Forum Moderators: buckworks
Your fear, as far as I can tell, might well be valid if you claimed something that was a flat-out falsehood, like, "Buy these shoes for only $9.99!" and then you charged the customer $99.99 because of a $90 convenience fee that you forgot to mention.
However, there are new moves afoot within the EU to ban differential charges dependent upon country (charging X to resident of UK, but Y to resident of FR), excluding taxes.
In general, it depends upon the price advertised. So customers pay the price mentioned in the signup agreement they signed. So yes, AFAIK you can have different prices depending upon the signup channel. (ie people signing up via the website get a discount because you have fewer expenses than if they walked into your office)
In my niche, the nature of the web demands that prices be lower online than they can be found in a retail location.
This is fair, as a warehouse costs less to operate than a brick and mortar store.
The new trend seems to be that people use physical shops to view physical merchandise, then see if they can find it cheaper online.
I have no idea what that means. In any event, each state has its own laws.
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We generally sell cheaper online than in our stores. But we charge for shipping online. National chain stores often charge different prices in different areas. Prevailing wages, taxes, rental levels vary considerably around the country. (say, Mississippi vs Alaska) Nothing illegal.
Heck, some major mail order catalogs have been caught sending catalogs with higher prices to regular customers, and lower prices to prospective customers.
Terrible PR (when they got caught) but not illegal.
As far as I can tell it's a common practice-though I can't comment on it's legality..... anyone?
Yeah. Commonality doesn't make it legal. All I'm worried about is a customer saying, "I want it for the lower price which you have listed and since I can buy it online or in the store I should get the lower price." The internet sure brings a whole new set of legal questions with it.
Speaking of illegal, what are online retailers doing with all that tax they're collecting (illegallly). I've called a bunch of retailers on that (some charge tax, others don't).
Speaking of illegal, what are online retailers doing with all that tax they're collecting (illegallly). I've called a bunch of retailers on that (some charge tax, others don't).
In my state, and probably most states with sales tax, it is illegal to collect tax and not turn it in to the state. Any money paid to a retailer for sales tax becomes the property of the state immediately. The retailer pays the money to the state according to some schedule. If he does not pay the money, it is theft of state money which is a serious crime.
I haven't seen any retailers illegally collecting tax. There are those who are illegally failing to collect tax.
In at least some, if not all, states with sales tax a retailer has to get sign up with the state and get a number and some forms to facilitate payment processing. Failure to do that before selling goods that are taxable will also get you in trouble.
I am not a lawyer, check with a lawyer if knowing the answer is worth paying for the correct answer.
The buyer is SUPPOSED to pay sales tax on purchases from out of state. Almost no one does. (except me :))
I was running under the assumption that there is still no federal sales tax on internet orders (just as there is none on catalog orders). I don't think a state can impose a sales tax unless you live in the same state as the state the company does business in (right?).
A state that has sales tax can collect tax on any goods shipped into that state if the shipper has "nexus" --some place of business or property--in the state where the goods are received. If there is no nexus, the state cannot force the shipper to pay. Hence, Barnes & Noble charges sales tax on mail orders because they have stores everywhere. Amazon does not charge sales tax except in states where they have a physical presence.
Back in the days when mail order was based on print catalogs and phones or mail, some large retailers had a list of states and sales tax percentages. For some states the percent was zero because of no physical nexus.
If you buy a computer from Dell they charge your local sales tax even if they have no location in the ship-to state. They and some other large companies voluntarily collect sales tax and turn it over to the state that it is shipped to.
It is voluntary; they consider it the right thing to do.
Legally the buyer owes the tax; Dell is helping them in their natural desire to be honest. :-)
I remember in about 1962 when North Carolina started a sales tax on food. (since dropped). A caravan of cars left one city (with much press coverage) and crossed the line into Virginia to by food. On their return the state police stopped them and collected "use tax". Of course, most people buying accross state lines don't have a parade and a large banner "NO TAX" so no one else gets cought.
I remember in about 1962 when North Carolina started a sales tax on food. (since dropped).
As of a couple weeks ago when I was last in North Carolina, I had to pay sales tax on food. It was only 2%, but still a stupid tax in my opinion.
As of a couple weeks ago when I was last in North Carolina, I had to pay sales tax on food. It was only 2%, but still a stupid tax in my opinion.
I think it is being slowly phased out, more slowly than planned due to budget problems.
