Internet Commerce

Following media coverage of Amazon.com's legal challenge to North Carolina's attempts to collect sales tax for online sales, a New York Times editorial characterized the retail giant's federal court action as a "losing battle to defend its longstanding practice of not collecting sales taxes in most states where it does business."

A Connecticut bill that would have required remote retailers that had online affiliates in the state acting as sales agents to collect and remit sales tax was tabled as the legislative session ended on Thursday, May 6. Though the bill, HB 5481, passed the Finance Committee with strong support, lawmakers backed away from the bill after Amazon.com threatened to fire its Connecticut affiliates if the bill was signed into law.

A number of ABA IndieCommerce stores have reported receiving fraudulent orders for The Twilight Series Boxed Set. A red flag is that the bill-to/ship-to addresses are different. The order usually comes from a Yahoo e-mail account and includes a request for overnight or two-day delivery, sometimes claiming it's for a birthday present.

Three improvements to ABA IndieCommerce websites were announced this week, including one that has resulted in lower rates on credit card transactions. 1) A new credit card processor IndieCommerce has switched its credit card processor to Bank of America, resulting in lower rates on each transaction:   Old Processor Bank of America

Google announced last week that it has expanded the features available to small businesses through its Google Places service. The changes give business owners the opportunity to provide more information to consumers through Google's Local Search results.

On the cusp of the April 1 switch to an agency model for e-books, negotiations were ongoing between five major publishers and wholesalers, including Ingram, and others in the supply chain. In a communication to IndieCommerce participants, ABA COO Len Vlahos explained that a short-term consequence of the switch would be the delisting of e-books from Hachette, HarperCollins (including Zondervan), Macmillan, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster on IndieCommerce websites.

Last Thursday, Connecticut's Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee passed sales tax fairness legislation, HB 5481, by a vote of 35 - 13. The legislation now goes to Connecticut's House of Representatives for consideration.

When Follett Higher Education Group announced a new textbook rental program open to independent bookstores, "we instantly had people signing up," said senior vice president of intellectual properties Gary Shapiro.

On Wednesday, March 17, a group of Maryland booksellers testified at a state Senate Budget and Taxation committee hearing in Annapolis in support of e-fairness legislation. Other booksellers submitted written testimony in support of the bill, SB 824.