Stack's Bowers Auction - separate invoices for each Session = SALES TAX and Double Shipping!!! ***Up

mbogoman

I just received my invoices from the recent Stack's & Bowers Baltimore auction. I won coins from two different sessions. The first coin, for $1292 with BP from session 1. The two other coins, for a total of $1100, were from a different session. The only reason I even bid on the other two coins was to bump my total to over $1500 to escape CA sales tax. I just received two separate invoices from Stack's, each with CA sales tax assessed! That's over $200 on the combined total!!! I called, but the people from accounting had already gone home. Has this ever happened to anyone else? Shouldn't everything be on one invoice? What a crock!

This has never happened to me with Heritage - all sessions have always been combined on one invoice.

******* Update as of 5:10 PM PDT ******

I just received a phone call from a gentleman at Stack's. Apparently there were a few of us that had called in today complaining about the same thing. The problem has been recognized, escalated and should be fixed tomorrow. He assured me that my order should have generated only one invoice with no sales tax. A new invoice should be expected tomorrow.

MilkmanDan

That is BS, although I say that about most taxes in general. Good to know since I usually do the same thing by adding a small coin to avoid the CA sales tax. I would read up on their policies. Heritage states pretty clearly how they treat this situation.

illini420

100% BS and they should combine the invoices. I called earlier in the week to confirm whether there was a $2500 credit card limit on each part, the floor and the internet, and I was told the credit card limit was $2500 for both parts combined...

Not only is the sales tax an issue with their two separate invoices, but you also get hit with two separate shipping charges!!!



Edited to add that by calling, it seems that they won't combine invoices, but they will combine shipping.

mbogoman

<< <i>Not only is the sales tax an issue with their two separate invoices, but you also get hit with two separate shipping charges!!! >>



You're right! I was so incensed about the sales tax issue that I totally overlooked the shipping. Total BS is right. I will be on the phone with accounting tomorrow first thing...

claychaser

You could call them to see if there are any coins that are still available that had reserves that did not sell to put you over the $1500.

bestday

heritage considers internet and floor separate auctions although they automatically combine into 1 invoice

mbogoman

bump for update in OP

oreville

Interesting,

In the past, StacksBowers combined the auctions into one invoice and based the shipping on the combined purchases and not separately.

As long as the auction was entirely at the same venue/location, I see no reason for SB to separate the purchases out.

I would imagine the same would be true of the sales tax calculation.

Trime

I thought the tax exemption for Calif sales tax on coins was $1000 not $1500. Was there a change in the ordinance?

MilkmanDan

<< <i>I thought the tax exemption for Calif sales tax on coins was $1000 not $1500. Was there a change in the ordinance? >>


Not sure if/when it changed but it's definitely $1500.

Glad to see in the updated OP that SB "fixed the glitch".

Coinsponge

<< <i>Interesting,

In the past, StacksBowers combined the auctions into one invoice and based the shipping on the combined purchases and not separately.

As long as the auction was entirely at the same venue/location, I see no reason for SB to separate the purchases out.

I would imagine the same would be true of the sales tax calculation. >>




Probably some bean counter in great fear and quaking of the tax hungry California told them to do it this way to avoid any controversy with the state. Not very customer friendly though.

FredWeinberg

The Calif. Sales Tax Exemption for
Numismatic Sales is $1,500 -

It was $1,000 for over 10 years, but
about 3 years ago, the Calif. Coin
Dealers Association, and ICTA, decided
it was better to let it go up to $1,500,
rather than fight the exemption raise,
and possibly loose it entirely.

Basically, if you buy an ounce of gold,
you're exempt.......

WTCG

Issues like this are worth calling the company first and trying to work things out before complaining about it here. Dealing with them directly is a lot more productive than posting grievances here.

MilkmanDan

<< <i>Issues like this are worth calling the company first and trying to work things out before complaining about it here. Dealing with them directly is a lot more productive than posting grievances here. >>


But then the forum would go silent Wei

mbogoman

<< <i>Issues like this are worth calling the company first and trying to work things out before complaining about it here. Dealing with them directly is a lot more productive than posting grievances here. >>



I did call the company first and was told to "call back tomorrow when accounting is here". Then I reported it here and asked if the same had happened to anyone else. Apparently it had (not necessarily to other board members). Enough people phoned Stack's that that the problem escalated and caused a Stack's rep to call me later in the day promising to rectify the problem. I am happy to report that new invoices were generated today with no CA sales tax assessed.

swhuck

<< <i>heritage considers internet and floor separate auctions although they automatically combine into 1 invoice >>



Generally, no, at least not for the last 5 years or so. The floor portion of the Summer FUN auction and the Internet portion fo the Summer FUN auction (just to use a current example) are the same auction for all purposes. Once in a while, we will have separate auctions for the floor and internet sessions for world coins; this has to do entirely with the amount of time that elapses between the two, and is the exception rather than the rule.

Of course, if we're holding coin, currency, and world coin auctions at the same time, those will all be separate auctions, and you can't combine them for sales tax purposes.