Reverb TAX, Ebay TAX. May as well buy new.

thiswaythatway

thiswaythatway

Well-known member
For something that typically sells for $425-$450 used why bother when you get bent over and taxed for it now when it sells for $499 new. I can see this tax BS actually helping the retailers. Some ebayers and reverb trolls think they're smart by selling low but tacking on $80 shipping on something that costs $30 to ship! I guess there's always craiglist but the amount of scammers on there is astonishing.
 
If is 499$ new, i buy used only for 250$/ less then 300$. Otherwise i always prefer to buy new.
 
Don't mind paying taxes on new stuff but I don't like paying taxes on used stuff that's already had taxes payed on it..if a say guitar is sold 10 times on ebay no matter how beat up used it is that's 10 times taxes are payed on it.
 
Philo Beddoe":v9oqhvnh said:
Don't mind paying taxes on new stuff but I don't like paying taxes on used stuff that's already had taxes payed on it..if a say guitar is sold 10 times on ebay no matter how beat up used it is that's 10 times taxes are payed on it.
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To be clear, the extension of that would be that any used goods retailers (whether it's music shops or pawnshops) would effectively be able to operate without paying taxes.

Whether that's right or not is a political question that I won't get into, but that would be the ramification.
 
Philo Beddoe":1hpngrfq said:
Don't mind paying taxes on new stuff but I don't like paying taxes on used stuff that's already had taxes payed on it..if a say guitar is sold 10 times on ebay no matter how beat up used it is that's 10 times taxes are payed on it.
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If it helps, you aren't paying taxes on the item. You're paying taxes on the transaction. Those taxes are there to support the infrastructure which supports the economy. We heavily subsidize the transportation network, for example, that moves all those items around that we purchase. In theory, these taxes help defray those expenses. (When you pay shipping costs on an item, you really only pay a fraction of the total cost to move that item across the country.)

Anyhow, to the OP's question, I'm not certain how this matters as you also pay taxes on all those new items too. Up until recently, you could purchase through Amazon and in most places got to skip the sales tax. (You were supposed to report it and pay those taxes, but most people didn't bother with it.) Now, you pay on those Amazon new items, so it's the same as paying on a reverb/ebay deal.

In a couple of years, paying taxes on shipped goods will just be business as usual and everyone will move on with it.
 
Aren't there taxes on new-gear purchases too? Seems like a wash. Just need to be aware of it so there's no sticker shock after placing it in the shopping cart.
 
Guess it explains slow sales on Reverb. Buyers are shelling out an additional $60, $70, $80, or more depending on their state, on a $1,000 item.

Florida hasn't been added yet to the Reverb tax list, but I do notice sales tax for me on GC used now, online. Doesn't matter which location you buy from. I've added a few things to the cart, and they taxed it.

Also, I noticed Reverb hit me for fees for total sale price when tax was added to the buyer. So, I sold an item for $500, the buyer had to pay $535, and the $535 is what they based their fee on. Seemed kinda wonky, if you ask me.
 
napalmdeath":9kzhvgbs said:
Florida hasn't been added yet to the Reverb tax list, but I do notice sales tax for me on GC used now, online. Doesn't matter which location you buy from. I've added a few things to the cart, and they taxed it.
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They've been that for quite a while, at least in my experience. They have to charge you local sales tax if they have any stores in your state. They aren't independent shops so the whole interstate commerce thing that made taxes across state lines tough, didn't apply there.

The same has been true of Amazon forever. If Amazon has a presence in your state, you pay sales tax. We have shipping center somewhere in the state, so always paid sales tax on Amazon orders.
 
napalmdeath":33l0tf4x said:
Guess it explains slow sales on Reverb. Buyers are shelling out an additional $60, $70, $80, or more depending on their state, on a $1,000 item.

Florida hasn't been added yet to the Reverb tax list, but I do notice sales tax for me on GC used now, online. Doesn't matter which location you buy from. I've added a few things to the cart, and they taxed it.

Also, I noticed Reverb hit me for fees for total sale price when tax was added to the buyer. So, I sold an item for $500, the buyer had to pay $535, and the $535 is what they based their fee on. Seemed kinda wonky, if you ask me.
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That should be some degree of fraud if you ask me. Reverb should not be able to make money on tax.
 
napalmdeath":212yi1u9 said:
Guess it explains slow sales on Reverb. Buyers are shelling out an additional $60, $70, $80, or more depending on their state, on a $1,000 item.

