Illinois able to participate in the Amazon Affiliate Program again!

1. 35

   ChristinSposted 11 years ago

   http://illinoispolicy.org/amazon-associ … -decision/
   According to the story above released yesterday,  the supreme court has struck down the "Amazon tax" that caused Amazon to pull the plug on the program in Illinois in 2011.  It says Amazon announced that Illinois residents would be able to participate again.  If this pans out I cannot begin to state how exciting that is since Ebay's program truly sucks now.
   
   Any fellow Illinoisans heard anything about this?

   replyreport
   1. 63

      kthix10posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Awesome - going to try it out now

      replyreport
      1. 63

         kthix10posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Whoohoo! It works - yeah

         replyreport
2. 35

   ChristinSposted 11 years ago

   It's true! I just went to Amazon and went through the application process. Yay now to figure out how to start using them for my hubs too.

   replyreport
   1. 76

      IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Great news, Christin! The absolute best hubs to add products to are the ones where you have talked about them, good or bad.
      Or just start writing new hubs based around a group of products you have used or plan to use. Good luck, best time of year to have Amazon capsules on your hubs!

      replyreport
      1. 35

         ChristinSposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         
         Thanks definitely! I have some product specific hubs that I've already added the capsules to.  I also plan to add links to my websites again and look forward to some additional income

         replyreport
         1. 76

            IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Even better when you know what you are doing, as you obviously do!
            Fantastic news, and I sincerely hope the other States that dropped Amazon join in with Illinois.

            replyreport
   2. 47

      Writer Foxposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Amazon is a much more profitable company than eBay right now.  When Meg Whitman left her position as CEO of eBay to head Hewlett-Packard in 2008, the company went from $8 billion in annual revenue down to $3 billion at the end of 2012.  Amazon stock is $387.17 a share right now and eBay just hit a 52-week low at $48.76.  Amazon is the preference of consumers.

      replyreport
3. 76

   wildernessposted 11 years ago

   That's great news! 
   
   Do you have any further information?  Was the law struck down because of some small technicality, whereupon legislature will quickly fix it and you'll be booted again, or will all the states soon see this happen (hopefully permanently)?

   replyreport
   1. 35

      ChristinSposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I don't know about other states.  In Illinois our supreme court struck it down saying it conflicted with a federal law on the books that more or less says states are not allowed to discriminate against online retailers.  It seems to me this will stick and hopefully the other states will follow suit.
      
      My thinking is the "main street fairness" act was a stupid move for Illinois.  Many businesses here uprooted when that happened because they relied so heavily on the affiliate programs they were part of.  Others of us who were Amazon affiliates before lost a lot of income on our websites - income that we pay taxes on. The whole thing never made sense to me honestly, so I am glad to see the ruling overturned!

      replyreport
      1. 76

         wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         That sounds encouraging.  And I fully agree that it is a mistaken money grab; states simply do not have the authority to demand that business not in their state play collection boy for the taxes their citizens owe but won't pay, and the whole nexus thing was about as stupid as they come.

         replyreport
4. 79

   Danette Wattposted 11 years ago

   I'm happy to hear that too! When I first started here, I was able to join that amazon program, then Illinois got dropped from it. I'll have to look into it again.

   replyreport
   1. 35

      ChristinSposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      You can sign up already Danette - I did it this evening and I've been putting capsules in my hubs already also to replace the crappy eBay program.

      replyreport
5. 66

   psycheskinnerposted 11 years ago

   Personally I think online merchants should pay tax rather than use that loophole to kill local businesses entirely.  But apparently the court disagrees.  It will last as long as it lasts.  I won't be putting up thousands of amazon hubs just in case.  Just a few well targeted ones.

   replyreport
   1. 35

      ChristinSposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I can see your point, but I don't feel it does kill local businesses in all honesty.  There are always some items I am going to shop locally for because I want to see, feel etc before purchasing.  There are other items where my only other choice would be the Wal-Mart that actually did run a lot of our local businesses into the ground - and I flat refuse to shop there. 
      
      Many small businesses do use Amazon and other affiliate programs to boost their income.  Many merchants sell their products through Amazon also, reaching a wider audience.  In my mind, this was nothing but a money grab from the state of Illinois that hurt many of us who were just trying to make a living. 
      
      Sales tax is not that much - and those of us that use affiliates or sell products etc. do have to pay taxes. I'm happy we have it back, it shouldn't have been taken away in the first place.
      
      Illinois would tax the air we breathe if they thought they could get away with it.  We are taxed to death in this state.  and technically, though most of us don't do it, we are supposed to declare our online purchases and pay the sales tax when we file our returns.

      replyreport
      1. 66

         psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         For every break you give one company, you drive a few competitors out of business.  That is the nature of the free market. 
         
         Those who profit from being an affiliate seem happy to give internet companies that advantage.  I would prefer companies that are part of the local community to be given an advantage, not required to charge 2-10% extra and give it away.

         replyreport
         1. 76

            wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            And yet - few people appear to agree.  I really doubt that even 1% of online buyers pay sales tax to out of state sellers; they obviously feel that their state either doesn't need the money or that companies that must pay huge freight bills deserve a break.

            replyreport
            1. 66

               psycheskinnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               They charge the customers for the freight separate and they don't pay the freight to their sales floor, or deal with lease, overheads, shoplifting etc etc etc. How many people agree with me (especially those not directly being paid by Amazon (or hoping to) is anyone's guess.
               
               I would note that the blamed the attempted law for them being unable to reopen my associates accounts on their own frelling website where the account clearly still exists, and requiring me to start a new one.  Which is pure bollocks.  It does ensure they never need pay me the residual earnings that accrued after they closed the account but before I took down all my links.

               replyreport
6. 76

   IzzyMposted 11 years ago

   Amazon.com's prices are a lot less than AmazonUK's. Then again, value added tax is levied on all their goods before the point of sale. Where the seller is from is of no consequence, VAT must be levied.
   Amazon itself pays very little corporation tax in the UK. They are experts in tax avoidance.
   The US experience is a bit like the problem I faced when in Spain. I could buy then from Amazon UK or any of the European Amazons because tax was already included from the country of origin.
   If I bought from Amazon.com, however, I could expect my package to he held up by Spain's Customs and Excise officers, and not released to me until I paid a hefty surcharge to cover tax. I believe the same thing would happen in the UK.
   This a problem for the senate to work out, I think. No way should Amazon's goods be sales tax-free, if you have to pay sales tax on goods (perhaps on a different levy) in each individual state.

   replyreport