- Hi, and welcome back to another Amazon selling video.
My name is Nikki Kirk,
and today we are talking about sales tax exempt sourcing,
doing retail arbitrage.
So, if you didn't know, when you file with your state
to get a sales tax certificate or resale license,
resale certificate, it goes by many names,
but, essentially, it's that certificate from your state
which means that you are a reseller
and you can buy products without paying sales tax,
because you're gonna charge sales tax
in the end when you resell it.
Now, some stores actually take this,
so you don't have to pay sales tax, some don't,
and today, I'm gonna cover
all the different ones that I know of.
There are a ton of different sales tax exempt statuses,
like non-profits or teachers,
and we are reselling, so we are resellers,
and, generally, you just go to
your state's department of revenue website,
or you can Google your state plus sales tax certificate,
and it will take you to usually a business tax,
and it's called sales and use tax.
There, you just file for your business
to get your certificate.
Now, I am not a sales tax expert
or a tax expert in any sense of the form.
This is just how I know how to do it and how I've done it.
In most states, you don't need anything
to get your sales tax certificate.
You can get it as a sole proprietor.
You don't have to be a registered business or have an LLC.
You can register as a sole proprietor.
I've done a few different videos on sales tax in general,
like does Amazon collect, do you have to pay,
and all of that, and so I'll link them here,
but just know that this video is just talking about
using your tax certificate at retail.
So, once you have it, obviously, you want to use it, right?
So, I got mine a while ago. I've had it for a while,
but I didn't start using it until a year ago,
so I've been selling for four years,
and for three years I was paying sales tax on everything
and I was losing out on so much extra profit.
So, don't be like me.
If you have your certificate, just use it.
I don't know why it took me so long.
I thought, like, I was doing something wrong or something.
I don't really know.
You know, when you don't know, you don't know,
and so you're kind of scared of something.
Well, that was probably me,
so I finally got my sales tax certificate card at Walmart
and I did a full video of, like,
real-time me going to get it,
talking about how dumb I am and how silly it was.
If you want to check that out, if you haven't,
I'll go ahead and link it here.
But, yeah, anyways,
so if you want to watch the real-time process,
but Walmart is the first store that you should go to
if you have your sales tax certificate already.
It is super easy to do it.
I think they have an online version,
but I could not get that to work, so I just walked in.
You walk into the customer service desk,
you have your paper, probably your ID, I can't remember.
I'm sure you need it though,
and they actually have this like really old,
you know, the computers with like the black screen
and the orange text, or maybe it was green?
That is how the computer is,
so they'll just put your information in
and then they'll give you a little card.
I should have brought mine out to show you,
but people can laminate or tape it.
Mine is, I should probably tape it,
but it's just in my wallet.
It has your number, and now you are tax exempt
for obviously only taxes and purchases.
You can't go buy your groceries using this,
but for taxes and resale purchases,
you can now do it super easy at Walmart.
So, all you have to do is
you take your purchases to the checkout counter
and you hand them your card first.
It has to be before you start ringing everything up
or they'll have to decline the transaction
and redo it all over again.
So, the first thing I do is hand them my card.
You can not use it at you scan,
and so many Walmarts are doing you scan now,
it's ridiculous, and sometimes the only checkout that's open
is the cigarette 15 or less line.
And let me tell you, I've gotten some dirty looks
from people who want their cigarettes, I guess,
but look, I got to get my tax exempt,
and if that's the only line you're gonna have open,
well, that's the line I'm gonna go through.
If they don't have any lines open, which, honestly,
when we were in Vegas, that was the case,
it was only you scan,
I would probably go to the customer service desk
and make them do it,
because if they're not gonna have a cash register open,
that's not my fault.
HomeGoods, TJ Maxx, and Marshall's also take the sales tax.
I guess Sierra probably does also,
'cause they're all under the same parent.
I just don't source at Sierra, so I've not done it.
And they're all three separate companies,
even though they have the same parent company,
so what happens is you will physically take your paper in,
and you need to bring it in every time,
because sometimes they keep it.
Generally, they keep it.
That's their policy, but not all stores keep it.
You bring them up your sales tax certificate
and they will put in the information
after they've already checked everything.
So, they scan everything first at those stores,
and then, if it's the first time there,
they will put you into the computer,
which does take a little bit of time.
Usually, like Marshall's, all the systems are the same,
so no matter what state I'm in,
in that Marshall's, it will work.
They can put in, I think they asked me
for my phone number or my name, I can't remember.
I just give them the paper every time,
and so they must just look it up, actually,
now that I'm thinking about it.
And so, it's easier to do that way,
because I'm already in the system.
Again, if you're first time at HomeGoods,
they'll have to do that.
So, if they keep your paper, just know that's normal.
