Questions About HipStamps

1. Will a stamp sent/sold from Euroland include California sales tax ?

2. Seller states no returns. Can this be ignored on Hipstamps as on ebay purchases ?

3. If not will Paypal accept the return ?

4. Comments ?

#1 - Extremely unlikely. HS will only calculate tax if the seller has set up that state/province with the applicable tax setup, and then the seller has the responsibility to track & remit. Can't imagine a seller in Europe doing that.

#2 - Worth checking with the seller if they have forgotten to set up "accept returns" on their listings. IIRC it is off by default. If they truly mean no returns, that's not confidence inspiring IMO.

~Greg

You're kidding, yes?

ebay will apply US sales taxes to purchases from Europe, but I can't imagine that smaller venues have this facility.

I did find this article about sales tax.

https://help.hipecommerce.com/suppo.../14000112928

https://www.hipstamp.com/members/to...bal-settings

https://goscf.com/t/73515

Just received an answer from the seller stating that as a smaller venue and as a seller no sales tax issues have come into play yet.

No kidding, just uncertainty. Being in California, I've been being charged Cali sales tax on purchases from anywhere on eBay purchases until the last couple of months or so when it stopped. Never been charged thus on Hipstamp purchases from Europe or Canada. Obviously, Hipstamp's shopping cart system would show if tax is being charged before you finalize a purchase but I'm not sure if auction bids with US sellers will show it ahead of time. Anyone?

4. Comments:

There are also covers and smaller stamp lots available there.

Not a buyer at auction on Hipstamp. Perhaps someone would like to chime in on that experience.

Shipping charges are all over the map. Nice that sellers offer/can offer cheap stamps cheaply, but some will tack on extra postage for every stamp or set added to the order.

Just like ebay stores, the sellers with junk only, lots of faulty priced as sound, forged presented as genuine or "I don't know but I'll charge you retail anyway", blurry or no photos, should be avoided.

If you are thinking that non-US sellers will have different things on offer, that is often the case. Still, between Hipstamp, Delcampe, ebay, etc. there are still lots of inexpensive stamps worldwide that remain elusive. That said, I've been able to obtain a lot of stamps of quality/that looked like the photo provided at a reasonable price on Hipstamp.

There seem to be fewer European and Canadian sellers there that will only ship via registered mail.

There are some UK sellers pricing in pounds based on Gibbons that are then rather steep to me. Otherwise, most everyone else prices directly in US dollars.

My last 30 purchases on ebay very recently from US China Belgium Russian Federation and more have all included Cali sales tax.

Having no recent purchases on HipStamp and contemplating the purchase of a stamp that could have a sales tax of $100 I came up with the idea to refresh myself with the concepts of shipping charges, combining purchases, sales tax, returns, money exchange differences, 2005 vs 2021 catalogue pricing, feedback and even vat tax before making an offer which could then lead to a purchase.

I recently made 2 purchases through ebay from sellers in the Netherlands and had sales tax collected for both purchases. I assumed it was because states want sales tax from the point of origin of the sale (which is California or in my case, Florida).

I wasn't happy about it but chalked it up to ongoing efforts to improve governmental revenues through sales occurring on the internet. Is this correct, or....?

In the US, it's a spin-off from the Wayfair judgment. The fact that you, in Florida, buying from me, in London, should pay tax when no part of the transaction except the delivery of goods to your front door has taken place in the US, is utterly bizarre.

GeooffHa is absolutely correct. Bizarre.
I deal only with dealers who accept checks and am not charged sales tax on any of my purchases. Unless instate, then sometimes. I purchased this morning Mortmer Neikens book and was surprised to see sales tax charged, then realized it was an instate purchase. Hip is the same.
Regards
2nd thought
The Wayfair case I believe was out of S. Dakota, and set a limit on business transacted amounts. I believe the Court ruled that States could collect sales tax beyond a "reasonable" amount that was transacted. In S. Dakotas case I believe the amount was 12,500. Of course every state set the limit at 12,500. Once you pass that amount with any state that so requires you are suppose to collect sales tax. I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, etc.etc. etc.

The only thing about Wayfair that's bizarre is that Amazon and ebay elected not to further challenge state tax laws on the grounds that the Wayfair decision applies to merchants with direct sales, not "platforms" with member sellers. The taxing power of the states is nearly unlimited. It's worth reading the four-page syllabus of Wayfair to understand just how broad state tax power is. See https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinio...494_j4el.pdf (first four pages). Hipstamp has thousands to millions of virtual interactions per day with the State of Florida and its citizens, although individual Hipstamp sellers don't. The likely rationale for Amazon and ebay not challenging post-Wayfair state tax laws is that they want consumers to view them as the merchant, and diminish the brand importance of any individual seller. We see this on Amazon where thousands of machine-generated brand names are used for fungible goods from China and elsewhere--don't worry about who the true seller or shipper is, just buy from Amazon with confidence.

Of course, states don't have to tax, Wayfair just allows them to, but state residents keep punishing themselves by electing tax-hungry legislators. Post-Wayfair, many states require a "marketplace" like Hipstamp collect and remit taxes, rather than individual sellers on the platform. Texas is an example. If Hipstamp isn't calculating and collecting tax for sellers, it's only a matter of time until it faces an enforcement action requiring it to do so.

Edited to correct typo.

Interesting discussion...

I guess the simple way to deal with all this is to figure in your sales tax (mine is 7% here in Des Moines, Iowa) and possibly the shipping cost (been doing this all along) into your purchases, or, better yet, your best offers.

I have found that if I place an item in the cart for ebay, for example, it will tell me what the net cost will be (estimated or actual). I can then remove it from my cart and begin negotiations with a seller, or move on, as the case may be.

No hobbyist seller is going to take the time to conform with each government authority's sales tax policy. They just want to sell some dupes or things they don't have an interest in in order to fund future buys. So, in that sense, a place like ebay, which takes care of everything up-front, makes total sense. Yet, even the periodic seller there has to watch out for the total amount of sales - if it exceeds a certain amount, you will receive a tax form, whether you are operating as a business or as a hobbyist. Then you will have to sort out your taxes at tax time.

John

I concur with cjpalermo1964, as a democracy we get what we deserve.

I do not blame ebay, I do not blame the politicians. Instead I think that we are all to blame for voting the same way over and over by putting the same career politicians back into office. Why do we simply accept that this is the way it is always going to be?

If we insisted on the following things we could see real change in the US;
- Term limitations on all elected public servants
- Good vetting of all public servants
- End or severely limit campaign contributions from private sector donors, no loopholes
- End lobbyists, super pacs, dark money influence on elected public servants, no loop holes
- Rigid control on public servant income guidelines while serving and after serving, no loop holes
- Restore discussion, debate, compromise and consensus in government

Allowing the powerful and media to divide us is a diversion, as long as we are sniping at each other they stay in power. But we fall for it and let them manipulate us like lemmings. Then we complain as we are going over the cliff? <shrugs>
Don

Don you have hit the nail on the head. those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. to get to the bottom of almost anything follow the money. also remember history is written by the victor more often than not.

"History doesn't repeat itself....it rhymes"
Mark Twain