Gunbroker Sales

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ThomasT

ThomasT

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Joined
Sep 27, 2007
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6,036
Location
Burleson,Texas
Anyone else sell on Gunbroker and been sent a tax bill? I sold 5 items. one rifle stock and four firearms on GB and for the first time ever just received a bill for $86 for sales tax in various states. Are there other sellers here who have seen this?

Had I of known maybe I could have built this into the final price. Anyway just beware if you are going to sell on GB. You will be blind sided with another bill you were never expecting besides the final value fees. These will be my last items to list and my account will be closed.
 
Collection of State Sales tax for "internet" sales has been US law for nearly a year now.

From memory, GB sent out notices at least 6 months ago that it as going to require the tax bill be paid.
And, it's been complicated as the various State Comptrollers have billed GB for the sales amounts, so GB has to collect from someone.

It's a bear, and a burden, but, it's not going away anytime soon.
 
CapnMac said:
It's a bear, and a burden, but, it's not going away anytime soon.
Click to expand...
When have you ever seen a tax go away? The country-wide collusion is permanent. Next step; look for states to hike Internet sales taxes higher than local taxes “to keep the jobs and money in our state”
Somebody said, “The more laws, the more corrupt the State” Here in Texas 666 new laws just went into effect .
 
Don't blame GB because you weren't paying attention. Everything I'm ordering on line now is taxed. Powder, primers, ammo. In fact my last purchase on GB in June showed the tax, shipping and my bid amount. That is how much I sent the seller. Yours didn't?
 
trackskippy said:
Why isnt it just added/figured into the final sale price by GB and collected? Its their software.

They arent paying me to be a tax collector, so why should I do it?
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It should be. The final price that they should be paying you for should include shipping and tax. I just bought an item on GB and when I went to the checkout to see the final sale price the tax was included ON TOP of the final sales price.

You pay GB the sales tax and they pay the respective states. They are being the tax collector more than you are. Probably why they added the 1% buyers premium too.
 
jag22 said:
Don't blame GB because you weren't paying attention. Everything I'm ordering on line now is taxed. Powder, primers, ammo. In fact my last purchase on GB in June showed the tax, shipping and my bid amount. That is how much I sent the seller. Yours didn't?
Click to expand...

I am not talking about taxes as a purchaser. I as the seller am also being taxes ALONG with the seller being taxed. And the buyers had to pay taxes not only on the items they bought but also taxes on the shipping which strikes me as really being wrong.

Black rifles said:
The GB spam has increased tenfold since they sold out. Now he's gonna collect taxes.... Deleting my account, it was good at one time.
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Yep. I will pay my final amount and and also delete my account. If I can't find it at a local gunstore or a gunshow I don't need it. I am sort of through buying guns anyway. I still have an online account at the local paper I can list guns for sale like I did way before I started using gunbroker.

Thanks for the replies guys. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Does anyone know if Gun Auction has the same policies? I have bought and sold several guns on here over the years. They don't have the same traffic as GB but maybe a good alternative.

https://www.gunauction.com/
 
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Gunbroker clearly collects taxes as part of their online sales…are you saying they kept that tax and they’re asking you to pay the tax? If so, that’s a scam. Otherwise, you should have received that tax money in your payment from GB, so it’s incumbent on you to make the payment to the states.
 
earlthegoat2 said:
Just in case someone doesn’t read the whole thread, I am very misquoted above.
Click to expand...

I am not sure how I miquoted you since all I did was copy your post. But I removed your post and meant no offense. If I misunderstood what you were saying and misapplied an answer explain what I did wrong and I will correct it. Sorry about that.
 
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ThomasT said:
Here are the seller fees on Gun Auction. I don't see anything about taxes or hidden fees for the seller or buyer. Next time I have something to sell I will give them a shot. My other sales with them went smoothly.

https://www.gunauction.com/help/fees.cfm
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Every online retailer is required, by law, to collect the appropriate sales tax in the state where the item is purchased (i.e., the buyer’s state). Maybe Gun Auction make the tax payment directly instead of leaving the seller to do it - but rest assured the tax will be collected (or they would have been driven out of business by the money-hungry states).
 
Navy87Guy said:
Gunbroker clearly collects taxes as part of their online sales…are you saying they kept that tax and they’re asking you to pay the tax? If so, that’s a scam. Otherwise, you should have received that tax money in your payment from GB, so it’s incumbent on you to make the payment to the states.
Click to expand...

The taxes the seller paid came to me and those are included in my Final Value Amount that I knew I had to pay to GB. No problem with that. Then today I got another bill from GB telling me as the seller also have to pay taxes on the items I sold. I know online buyers were having to pay taxes now. But this was the first I have heard of the seller also having to pay taxes.

They are collecting taxes coming and going.
 