That's what they're supposed to do.
Some of them don't.
One time I had this ratty old one
that had been in my purse for awhile, all folded up,
and I was literally using it all day at Marshall's
and TJ Maxx and HomeGoods, and not a single store kept it,
and I was like, why?
I was just trying to get rid of this ripped up one,
but I ended up having it all day.
Literally, no store.
But the crazy thing is
that I forgot to have multiple copies in the car,
so I even went to FedEx Office, whatever it's called,
and I made more copies because I was going to be outsourcing
and, literally, I didn't use a single one of those copies,
so now I have even more, but it was kind of crazy.
So, always have multiple copies.
Make sure you grab it.
There's been many times that I've been like, oh, shoot,
and I just leave my cart, run out to the truck,
go grab it and come back in.
The only time I've ever had problems using it
was in Arizona.
I don't know what Arizona's sales tax policy is,
but the manager at Marshall's was like, no,
we can't take this 'cause it's out of state.
I've actually never used my sales tax certificate
in the state that it's issued.
It doesn't matter, because I'm paying sales tax
when I sell the stuff.
Anyways, she was like, no, it needs to be this number,
or whatever, and I'm like, no, I'm in your system.
Just look me up.
And she's like, no, we can't take this.
So, I didn't want to fight it
and I just ended up paying sales tax,
but if you call corporate,
you can even get the manager's name if you want
in the store you're at,
if you call corporate, they will reimburse you,
because that is their policy to take them,
and so, the manager should have taken it.
Tuesday Morning is another one that takes them.
So, at Tuesday Morning, again,
after you've been, everything rang up,
they will go ahead and give you a form to fill out,
and you have to fill it out every time.
It's just your number.
You keep your paper, they don't keep it,
so you just fill out your information on the form
and then they put you in and you don't pay sales tax.
Again, in Arizona,
I don't know what it is with Arizona,
but they were like, it was in the Flagstaff area,
all of this happened, they were like,
oh, this isn't gonna work.
And I was like, but he tried it anyways,
and what do you know? I didn't have to pay sales tax.
So, it did work.
Sometimes I don't know why.
I feel like I'm at the point where I can tell the managers
or the cashiers how to do it, because I've done it so much.
But, you know, they think they know what they're doing,
so I just sit there and wait for it to work.
Ollie's is another one that you can use it at
and you should use it at, and in fact,
if you're a member, you should be if you're an RA seller
who sources at Ollie's, definitely join the Ollie's Army
so that you can get those coupons
for 10 to 15% that happen.
They will almost always have a coupon because of the amount
you'll probably be buying, but they do also do tax exempt.
So, you can use your coupon and not have to pay sales tax,
so that's really awesome
and that really helps the profits add up.
Now, I give mine to the cashier every time,
but I am pretty sure that they will actually put you
in the system with your, like, Ollie's number,
and it'll have you in there.
I don't know why I've never done it
or why they haven't done it.
That's what I've heard that they actually will do.
So, either way, you just take it right to the cashier
that you're checking out, and again, they do it at the end.
I believe Grocery Outlet does,
but I've only ever sourced Grocery Outlet in Oregon,
so I'm not 100%, because we don't have sales tax in Oregon,
so I've never had to pay it there.
And those are all the stores that I know of
that takes the sales tax exempt.
If I missed any, please comment below
and let us know where else we can be using it.
Ross generally won't take it.
I have had people say that they've had success,
but I've never had success.
Wherever you're at with this form,
literally just slam it on the thing
and say this is a sales tax exempt purchase,
and just see what happens.
Own it, have authority,
because you're not doing anything wrong.
Be confident, and usually Ross will say no,
they don't do that.
Now, Target is another one that
they have a policy against resellers,
so they can turn you away
and not sell to you if they want to.
I have never tried to use my sales tax certificate,
but I know that people have,
especially if you're in another state,
because they don't necessarily know what it is.
It looks different than the one they're used to.
So, at Target, I end up always just paying sales tax.
The last thing, and the most important thing to note
is that, if you do get your sales tax certificate,
you must actually file your sales tax with the state,
because if you don't, you will get fines for being late,
and in Florida, those add up.
Even if Amazon is already collecting the sales tax
for you in your state, you do still need to file zero.
So, make sure you're filing no matter what.
If you've got the thing, you need to file when they say.
Depending on the state, it can be annually,
semi-annually, or quarterly, some states even monthly.
So, I hope this video was helpful
and gives you the confidence to get out there
and use your sales tax certificate
to save some money and get some extra profits.
If you need my help, if you want to take
my beginner Amazon selling course,
or if you need to get ungated
or join the BOLO group, all the links are below as always.
Thank you guys so much for watching, and happy sourcing.
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