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Rock Auto online purchase in Colorado

Honestly this is nothing "new" in Colorado, it's just that they have passed tougher regulations to target internet sales. You were always supposed to self report out of state purchases on your income tax returns and the sales tax would be added to your income tax liability effectively reducing your return or increasing what you owed.

Our business also requires us to travel to multiple municipalities to perform service repairs and installs. I've been doing the sales tax filings for us for nearly 20 years now and we've been filing sales tax returns in 6 different municipalities that entire time in addition to the state. As a business that follows the rules it frankly pisses me off when other companies don't and gain a competitive advantage because of it.

Realistically it takes me all of about 30 minutes to file the monthly sales tax returns, especially now that all of them have gone to online filing. In some respects it makes me a little skeptical of what RockAuto says about the burden of filing for multiple government entities. On the other hand if more and more states start to do the same thing it would become quite the colossal feat. But if 1 guy can file returns for 6 locations in 30 minutes, what could a person do if it was their only task for 40 hours a week. There's this cool new technology called computers and they have this neat stuff called accounting software that figures all the math out for you.

I know there is a lot of discussion in Colorado about how they can streamline the sales tax filing process for businesses that have to file in multiple jurisdictions, particularly for those out of state companies. I don't know if a system can ever be created though because there are so many parties involved. The hope is that a company like RockAuto could file everything through 1 portal and it would be disbursed from there to the individual municipalities.
 
This is basically a protest by rockauto. If I owned a small business selling online, I would not know where to start to charging customers the correct sales tax based on each individual city tax for states that allow it. WA is one of those states. Tax is different everywhere I shop based on county and city sales tax rates all being different.
 
states and cities all started adding the internet sales tax and sold the idea it would help local businesses. All this did was create new barriers to entry for those looking to establish an eCommerce business, no matter how large it may be.

Having to build all the tax codes into an online shopping platform or even just a simple setup is a pain. I’m working on one now. Although there are sites that consolidate all this information and sell it, you can’t get this information all in one place for free... you have to go find it in each state, etc. very tedious.

I don’t blame RockAuto for that. I was at JEGS for a bit, and I’m sure they had accountants trying to sort it all out, too
 
I don't blame Rock either, what a PITA. I'm sure it's a nightmare navigating through the mess.

Not just a barrier for those entering eCommerce, but getting compliant for those that already were in it, like Rock Auto, JEGS etc. I ordered rear window hardware for my '79 K5 from Motor City K5, I'm curious if they charged taxes, I think they did, but going to check.

Edited,
No taxes, just item cost and shipping....
 
Software companies provide solutions for the sellers, it just costs money. We have similar withholding and employer tax requirements nationwide, some states with hundreds of different withholding taxes that need to be collected, reported and paid in variety of frequencies ranging from weekly to annually.
 
So....My former daily driver, now my oldest daughters driver, one of the door actuators failed. I can get one on Amazon by Wed, which I just ordered. Before placing the order, I checked Rock Auto for the part. Rock Auto is about $20 less than Amazon's Dorman part. I went nearly all the way through to check out without getting the order canceled, but looked like it was going to be the first or second week of December before the part "shipped", so I didn't order it. I'm wondering if RA got the tax stuff straightened out...

I needed the part, yesterday, otherwise I probably would have gone through (or tried to) with the purchase via RA. It was interesting that I didn't receive the error, but....as I noted, I didn't go all the way through with the purchase, so it might have gotten denied anyway.
 
Sorry to bump such an old thread, but I need to order a bunch of parts this week... where do you guys shop for parts now? RockAuto was my default, and I'm looking for a new default approach. Do most people just go to Amazon now?
 
Check with Rich at 4xStore.com
He’s on the forum and may be able to find you something you’re looking for.

I’m validating my checkout process on my site right now and I need to load products yet for certain wheel brands. He and I can both sell same products Summit Racing
I’m waiting to finish up a few things before I start pushing products.
 
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try O reilly's esp for none specialty parts. that have next day(sometimes same day shipping) to store. You should be able to get all your brake parts and seals
 
Amazon has been irritating me lately with inconsistent delivery. Mostly I use Summit. Sometimes Jegs and Speedway. Ebay probably falls in the middle of those for frequency of use.
 
I usually get OEM stuff from LMC. But recently found MotorCityK5.com has items for less than LMC. Basic stuff like brakes, filters, etc I'll go to O'Reilly's or Advance Auto Parts. NAPA has a little better quality stuff than O'Rielly's, but has been more expensive, so I had stopped going to NAPA. NAPA's prices are starting to come back down. I prefer O'Reilly's or Advance Auto because they're closer close.

Because of the Colorado tax thing with Rock Auto, I can't buy from them.
 
shima said:
Sorry to bump such an old thread, but I need to order a bunch of parts this week... where do you guys shop for parts now? RockAuto was my default, and I'm looking for a new default approach. Do most people just go to Amazon now?
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So did you hit a wall due to the tax thing with Rock Auto even though to live in Denver?
 
ramack said:
So did you hit a wall due to the tax thing with Rock Auto even though to live in Denver?
Click to expand...

You got it man, they won't ship to my house anymore. Huge bummer.
 
shima said:
You got it man, they won't ship to my house anymore. Huge bummer.
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Dang, at one time they would ship to Denver zip codes. I wonder if they are getting out of the Colorado market period. I thought that at least one guy in the Springs was able to buy from Rock Auto.
 
Looks like the tax issue in Centennial which had prevented Rock Auto from selling/shipping to me has been fixed. I just placed an order with RA and didn't get the error I had received in the past. Whew, just saved $100 on a gasket set.
 
This is huge news and it made my night. I have missed RA so much...
 
Just spent another $200 on parts, would have cost at least $500 or more at Advance or AutoZone. Too bad it was on my daugher's Buick Skylark and not one of K5s. But...if I was spending $ a K5, something was busted.

I wonder when someone got the tax thing ironed out, but glad they did!
 
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ramack said:
Just spent another $200 on parts, would have cost at least $500 or more at Advance or AutoZone. Too bad it was on my daugher's Buick Skylark and not one of K5s. But...if I was spending $ a K5, something was busted.

I wonder when someone got the tax thing ironed out, but glad they did!
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What year Skylark? We bought my son a 72 for his first car.

The only trouble I ever have with RA is shipping cost. It seems like every time I want to make an order, it has to come from 2 or more places which kills the cost savings.
 
Ha! This is the mini me version of the Skylark, 1997, 2.4L (146CID). If it was a 72, she'd be driving my Fusion, I'd take over the Skylark! On the big $200 order, it was coming from 3 different locations totaling ~$10 FedEx Gnd.
 
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