Many if not most counties charges different property tax rates based on the classification of real estate. Raw land and farmland pay lowest rates. Homes, condos and apartments pay a lower rate than retail. Industrial and warehouse space is also lower than retail.
This gives another advantage to internet sellers. Not only do they pay a lower rate on the property tax, they have much less overhead upkeep. They don’t need bright shiny aisles, waxed and polished floors, cashiers, parking lots, shopping carts, or even air conditioning. Lower overhead = lower prices for the consumer. And of course if they don’t have a presence in the state of the purchaser they can shave 5%-9% off the total cost depending on the state/city taxes.
The world is changing much faster than governments will be able to keep up with. Alibaba reported it’s single biggest day of sales ever - over $30 billion worth of goods sold in a single say. Alibaba is a sort of “shopping mall” they act as the storefront for I don’t know how many tens of thousands of merchants. Amazon is similar in that regard though Amazon does a lot of its own warehousing and shipping. My point is though that, if you don’t need something immediately you can buy it directly from China - where it is probably made anyway even if you did buy it from a US retailer. No sales tax, insignificant property taxes, no retail maintenance overhead, no workers comp insurance, 1/20th per hour minimum wage etc etc .. and below MSRP retail prices. Those clamoring for a national sales tax will soon be begging for a worldwide tax.
Thanks for all the great info.
BABA fell from 200 to as low as 130 recently.
it’s now at about 150.
I figured it was a buy at 140 but with the Trade issues going on, maybe it tumbles one or two more times.
Either way, i think it’s a long term winner, like you say.
That one day 30 billion number is utterly astounding.