ThomasT said:
The taxes the seller paid came to me and those are included in my Final Value Amount that I knew I had to pay to GB. No problem with that. Then today I got another bill from GB telling me as the seller also have to pay taxes on the items I sold. I know online buyers were having to pay taxes now. But this was the first I have heard of the seller also having to pay taxes.

They are collecting taxes coming and going.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clarifying!

If the buyer’s taxes already went to GB when you settled, then it’s a rip off. Sellers don’t pay “extra” tax, they just have to ensure it’s collected and passed on to the state.

I wouldn’t pay without them producing more paperwork…and maybe taking it up with the States involved!
 
ThomasT said:
The taxes the seller paid came to me and those are included in my Final Value Amount that I knew I had to pay to GB.
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If GB sent you the money the buyer paid in taxes, then either you have to pay the taxes to the state or send it back to GB and let them pay the state.
GB or any other seller isn’t obligated to charge sakes tax, but they have to pay it and are allowed to pass that on to the buyer. They aren’t really acting as a tax collector, they’re recovering the taxes the state charges them. Subtle difference.
 
twarr1 said:
If GB sent you the money the buyer paid in taxes, then either you have to pay the taxes to the state or send it back to GB and let them pay the state.
Click to expand...

That’s the point…as the OP said, he sent that money to GB in the Final Value amount he owed. So GB already got the tax money that was paid.
 
There were 32 states that started charging tax on internet sales and there may be more now. GB has the sales tax figured for the buyers state and is listed on the invoice. I pull up the invoice and know how much the tax is. I can then pass it on to the buyer if, by chance, he/she didn't view the invoice online. GB then charges my credit card for the tax. Works fine for me, but it can be a surprise to a buyer. I sold a H&K SP5 for $3025 and the final price after tax and shipping was $3399.99. It might be bad for my business but at least it levels the field for brick& mortar businesses that has always had to charge sales tax on local sales.
 
OK let me explain a little more. When the buyer wins an auction they are given a total from GB for the whole amount including the new added on fees and the tax amount for the state they live in.

Then the buyer sends me (seller) the total amount from GB including the item amount, fees and state taxes. Then at the end of my billing cycle GB sends me an invoice for the final value fees I owe for their percentage of the sale and using their system. They also include on the invoice the new fees and taxes the buyer had to pay that I collected from the buyer for the state they live in. Then I send GB a payment for the final value, extra fees and taxes that I collected from the buyer. Thats all and good and easy to understand. GB is not charging the buyer two times for taxes. Just once.

THE NEW twist is they sent me a separate invoice so I can pay taxes for the items I SOLD. If I could copy and paste the statement they sent I would and I would post it here. It says they are collecting sales tax for the items I sold. It says nothing about who is getting the sales tax or where it is going to go.

I am going to send them an email through there system and ask for details and where they came up with this amount from.
 
Navy87Guy said:
That’s the point…as the OP said, he sent that money to GB in the Final Value amount he owed. So GB already got the tax money that was paid.
Click to expand...

No. GB does not get the taxes until I send it to them. The buyer sent me the taxes, fees and item amount all in one inclusive payment. Then I send the final value, extra fees and taxes to GB.
 
Before it was automatically collected by GB for online gun purchases, CA would require the receiving FFL to tack on the sales tax when the gun was picked up. That was often a surprise bump in the cost when you went in to fill out the paperwork :(.

Now it’s all rolled into the final price, along with the shipping cost and any seller tack-on fees for credit card usage. If nothing else, the full price is a bit easier to compute.

Yeah, I hate it too…but living here in tax-em-central I have to live with it until I can move. :oops:

Stay safe.
 
As the seller if you already sent them the buyers tax then you don't owe them anything. The buyer pays the tax not the seller. They have wrongly billed you.
 
I remember once I bought a piece of music equipment on eBay which cost around $300. Shortly thereafter I received an invoice for it, but something about it was not quite right. I hesitated, and soon after, the real invoice was sent which seemed far more legit. However, the bogus one was still somewhat convincing. It had eBay's logo, and looked almost real. So I eventually verified which one was the real one and paid. I sent a return email to the scammer titled "Your Payment"...except inside was a big ol' photo of my middle finger! ;)
 
I am confused - I am getting the impression from this reading that GB is trying to collect taxes 2X from the seller. Tax that was collected from the buyer for the state of origin transaction (the seller’s state) and then a subsequent billing to the seller for an additional tax liability of yet unknown purpose and origin. If I am understanding the OP’s tax concern properly, then I wound question the additional billing also.
Now as far as the government and taxing, the government lost my respect long ago - our government feeds itself with a seemingly unlimited taxing authority - the fox is definitely watching the hen house - don’t we all wish that we could force others to give us large sums of money on demand - yes, that would be very nice!
 
Black rifles said:
It is not a scam, they have been taking sales tax from their members for months now. its on their new agreement page.
Click to expand...

But @ThomasT already sent them the tax that he collected…and now they’re essentially asking him to pay the same tax as the buyer did - which is a scam!
 
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