High Retail Prices = Hard to Support LDS

[goonsquad]

Does CA not also have a "Use Tax" (I do not recall the actual term) to make up for purchases made outside of the state? As long as one is comfortable breaking the law then this is a valid point (assuming I am correct about them having that tax). I personally would break it but one has to be aware of what they are doing.

As long as an online retailer does not have a location in a given state (CA) then you don't have to pay a sales tax if you are the end user.
This was one reason the US Federal Gov. was trying to pass an "internet merchant tax". If I lived in CA. I would be ordering everything I could from out of state as long as my freight was lower than the tax. CA sales tax is ridiculous, course living in the repressive state of CA is ridiculous regardless...

 

[ScubaSteve]

Are USE tax and SALES tax interchangeable by definition and application? I understood them to be different but am abviously open to being corrected if I am wrong (USE was applied to purchases that did not originate in the state for which it is delivered to)

 

[kjvander]

As long as an online retailer does not have a location in a given state (CA) then you don't have to pay a sales tax if you are the end user.
This was one reason the US Federal Gov. was trying to pass an "internet merchant tax". If I lived in CA. I would be ordering everything I could from out of state as long as my freight was lower than the tax. CA sales tax is ridiculous, course living in the repressive state of CA is ridiculous regardless...

try taxes in chicago....I think that if i recall correctly Chicago is the highest taxed city in the country.....i maybe wrong...but it sure feels like that...

 

[ams511]

Are USE tax and SALES tax interchangeable by definition and application? I understood them to be different but am abviously open to being corrected if I am wrong (USE was applied to purchases that did not originate in the state for which it is delivered to)

Steve, sales and use taxes are mirror images of each other. If you buy in state you pay the sales tax (if you are the end user) if you order from out of state and no tax was collected then you are supposed to pay a use tax. States really do not enforce it on the consumer level because it is too expensive to track individual shipments to consumers (it will also tick off voters) and there is no easy way to pay the tax. Some states have tried going after big out of state online merchants like Amazon. On the business level it is a different story. If you collect sales tax then you also have a line on the form for use tax. During a sales tax audit the agent will review purchases also. Some people use their resale number for everything and get surprised when the agent tells them they need to pay sales tax for items consumed in the business.

 

[Kingpatzer]

That's not why LP is so cheap. The term "Walmart of the scuba industry" has many meanings. One of them is that they buy in such large bulk that they can dictate terms and pricing to the manufacturer. The LDS down the street can't do that.

It's beyond that. They violate minimal retail pricing agreements -- which is why they have to offer the warranty as an in-house service rather than through the manufacturer.

The LDS's in order to maintain their relationship with the vendors can not afford to be so cavalier.

It is technically something the manufacturers could go after LP for in court and they might win in some cases (though I've also been told they buy from over-seas warehouses and going-out-of-business lds's where they can avoid signing those agreements as well). But in either case, the manufacturers are complicit in the price-cutting that is going on.

When an LDS says they can't match the on-line price, they are rarely saying that because they are trying to price gouge the consumer. Rather they are typically upholding a legal agreement they have with the distributor that they had to sign in order to carry the item in the first place.

So one good question to ask is how interested in you in supporting a company whose policies are detrimental to the very survival of your local businesses?

 

[Herk_Man]

Sometimes it is a lot of fun to read the first page of posts in a thread and then click on the "Last" link to go to the end of the thread. Then, after reading the last page, try to remember what the OP's question or comment was about. Sometimes it can be a real challenge.

 

[ScubaSteve]

So one good question to ask is how interested in you in supporting a company whose policies are detrimental to the very survival of your local businesses?

Does Home Depot not likely cuase the small Avergae Joe's Hardware Store to disappear? They have in a couple towns close to me. Are you against Home Depot as well?

As for violating pricing agreements.....unless the agreements are in place with signatures from LP they are violating nothing because they have not entered into an agreement. If anything, the seller's (that LP is buying from) may be violating something. The manufacturers know what is being sold where and in what volume. And I bet they love it.

 

[brucet]

I have a very aggrevating story regarding LeisurePro. I purchased an AquaLung Titan reg from them. I was not aware that they were not an authorized dealer. I mailed the warranty registration to AquaLung. Never received notice that I had no warranty. When I took it for service I found out I had no warranty. After a round and and round with AquaLung over this, I basically get told, that LeisurePro buys the AquaLung products from their European operation, and that because they are not supplied by AquaLung in California, that they do not honor the warranty. What a load of crap. Aqualung sells their product to LP in such a way they can deny warranty claims. For one, I will never buy another Aqualung product again. Second, I have found that my LDS has always matched LP prices when I have asked. There is a huge mark up on these products, and they can afford to match prices. If your LDS won't look for one that will.

 

[RandyOrr]

Sometimes it is a lot of fun to read the first page of posts in a thread and then click on the "Last" link to go to the end of the thread. Then, after reading the last page, try to remember what the OP's question or comment was about. Sometimes it can be a real challenge.

Yes, I agree. The discussion on sales tax versus use tax, albeit useful infirmation, was way off topic from my original post. I believe I have my answer now.

I will go to my LDS and work something out with them. I will pay a little extra over internet prices for the peace of mind. Knowing I can return products that I am not happy with for ones that I am. I still may buy smaller things from other internet sites, but I will be sure to get things that will not likely need returned.

Thanks to all who posted responses. I would close this thread, but I am not sure I can.

 

[Web Monkey]

Does Home Depot not likely cuase the small Avergae Joe's Hardware Store to disappear? They have in a couple towns close to me. Are you against Home Depot as well?

Business has never been better in the little hardware store near me.

Home Depot and Lowes got people used to paying insane prices for hardware, plumbing and electrical, which meant that the small store could charge list price or more and still oook like a great deal.

Terry