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Minimum order of $1,500 to ship to California
Zoins
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I just noticed that a seller has a minimum order policy for California residents of $1,500. Anyone know why this might be the case?
We DO NOT ship to California residents unless the total numismatic purchase is equal to or exceeds $1,500
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Perhaps it has to do with declaring and collecting taxes on the purchase below $1,500?
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
California has a 7.25% sales tax, but if coin or bullion transactions are over $1500 then they are exempt from all sales tax.
Gobrecht's Engraved Mature Head Large Cent Model
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Good call. Google led me to the following from JM Bullion:
Isn't that seller related to a member here from CA? Seems odd that they would not ship to their own state to avoid dealing with collecting the sales tax. Do they also have this policy on their website?
My Ebay Store
No California sales tax if purchase is over $1,500. I think. We do things different here. Real different. On that I'm certain. God help us all.
I seen a seller with some really cool Philippine patterns and had the same non sense in the listings that the minimum order to cal was 1500 or they would cancel the sale.
They are cal sellers and dont want to go to the trouble to register there businesses with a license and a tax permit is the reason why is a very good guess.
Yes. Its the non-taxable threshold for California. On occasion I've had to buy something for a couple hundered bucks that I didn't really want on GC or Heritage after winning a single gold saint or something just so I can get above $1500 on the invoice and the tax money can be applied to another coin instead of putting it on top of the price of the saint etc. I wonder though why the business in the OP will only sell above $1500 and won't just charge tax and sell under $1500 as well.
Zoins: You edited your original (OP) post which mentioned the special USPI coin you were following at my son Justin's eBay offerings this week. And, yes, that particular coin could sell for more than $1,500 or possibly less. But, I believe that if you are the winner of the coin and want to take up to a few extra weeks to build a total order that equals or exceeds $1,500, that is perfectly fine to do and the entire order in that case would be sales tax free (not to mention likely shipped for a greatly reduced shipping fee). I believe one of the strongest continuous buyers of Justin's USPI material on eBay is from CA. and routinely buys coins at any price level problem-free.
SamByrd: Rather than making incorrect "very good guess(es)" or concluding something is "non sense", why not just pick up the phone and place a simple call to the owner of the site / eBay seller to discuss the matter and get a simple clarification. Justin would be delighted to speak with you.
If I may say so myself, Justin is a very, very easy going (and friendly) fellow. He is a young "start up" and has not even been "doing this" for a single year (and literally at any moment might decide to follow in the footsteps of the other 94% of his fellow pre-med Fraternity members that he recently graduated with that went directly to med school. He might well decide a numismatic career is not for him and make Mom and Grandmom very happy with the graduate school choice) . The business world is "night and day" from the previous five years that Justin just spent earning a Science degree in Chemistry from UCLA. Which makes it even more impressive that he is quickly closing in on nearly 1,000 perfect feedback on eBay in such a very short time and is really doing a great job over there. CA is a challenging state to do business in and I believe Justin is trying to comply with all the various rules and regulations.
Since Justin is not a board member here, I took the liberty, as his father, to write this comment.
Wondercoin
Sales tax kills everything. When I make an offer on any coin or bullion from dealers who charge MA state sales tax it reflects. Bad for the seller AND buyer.
Cheers
Bob
Thanks @wondercoin . I removed the reference to the sale and seller after it became clear this was a state issue so as not to unfairly single out one seller.
Thanks for the follow up as well. It is a nice coin and I agree the coin could go over or under, depending on who is bidding so it's good to get the info on how to complete the transaction.
As for your son's career path, both my brother and I were accepted to medical school. He chose to go while I chose another route. We're both happy with our decisions, so good luck to Justin on making his!
Bingo.
My pleasure Zoins. Best of luck bidding on the coin in question (if you go ahead with that)!
