Plenty of people go to their local store, check out the physical merchandise, then go online and order it.
The state is protecting their local workers and businessmen from unfair competitive advantage.”
Let’s see-——
With your theory, the customer is looking at the actual item in a brick and mortor store, and then going to the internet and paying for shipping, just to avoid the sales taxes. That doesn’t add up, IMO.
If the price is the same, and it is not a big ticket item like a car, then I will leave the store with the item, as I have spent time and gas to go to the store to browse, and the sales tax will not be a deterrant for me.
What is the part you fail to mention is that the local stores have a higher overhead, and compound that with a snotty, under-experienced sales force, who are fairly useless. Therefore, I might buy something on the internet which will make it worthwhile to pay the shipping and wait a few days IF I am saving a substantial amount of money.
More and more, shopping in the brick and mortor stores is a case of trying to get communication with the sales force. No experience—no idea of personal grooming—arrogant comments when the topic is anything computer/HD TV. They are supposed to be there to serve me and answer my questions, and all too often I get condescension.
I have left more than one store with a basket full of stuff because a clerk couldn’t care less to answer my questions or because I didn’t like the face full of metal and screws and pins.
This is exactly what is happening but it is not so much the sales tax they are avoiding it is also the discount advantages from Internet retailers offering 20% - 30% or more off the same product. Amazon.com is a prime example. People in my current industry are using the B&M as a showcase and then going on the Internet to buy the product.
The brick and mortar mom and pop store is getting killed in this environment. The B&M has significant more fixed costs in overhead and other fixed costs than the Internet only retailer and between discounts and no sales tax this puts the B&M at a decided disadvantage.
Now if we want a bunch of shopping areas with no physical stores then nothing should be done to level the disparity between Internet and B&M stores because eventually that is what will happen as entrepreneurs consider the Internet as a more viable business idea than opening a B&M.Personally I consider the mom and pop B&M business the back bone of the country producing jobs and capital and believe there should be some leveling on the playing field vs the Internet retailer.
And yes, people will stupidly spend more for a perceived savings than they'll actually get. My dad had a mom and pop drugstore in the 60s-90s and as the the big chain discount drugstores proliferated people would travel 10 miles past his store to save 10 cents on a bottle of aspirin despite my dad having a nice store with great service.