax... you know the saying, you can't avoid death and taxes. :rolleyes:

I rarely shop for clothing on line though, I want to feel the fabric before I buy... there are some fabrics I don't like the feel of and here of late sizes do not seem to be consistent so I also like to try on any clothing before I buy.
 
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TellicoTurning said:
Smitty37 said:
We have a interesting conversation going on in another thread about Internet Sales Tax. This is somewhat related to that but from another perspective.

Do you buy on the internet to avoid your state's sales tax? If not, what drives you.

I live in a non-sales tax state yet do a lot of online shopping often not for price but because with gas prices as they are I can buy on-line and pay shipping cheaper than I can drive 35 to 70 miles round trip to get it at a box store. My second reason is selection - for instance, I can get a much better selection of style and color for shirts on line than I can from any one store locally.
Click to expand...

Good question... I live in the highest or one of the highest sales tax states in the nation... but mostly I shop on line because the closest big shopping area for me is 35 miles away - one way... and shipping is usually cheaper than driving.. And for turning kits and supplies, it's even further - closer to 50 miles one way...

I rarely shop for clothing on line though, I want to feel the fabric before I buy... there are some fabrics I don't like the feel of and here of late sizes do not seem to be consistent so I also like to try on any clothing before I buy.
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You said it on sizes...I recently bought some underwear and got large -- I already had some of the same style buy the same company bought at the same store but in medium....when I started using them I discovered that the "large" were clearly smaller than the medium. I have also found that with shirts in local stores sometimes I wear a large and sometimes a medium. I have found shirt sizes to be more consistant from on line retailer than local....trousers are a different story.
 
Smitty,
I like to buy local because I can see it and touch it. Sales tax is not an issue. One of the fe things I have ever bought on line is pen kits and blanks and a few small tools. My local WC did not have the tools.
The issue of buying on line is I usually can not seem to understand what it is I am buying,or another way to say it is I can seem to see what I need on the web sight. The few thing I have ordered I call on the phone and order if possible. An example of what happened one time, is I went on line to an IAP vender and was trying to buy a smaller tool rest. The one I have is 11 inches long. Locking at many threads it seemed that a small one wood work better. So I sent the site an email and asked if the rest i saw was what i needed. if hey could call me it would be helpful. they said hey could not call me. My question was since I have a larger powermatic would the base of the rest fit in the holder arm on my lathe. Well I was not able to figure it out so I did not buy the rest.

So information is important to me. Most sights do not give me he information I need to buy with. I hope at the MAPG in May to buy a rest and some other more advanced stuff I think I need. I think supporting local stores are a good thing, other wise there will be lots of empty streets in town. Thank you for reading this longer thought.
 
Bingo, Smitty, you hit the proverbial nail right on the head. Gas prices! We don't have State tax here in Oregon.
I won't be selling pens any longer, also because of same. I live 13 miles round trip to post office and a 20 min wait in line, to boot.

Good question.

Russ
 
monark88 said:
Bingo, Smitty, you hit the proverbial nail right on the head. Gas prices! We don't have State tax here in Oregon.
I won't be selling pens any longer, also because of same. I live 13 miles round trip to post office and a 20 min wait in line, to boot.

Good question.

Russ
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Do you get mail delivery right to your house or is your house within 1/2 mile of your mail box? If you do you might be able to get package pickup free for priority mail. I get it because my house is within half mile of the mail kiosk.
 
I shop online mostly for choice, you can find just about anything out there. US has a much greater choice than here in Canada. Second consideration is price, I try to support local businesses but if they don't have the stuff, or it costs 20-50% more if they do. I'm on a fixed income & sadly can't make up what goes out as I could when I was working.
Taxes don't really come in to it because as I explained in the other thread I get charged taxes from the supplying province. Even if bought from a US supplier Provincial taxes may still be collected on delivery (plus an additional fee for collecting the taxes)
 
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