Florida hasn't been added yet to the Reverb tax list, but I do notice sales tax for me on GC used now, online. Doesn't matter which location you buy from. I've added a few things to the cart, and they taxed it.

Also, I noticed Reverb hit me for fees for total sale price when tax was added to the buyer. So, I sold an item for $500, the buyer had to pay $535, and the $535 is what they based their fee on. Seemed kinda wonky, if you ask me.
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That should be some degree of fraud if you ask me. Reverb should not be able to make money on tax.
 
I just sold a head on reverb. They charged the buyer 8% sales tax and passed the money through to me even though I’m not a business. WTF??? I don’t want to be forced to file a 1099 with the IRS.

I’m with OP. Fuck reverb.
 
Pentatonic":3q66avi6 said:
I just sold a head on reverb. They charged the buyer 8% sales tax and passed the money through to me even though I’m not a business. WTF??? I don’t want to be forced to file a 1099 with the IRS.
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I thought the deal was that Reverb was collecting the tax, keeping it and submitting to the states. Is that not the case?

Edit:

This page says they collect and remit. Sounds like an error on your sale/transaction.

https://help.reverb.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019132973
 
Bob Savage":vjqxifzp said:
Pentatonic":vjqxifzp said:
I just sold a head on reverb. They charged the buyer 8% sales tax and passed the money through to me even though I’m not a business. WTF??? I don’t want to be forced to file a 1099 with the IRS.
Click to expand...

I thought the deal was that Reverb was collecting the tax, keeping it and submitting to the states. Is that not the case?

Edit:

This page says they collect and remit. Sounds like an error on your sale/transaction.

https://help.reverb.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019132973
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Nope....I just double checked. In my Paypal transactions I see a credit for the full sale amount, plus the shipping, plus the tax, then paypal subtracted their fee. :dunno:

EDIT: It just occurred to me that it's possible they will charge it back to me on my reverb invoice at the end of the month, and then remit........but that seems unlikely.
 
Pentatonic":2w64uqo0 said:
Bob Savage":2w64uqo0 said:
Pentatonic":2w64uqo0 said:
I just sold a head on reverb. They charged the buyer 8% sales tax and passed the money through to me even though I’m not a business. WTF??? I don’t want to be forced to file a 1099 with the IRS.
Click to expand...

I thought the deal was that Reverb was collecting the tax, keeping it and submitting to the states. Is that not the case?

Edit:

This page says they collect and remit. Sounds like an error on your sale/transaction.

https://help.reverb.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019132973
Click to expand...


Nope....I just double checked. In my Paypal transactions I see a credit for the full sale amount, plus the shipping, plus the tax, then paypal subtracted their fee. :dunno:

EDIT: It just occurred to me that it's possible they will charge it back to me on my reverb invoice at the end of the month, and then remit........but that seems unlikely.
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Here's what I found, looking at a past transaction...

I sold a Randall RD45H for $350, + $49 shipping = $399. They added tax to the order to the buyer, and final sale price was $429.45 (tax was $30.45).

They then based their final sale fees on the $429.45, not the $399, and subtracted the $30.45 as well, on the final payout. The tax becomes a wash, since they added it, then subtracted it, but based on my math, their fees and payout reflected a sale of $429.45, not $399, which is kind of fucked up, if you ask me. Clever way to grab an extra couple bucks.

Obviously, collecting and remitting the taxes is putting a couple extra bucks in their pocket. I know it's a business, and dealing with the IRS is a pain, but damn. How many thousands of dollars do they gain in a day? A week? A month? Pretty slick. I guess now you know. The buyer's tax will cost the seller a few more dollars, and, I can see it slowing sales on higher end gear. I guess that's why so many watch, instead of buy. With sales tax in play, a $1000 guitar with tax added may be a turn-off to potential buyers.
 
hstlaurent":1v5l0nmg said:
450 + tax is still cheaper than 499 + tax. :dunno:
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/thread

I will add that it can still be worth doing business with smaller shops if the owner is "in the know" with tax remission policies. Case in point, I just bought a guitar from a shop in WI. I asked the owner if he could sell it to me tax free, and he correctly responded YES because he is a small shop and won't be doing anywhere close to $100,000 in sales in my state (CO).

Basically it all boils down to each individual state's economic threshold for total revenue or number of transactions in that state. For most states, this threshold is $100,000 - $200,000 in sales and/or 100 - 200 transactions in one year before you’re legally obligated to collect and remit sales tax to that state.

Check here for details on individual states: https://blog.taxjar.com/economic-nexus-laws/
 
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