buying local

[JFife 14]

.....Had a pleasant surprise a couple days ago. I've always bought most of my equipment from whoever is cheapest, usually envirospec. I know a lot of people say spend more and support the local economy, but I've always been more about helping the Jon Fife Economy. Anyway, I had to get some equipment fast, went to a local supplier, and found most of their stuff to be competitive with espec, and some cheaper! Some things they had were still high, especially hose. ......And I was in the market for some advertising material, which I usually have done out of state, called a local company, and they were cheaper than the internet companies!

Guess my point is, every now and then you oughta check local prices, you might get a nice surprise.

jon

[Russ Johnson 141]

Usually larger ticket items (equipment and drums of chemical) can be purchased locally cheaper or comparably priced when "shipping and handling" are factored in. A 550 lb drum shipped by itself can run $120.00 to $175.00 in freight costs. A distributor will ship in between 5,000 and 10,000 lbs of freight at a time, at a cost of $.07 -$.09 per lb. Equipment is also usually shipped free freight for minimum orders, usually 3 - 5 at a time.

[Mike 64]

I try to buy local anytime I can. I look at it this way, would I want a customer to go with me and keep money in our area or go with a national franchise and who knows where the money goes after that. I guess thats my small town thinking. That being said I would drive an hour or so for a good buy, now if I can just get down and see Russ sometime... :D

[CCPC 26]

I buy 90% of my supplies off the internet. To me, it makes absolutely no sence to drive 45 minutes to my local supplier so I can pay up to twice as much. Even if the prices were comparable, I would still buy most supplies from the internet because even with the added cost of shipping, its still cheaper for me to buy online.

2 hours drive time + ware and tare on truck + gas prices =:mad:

sitting at desk + place order in 5 minutes + not eat up half a day driving to other side of town = :banana:

[RyanH 14]

Interesting topic.

Taking it a step further, does anyone check the country of origin when buying products? I used to buy whatever was cheapest. As I'm moving into home ownership and am shopping for things for the house, however, I've become quite averted to things made overseas. I guess I'm just tired of some of the cheap crap I see flooding the shelves in places. It's getting the wife aggravated at me...especially when I passed up a china-made Craftsman cordless drill sale for $99 for an american-made brand at $199. I know in a macroeconomic application free market can and will rule, but I like keeping money local, too.

[PLD 14]

One thing I found out in my hobbies is that if you do not support the local vendors (even at a higher price), they go away. And local stores are a wealth of advice and essoteric (sp?) items. I still buy online/cheapest for many items, but I also make sure that mom-n-pop get a slice of the pie as well.

A good recent example is my surf cleaner arm. Hydrotec only sells through dealers, and I needed the part yesterday. My local dealer (ACP - hapeville) bent over backwards to get me that part overnight. They might have made $20, but spent hours phoning, tracking (it went missing in transit), etc. All he wanted for his time was to keep him on mind when I need something bigger like a skid. And I guarantee you that if his price slightly higher he'll get my biz. He earned it.

[svp07 14]

Anyone else pay state sales tax on internet purchases? My account said NJ is cracking down on it. I had to pay about $400 for last year when I had my taxes done.

[PLD 14]

Anyone else pay state sales tax on internet purchases? My account said NJ is cracking down on it. I had to pay about $400 for last year when I had my taxes done.

An online merchant (and their state) can only collect sales tax on an internet purchase of that business has a presence in your state. To do otherwise is illegal. You are probably being had for an X% markup in the name of "sales tax".

Philip

[svp07 14]

The state of New Jersey collects tax from businesses that buy good over the internet out of state; the merchant is not collecting sales tax.

[Paul B. 523]

In Ohio, every individual and business is expected to pay sales tax on internet or other out of state purchases where taxes are not paid. It's voluntary....

I understand there were about 900 people/businesses that reported taxable internet purchases last year.

[Celeste 341]

In North Carolina, they whack everyone for ANY out of state purchases, whether internet or just when you go on vacation. You either cough up receipts for whatever you did or you pay a percentage of your income for out of state purchases.

Celeste

[seymore 90]

No state sales tax in Texas :D

[Paul B. 523]

I have not heard of state audits for taxes - they mostly seem to follow and pick up the crumbs after the feds have cleaned your wallet.

I heard last night one of the states is trying to add a 2% tax to food sold at fast food places like McDonalds. I know they aren't allowed to tax food taken out - only food consumed on premises but it's just a matter of time.

I try to purchase as much as possible within my area, be it township, city, county or state but sometimes things are either not available, too slow to get or way over priced. I needed a 200ft of hp hose a few weeks ago and my local quoted $450 for it and 4-5 days to get. Two days later it was sitting at my feet for about half that (including shipping). Thank you Water Cannon!!!