Why is TrollandToad Now Charging Sales Tax?
Economics forum
Posted on Nov. 26, 2018, 6:04 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
TrollandToad is my favorite online vendor for Magic: the Gathering (but my favorite place overall to purchase cards is still my local game store), and it never before charged sales tax on purchases made, but it is, now; why is that? Was there some change in laws regarding online sales? Does anyone here know anything about that?
DemonDragonJ says... #3
cdkime, thank you very much, and, yes, I do live in the United States, but I would rather not be any more specific than that.
November 26, 2018 6:48 p.m.
pizzagod13 says... #4
Really? Well that sucks. Guess my trading cards will be more expensive from now on. Thanks South Dakota.
November 27, 2018 10:57 a.m.
pizzagod13 - I disagree that the ruling "sucks" for a number of reasons, which this thread is not really the place to discuss.
However, I did want to offer one MTG related counterpoint--the change in law is helpful to local game stores. Local game stores are having a hard time competing with the internet. Online retailers have a much larger stock of cards and relatively low overhead as compared to the volume of sales, reducing costs. Lower prices and better inventory alone are hard to compete with--lower prices, better inventory, and the added advantage of not requiring additional payments for tax, even more so.
November 27, 2018 11:17 a.m.
pizzagod13 says... #7
I doubt the ruling will help local game stores that much.
As while I don’t know about other people but I personally use online shopping services not to avoid tax but for convenience.
Also as a low budget EDH player, I buy lots of random cards that a local game store would be unlikely to carry. I imagine that other players are in the same boat but I could be wrong. Thoughts?
November 27, 2018 11:52 a.m.
While it might not help any individual game store that much, I suspect the aggregate impact on the totality of game stores will be significant. It may seem a tad silly to treat all game stores as a single unit, but that's the kind of thing SCotUS considers when addressing Commerce Clause issues.
For most sales, concerns of availability, cost, and convenience will win. However, for larger sales, particularly difficult-to-move reserve list items, the tax might make a difference on the sale. A The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale has at least $100.00 in taxes--$200.00 in some states. You can be that the option of getting it tax free would prevent the LGS from moving the item, resulting in $2000.00 in missed revenue. That's not an item where a sales opportunity occurs frequently, so it might be months upon months before another potential buyer expresses interest.
Taxes are not the primary threat to the LGS, but eliminating government-created incentives to shop online does help, even if it's only in a small way.
November 27, 2018 12:23 p.m.
PhthisisClock says... #9
Online sales tax has little to do with benefitting LGSs or any other retailer, as far as legislation goes. Rather, the states themselves feel cheated out of sales taxes. As an online-seller of goods (not MTG related), I can at least state that most sellers that I know (and myself included) figure-in taxes as part of the cost. If I sell an item for $1000 online, I simply state the selling price as $943.40 plus tax (=1000). Also, if I have an item that can be bought online for cheaper than my price, I will match the price and take a little hit on my margin and sell in-person rather than lose the sale. Afterall, a sale at 20% profit is better than no sale at all.
Caerwyn says... #2
I presume you live in the United States?
If so, then I might know the answer. Recently, the Supreme Court in South Dekota v. Wayfair, Inc. ruled states could charge income tax for online sales, even if the retailer does not have a physical presence in the state.
I presume your state updated their tax laws shortly after the decision.
November 26, 2018 6:29 p.m.