I don't do much shopping because honestly, I really don't have much money. Between the ex-wives and the drinking it pretty much disappears each month as fast it comes in. So, like many of you I am always looking for a sale. When I think sale, I'm thinking at least 20%, but to really make me get my lazy ass out of the recliner you better make it 40%.
Would you or anyone you know get out of your recliner for a 5% off sale? How about 8%? I wouldn't either. That isn't even worth my time or gas or anything. So, how is it that each and every week I hear at least 5 different companies all advertising no sales tax sale and think that all of us are going to be dumb enough to come in.
I know each state has a different sales tax and some have none, but here in California it is about 7%. The way they make the ads sound, they act as if they are doing the public the biggest damn favor of their entire lives. That the store is going to go out of business because this is such a damn good deal. 7%? Seriously? No one would care unless they were already at the store and the clerk said, "oh, by the way, today you get 7% off." Plus, to make matters worse, the 7% is money we don't care about.
When you take your tax rebate check and go to Best Buy to purchase that new flat screen with built in porn, the price might be $1,499. Each and every person is going to say it costs $1,499. The sales tax is just something that gets thrown on at the register. What we say we are paying is $1,499, so when the store says you don't have to pay the sales tax, who gives a f**k, because in our minds we weren't paying it anyway. We were just paying $1,499.
The fact that stores keep doing this is either because they have no imagination, think we are all stupid, or that we must think sales tax is 40% or something. Maybe I'm alone, and maybe people really are influenced by it. Maybe I'm the only guy in the world who thinks the price is the price. Tell me I'm wrong and I'll shut up. I know it's not gossip, but honestly I heard 14 different stores this weekend with the same promotion and I just couldn't stand it anymore.
"No Tax" won't get me outta the house, either. If you look, you can find websites that have the stuff you like, plus free shipping AND no tax, year round...so that really adds up to: no tax/no shipping/no gas wasted/no mall parking lot/no mall period.
ReplyDeleteYou're not wrong, it is stupid and not worth the gas money. However, as unfortunate as it is, a lot of people are going to see "SALE" and think it's a great deal and go in to that store. It takes intelligence and a capacity for logic to realize the "savings" isn't worth the paper the ad's printed on, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteAs for it not being gossip, it's your blog, man - cry if you want to. :-)
unfortunately, there are a lot of stupid people in this world.
ReplyDeleteheh. Have you heard of the shopping mecca of the US, Delaware? Nope no sales tax there either, ever. Do people from DC or Maryland flock to Delaware? no, not so much.
ReplyDeleteIn Mass, we don't even have sales tax on a whole host of items. Over here, we get a little cranky about taxation. There was something about a tea,
Indians (feathers, not dots)
and those annoying British. If anyone mentions the big dig, I will stroke out. Irish mafia built it out of empty Guiness cans and burnt matches. Umm where was I?.... I love days off
You're not wrong, I totally agree.
ReplyDeleteI'm a sale slut, so it doesn't take much for me to hit the mall.
ReplyDeleteOh sure, I can get 20% off if I use my Macy's card, but they charge like 22% or 24% interest. They get me everytime.
i live in west chester pa.
ReplyDeletei'd go to delaware (not much further than the closest best buy anyway) for a tv to save the $100 some, take the savings and buy a harmony remote :P
Here in Georgia, we have sales tax free shopping weekends (for clothes, computers, and school supplies, mainly) before school starts and a few other times in the year. And the stores are swamped, especially places like Wal-Mart. Honestly though, how much are you saving buying your kids pencils and markers that it's worth packing yourself into an effing Wal-Mart?
ReplyDeleteI will say, however, that I did go out of my way to buy a computer on a tax free day six years ago. Not that I'm rolling in dough or anything now, but money meant a lot more to me then. I saved nearly a hundred bucks!
We have 10% tax so especially on big ticket items you are saving a lot
ReplyDeleteI agree, it's not enough to bother with, but some people go into a fugue state when they see the word 'Sale'. Afterwards they come out of their fugues with buyer's remorse. Silly buggers.
