It’s a scenario all too familiar to retailers: A customer walks in, asks to see a product, discusses it at length with the sales staff, and then pulls out his cellphone.
Jason Brewer, vice president of communications and advocacy for the Retail Industry Leaders Association, explains what happens next: “He uses his smartphone to take a picture of the bar code on the back of the item, and then, right in front of the sales person, he checks prices and orders the item online.”
Why? Because most online outlets don’t charge sales tax, unlike traditional bricks-and-mortar stores. Buying online, especially when it comes to jewelry, cameras, computers and other high-end electronics, can save consumers a hefty chunk of change. But the costs to traditional retailers, not to mention state and local governments, are mounting.
“Not only does the retailer lose the sale, but the sales staff just lost 30 minutes telling the customer about the product,” Mr. Brewer said.
It’s infuriating to store owners, but after years of griping about the lack of fairness, this may well be the last holiday shopping season when bricks-and-mortar stores operate under a sales-tax handicap. A bipartisan consensus appears to be forming in Congress in favor of legislation that would close the tax loophole.
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2 comments:
load of crap, flyers for today's sales had the same vacuum listed in 4 different stores. The price fluctuated by 100s depending on the store you looked at. That's not sales tax.
Amazon sells books for 1/2 the price Barnes and Nobles does. That's not because of the sales tax. Best Buy charges way more for electronics then other retailer.. again that's not the sales tax. I've pulled out my cell phone in best buy and showed them the price of an item I wanted. They were 20$ higher then amazon (headphones if I recall correctly) They matched the price. and I payed the sales tax!
NOBODY advertises or list the price of an item with the sales tax included. Deceptive and misleading article!
Try to buy any item at a best buy store for the advertised price....you can't because they tack the sales tax on afterwards.
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