Yeah, those lucky retailers get to blow off the shipping cost just because they aren't shipping anything. But they do have to pay a fee just for the privilege of doing business, and Amazon gets to do business without paying that fee. And now Amazon is using their dusty old brick and mortar stores as a showroom. I can see why the local retailers are feeling jilted.
You pay a fee for making a purchase. Local retailers should be arguing that they don't want to be the tax collectors, so their prices would look lower too.
Either way, you, the buyer, are responsible for paying the sales and use tax, regardless of whether you bought from BestBuy or Amazon.
Again, both BestBuy and Amazon "get to do business without paying that fee", as it's not something either of them pays.
To enjoy the competitive advantage of having a local presence, BestBuy does agree to help your local government collect your taxes (and in fact gets to KEEP a percentage of the taxes they collect!), while Amazon, who is not in your local jurisdiction, relies on you to pay the tax you owe.
Always wondered what people put in there and if the state even did anything about it (audited people).
I guess they could ask Amazon for records (threatening a lawsuit) and cross-reference with all the reported taxes based on name and address. If user bought just from Amazon more than what they reported they they have obviously owe some money + fines & late fees.
(But I suppose I am making gross assumptions about the competence and general technical abilities of my state's tax collecting office).
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/10/judge-blocks...
First it was anonymous purchase data. Then NC demanded user names and addresses but Amazon fought on 1st Amendment grounds and seems to have won:
“The First Amendment protects a buyer from having the expressive content of her purchase of books, music, and audiovisual materials disclosed to the government,”
I wonder if this was Zappos for example. What would have been the ruling.
Maybe Amazon should be complaining that the retailers don't have to manage huge server farms, or employ hundreds of technical staff, or so on.
They both have costs associated with doing business. Amazon has to pay ongoing infrastructure costs that the retailers don't, they have to take care of sales and other taxes that Amazon might.
Online shopping is just more convenient and gives the buyer much more control and information.
They pay that fee in return for services that they get, services that Amazon doesn't get.