ReplyDeleteSomething I don't get though is why, in the US, the sales tax isn't included in the sticker price. It always annoys me when I'm over there - at home I try to have the right money ready, but there, I have to hurt my brain with 'rithmatics to work it out first!
In the UK we have VAT, but it's included on the price tag so we know exactly what we are going to be paying at the till. Do US stores think their customers are so daft they will think the sticker price is what they will be paying? Oh wait... they hold 'no tax sales' - question answered... ;-)
Meh, here in the good old North we've got two taxes to contend with when we go shopping...
ReplyDeleteProvincial Sales Tax (%6)
and
Goods and Services Tax (%8).
That last one's real fun, since they use it to tax the first tax... That's right, they calculated it AFTER calculating the PST. Nice eh?
So, here here on not leaving the house for less than a %20-%25 off sale... But I'm so frugal, I only go for the clearance racks: Up to %75 OFF baby!
LOL!
We just bought our daughter a bed and while we only found out about the no tax sale while we were there, we still were pretty excited about it. It saved us about $40 or so. It may not be a big deal to you, but I can think of a lot to do with the $40 that I saved.
ReplyDeleteWithout reading the other responses...it's all about shopping around. If it's something expensive enough, you're gonna save a chunk of change. But also compare prices to see if the store marked up the price to make the difference. Hell, I buy a lot of stuff on Amazon just because I don't pay tax, and I don't have to go hunting for the item if I found it on Amazon.
ReplyDeleteI buy big ticket items with cash or a check, much safer than trusting myself with a credit card:) Therefore, yes. If I had been looking to buy a big screen tv for $1,499, I would hit the no tax store. By my math, that saves you over 100 bucks. Almost a whole tank of gas these days!
ReplyDeleteAgain though, I only spend it if I have it, I'm sure it's different if you're putting it on a credit card. Easier to justify and monthly payments make it seem less painful, I suppose.
I live in Ohio and I have never heard of such a sale. I don't even know what the tax rate is here. 6%? 6.5%? I'm not an informed consumer at all, but I do know food isn't taxed, but soda is.
ReplyDeleteWhere do you live? I live in Los Angeles, California and the sales tax is 8.25%. Not 7%. I know that the state has different tax brackets. So you either don't live in LA OR really don't have any idea how much the tax is here?
ReplyDeleteCan we take a poll?
kory: Miami Beach. We are the same as L.A. 8.25% But driving around here (especially when it rains) is so annoying that for the past...I would say....three or actually even four years, I've been a web-only shopper. Saves me some cash, and it's also a little bit like Christmas on a random Tuesday, what with the unwrapping and such :D
ReplyDeletei love you. i really do. you made my day, mr. entertainment lawyer. and for that i salute you. and drink this whole bottle of barefoot chardonnay.
ReplyDeleteHow do you live in California and not know the sales tax is 8.25? What else are you printing here that is false? Hmmmm.
ReplyDeleteActually, he said it's "about 7%" in California, and he's right. 7.25% is the California state tax and in certain places like LA they increase the tax rate by adding a district tax which can be anywhere from .10% to 1.00%. Just going across the street, for example, the taxes can change. Tax rates in California range from 7.25% (the base rate and lowest) to 8.25% (the highest) depending on which corner you're standing on.
ReplyDeleteJesus even if he doesn't live there or doesn't exist and isn't a balding fatty with nineteen ex wives, it's fun to read so quit ruining it unless you have legit reasons with proof or can count past 100.
Educate yourselves.
http://www.boe.ca.gov/pdf/pub71.pdf
I was compelled to comeback and read the excuse for this faux pas. If you lived in LA, you would know what the tax is and not have to look it up on the net.
ReplyDeleteI do love the educate yourself comment, which is hilarious because I know what my tax rate is and I stated that Cali has different rates. Which part was I "uneducated" about?
I have believed this blog is fake for sometime now, but of course I enjoy reading it. Otherwise I would not be here, but it is the legion of fans that run out of the bloggers ass to defend it that is annoying. It is my right to point out when there are mistakes. LA County is a big place. If you are an entertainment lawyer, you would live here where the sales tax is 8.25% and that is about 8%, not 7%.