With Amazon severing ties with affiliate sellers in Texas, Hawaii, North Carolina, Rhode Island and other states due to issues over online sales tax (including last week closing a distribution center in Irving, TX, following a dispute over $269 million in taxes), Barnes and Noble is apparently seeing a business opportunity in the making. The bookseller posted an open letter to Amazon affiliates on its website, inviting them to ditch the online giant and join their family instead:
Barnes & Noble is disappointed to hear that Amazon would threaten small businesses’ livelihood rather than comply with state law. Here at Barnes & Noble, we value the 13,000+ members of our affiliate program worldwide. They are an important part of our overall business success and strategy. Barnes & Noble collects and remits sales tax due from its sales, including from BN.com, our e-commerce business.
Barnes & Noble wants Amazon.com affiliates who have been terminated to know that you are welcome to join the Barnes & Noble affiliate family. If Amazon doesn’t want you, we do! And, we will take care of collecting and remitting all sales taxes due on BN.com sales to its customers so you and our customers don’t have to worry about being hassled or prosecuted by state tax auditors.
It’ll be interesting to see if this approach works – Not only in building B&N’s affiliate business, but hurting Amazon’s, through painting the company as one that not only doesn’t care about small businesses, but actively threatens them through ignoring tax demands. Expect a response from Amazon sooner rather than later.
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