Golden / TomB - It has to do, of course, with the "collecting" of small amount of tax on the smaller possible orders ("declaring" has nothing to do with it). But, again, that is something for Justin to discuss with any interested bidders (including proper methods to possibly buy coins tax free in CA). Justin has met in person with rep(s) from the CA SBE and, as I mentioned, always tries to comply with the rules and regulations of CA.
Just my 2 cents.
Wondercoin
Go Bruins!
BS, '90
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Yes, in California we are charged sales tax on invoices less than $1,500 for coin or PM purchases.
For California this is very surprising. I'm not sure who bribed the Legislature to get that exemption passed.
Everything should be taxed here.
Good Luck
I believe sales tax has to be collected only if the buyer and seller are from that state.
JM Bullion, being an out of state retailer, does NOT have to charge sales tax to California residents.
If a seller has a physical presence in California and sells to a buyer in California, then the seller has to collect sales tax. In order to do that, sellers have to set up an account with Franchise Tax Board, file quarterly statements and pay tax on those sales. As Mitch said, that can be an extra hassle that sellers may not want to do if they don't do a lot of in state sales.
There are some exceptions. One is for "casual sellers". The intent is for things like garage sales.
There is also the coin & bullion exemption for invoices under $1,500.
BUT everyone in California has to pay a use tax if they buy things out of State.
On the State Income Tax form, you have to report all of the items you bought out of State and then California collects the tax on it.
Top... I believe it is the State Board of Equalization that wants that sales tax. Wondercoin.
Taxes.... amazing... if the majority of people totaled up ALL the taxes we pay, I think there would be revolution... Just a snowy morning random thought... Now back to coins...
Cheers, RickO
Yup It's a sales tax thing and some county's may vary.........heck out here it costs about 2 bucks
just to walk out the front door
Steve
Or as TO pointed out sellers with substantial presence. I am a seller with both a substantial presence in CA and in NV so I have to collect and report sales tax to both. Believe me I get more unpaid buyers from Ca than anywhere else because they don't think they have to pay the tax. So I understand wanting to not deal with that. But i don't descriminate from any state.
Wonder coin is right BOE is sales tax FTB is state income tax.
TO is also right if you are in CA and buy from out of state seller who doesn't collect CA tax you as the buyer are required to pay the tax on your state income tax return under Use tax.
My question was more wondering why a CA seller won't ship to CA because they don't want to deal with the tax. It seems counterproductive to me. Unless the seller just doesn't want to deal with people who aren't willing to spend $1500.
Dont get me wrong, I think the seller has every right to set his own business model. I just wondered if the seller had this policy company wide. Is this policy an eBay policy? Does the seller avoid in person sales at shows etc? I'm picturing a guy setting up at a show and telling everybody who wants to buy a coin sorry I'm not selling to you unless you spend $1500.
None of my business really but since the thread was started I figured I'd ask.
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Bigjpst... Again, Justin will be happy to discuss with you all the fine points of his terms and conditions (even in a friendly way dealer to dealer), but if I may address one of the key points/questions of your last comment. I believe the $1,500 minimum spend is almost revenue neutral. Why? Because just like you have the highest amount of unpaid bidders from CA, on the flip side of that is the percentage of customers that actually increase their order to over $1,500 because they have no interest in paying the sales tax once they hear that they would have to. Do you know just how many CA sellers on eBay simply do not charge the sales tax to not deal with the issue at all while capturing the CA sales - of course I suggested to Justin from day 1 to never "play it that way".
A while back, someone from CA wanted to buy an 11 pc. Ike set in PR69DCAM for just under $300 but wondered why he couldn't. When it was explained, he essentially said to please sell him six sets as he didn't want to pay sales tax either from any seller, anywhere. So, you get an extra $1300 or $1400 from one buyer while losing a $50 or $100 sale here and there from a number of others. And, of course, other customers take advantage of and appreciate building their total order over a few week period that does generally save a lot of shipping $$$ in the process as well. And, of course, you also do lose the customer who wants to only spend $40 this month period and may never do business with you again.
Just my two cents and I hope this helps.
Wondercoin.