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Get involved with Paul Rafelson and the Online Merchants Guild fight against Sales Tax, Paul is focused on Amazon Sellers and a founder of the On-line Merchants Guild trade organisation focusing on advocacy and eCommerce Sellers.
If we as Sellers are liable then should we not have the customer data
We’ve sold direct but via Amazon’s mechanism – so are they our customers or Amazon’s customers?
Even when you buy something from Amazon the email doesn’t even mention the seller
When you walk into Walmart they don’t say hey we’re just a marketplace and we Apple are the seller for that Macbook…
Amazon seems to get away with what no other big Retail store on-line or off-line!
What Amazon appears to be negotiating is a ‘price advantage’ in their negotiations with States where they bring jobs to the State and Sales Tax is not focused on
The media don’t understand it and so it’s an advantage that it is so convoluted and complicated to understand
The Media and Sales Tax
Amazon seems to have more nad more stories appearing in Media
Looking to leverage the media nad stories that will help bring change about
The Guild will help and needs funding from us to make it happen
We could win this with all of our help to fight this as a collective organisation
The number one platforms for women on businesses is Amazon
Amazon an Equalizer for Women
Amazon was truly the equalizer for women in business, because there was no bias and everyone has their laptop and that’s it – women build some amazing brands and businesses
Some 60yr old bureaucrat with no clue about technology or Amazon but got them to like them or the state
Then taking action against all the Sellers or California going after the Sellers
No politician wants to be known as public enemy number one to women and minority owned business?
Nobody is Getting the Message out on Sales Tax
But nobody is getting that message out and I’m sure they don’t know it’s happening
Makes them look like Warren Hatch when he asked Facebook how they make money when they don’t charge consumers for their services
The media doesn’t get it as they don’t think it’s sexy – AMazon benefit from the fact it is Complex and the Subject Matter (Tax), the media want something that fits in a Tweet and is not Tax
It’s a problem of States doing real harm to progress in the country
Politicians Asleep at the Wheel?
Every politician is pro-small business
But here’s the biggest existential crisis to small business in what is the biggest revolution for small business – Amazon gives the ability to sell instantly into the economy
Amazon sellers are Small Global Businesses as a class of business and are being bullied
Amazon made it possible for a small seller to compete with the stuff Walmart sells but the States are killing it and bullying
We’re allowing these States to get away with something they probably shouldn’t
Tampon Tax Question
Tampon Taxes this year was a big deal – Sales Tax was being charged on tampons and so it was a Woman Tax and was wrong. Did they have to go to court and get a ruling, No!
Cosmopolitan magazine published a story and the State was so embarrassed that they quickly fixed it and knew it was not an argument they wanted to fight!
That’s what we need to do with our message and get this across to media so they can understand what this problem is and to surface the impact to the Country and the stifling of Small Business
You can’t explain this in 700 words…if you’re a copywriter then donate some time to the cause
Viral Marketers can help get this message out that it’s bad for small businesses
Amazon Pushing Marketplace Legislation
Amazon is pushing the Marketplace legislation for Sales Tax
We can get a seat at the table to make demands – we want a definition of retro-active that includes FBA Sellers that means no FBA Seller can be held liable for back taxes in the State of California
We need to back Amazon into a corner so that they have to back Marketplace Legislation in California or the fallout would be bigger than Enron.
Get Involved
OnlineMerchantsGuild.org – please join as it’s all about you
Reach out to Paul if you can help
