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Amazon Terminates Illinois Affiliates

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Re: Amazon Terminates Illinois Affiliates

#11

Post by eykanal »

logic wrote: post #2

I just received my termination email. I believe I have a whopping $4 owed to me at this point, so I'm not upset about losing a large amount of revenue; I just have a difficult time understanding the rationale here. I'm an affiliate: I direct traffic to Amazon, nothing more. Or put another way, I'm a third-party marketing arm; I don't participate in purchases as either buyer or seller. But apparently, I'm involved eno…

The message being sent is simple; Amazon is receiving an unfair competitive advantage by not paying taxes (all their prices can be lower), and the legislature is trying to figure out some way they can "force" Amazon to have a local presence through people like you. Amazon, being the 800-lb gorilla they are, just said the equivalent of, "I'm taking my ball and going home."

They did this because you were the "arm" of Amazon the legislature was trying to attack. In Amazon's eyes, it's easier just to cut off that arm than to try to support it and pay higher fees.

Re: Amazon Terminates Illinois Affiliates

#13

Post by michaelpinto »

How many states does it take Amazon to lose until they change their policies? Yes I understand the legalities of it — but there is something very strange about the fact that if I buy a 99 cent app from Apple they can collect the extra sales tax but if I purchased a $99 physical item from Amazon that they feel it's too hard.

As an affiliate here in NY I run a small side biz that generates a great deal of revenue from Amazon and I hate where this thing is going (what kills me is that it's a decent source of income — but not enough to pack up my bags and get a new address).

Re: Amazon Terminates Illinois Affiliates

#14

Post by Vivtek »

michaelpinto wrote: post #13

How many states does it take Amazon to lose until they change their policies? Yes I understand the legalities of it — but there is something very strange about the fact that if I buy a 99 cent app from Apple they can collect the extra sales tax but if I purchased a $99 physical item from Amazon that they feel it's too hard. As an affiliate here in NY I run a small side biz that generates a great deal of revenue from…

The difference is that Apple presumably has a legitimate, taxable presence in NY, whereas Amazon has none in Illinois.

Re: Amazon Terminates Illinois Affiliates

#15

Post by glesica »

Vivtek wrote: post #3
logic wrote: post #2

I just received my termination email. I believe I have a whopping $4 owed to me at this point, so I'm not upset about losing a large amount of revenue; I just have a difficult time understanding the rationale here. I'm an affiliate: I direct traffic to Amazon, nothing more. Or put another way, I'm a third-party marketing arm; I don't participate in purchases as either buyer or seller. But apparently, I'm involved eno…

Might be better yet to send a strongly worded letter to your statehouse rep.

Won't work, Wal-Mart probably already bought everyone in Springfield.

Re: Amazon Terminates Illinois Affiliates

#16

Post by Vivtek »

glesica wrote: post #15
Vivtek wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Might be better yet to send a strongly worded letter to your statehouse rep.

Won't work, Wal-Mart probably already bought everyone in Springfield.

Ha. True. But not writing a letter also won't work. Sooner or later we're going to have to take the damn country back, you know.

Re: Amazon Terminates Illinois Affiliates

#17

Post by kgermino »

glesica wrote: post #15
Vivtek wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Might be better yet to send a strongly worded letter to your statehouse rep.

Won't work, Wal-Mart probably already bought everyone in Springfield.

Hey man no politician in Illinois has ever been bought off. I'm sure this law passed strictly because the representatives in Springfield felt it was the best thing for the state, and definitely not because Walmart made a $25,000 campaign contribution.

Re: Amazon Terminates Illinois Affiliates

#18

Post by dedward »

michaelpinto wrote: post #13

How many states does it take Amazon to lose until they change their policies? Yes I understand the legalities of it — but there is something very strange about the fact that if I buy a 99 cent app from Apple they can collect the extra sales tax but if I purchased a $99 physical item from Amazon that they feel it's too hard. As an affiliate here in NY I run a small side biz that generates a great deal of revenue from…

It's also about running the affiliate programs themselves....

Amazon isn't stupid - who knows what the specific strategy is here, politically or otherwise - they've capitulated in some states, turfed others - it all probably comes down to the numbers.

Re: Amazon Terminates Illinois Affiliates

#19

Post by ikujythujik »

cypherpunks01 wrote: post #6

For a couple years now, New York State has gotten away with forcing Amazon to charge sales tax via a similar state law regarding affiliates, does anyone know why amazon implemented the sales tax instead of dropping affiliates in that case?

Cost of lost sales in NY is lower, lots of people in NY still buy from Amazon rather than Walmart And Amazon didn't want a test case about whether having other services in NY such as advertising agency or stockbrokers, lawyers constituted a presence

Re: Amazon Terminates Illinois Affiliates

#20

Post by pmorici »

cypherpunks01 wrote: post #6

For a couple years now, New York State has gotten away with forcing Amazon to charge sales tax via a similar state law regarding affiliates, does anyone know why amazon implemented the sales tax instead of dropping affiliates in that case?

It looks like they have a subsidiary based in NY; http://www.amazon.com/Locations-Careers/b?ie=UTF8&node=2...

Could also be their NY affiliates are more lucrative. There are a lot of large media type companies that have a presence in NY so maybe the referrals they bring in out weight the amount of sales lost from NY residents because of the need to charge sales tax.

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