WineBid Updated Terms and Conditions Sale tax for everyone!

[Anton_D]

Dear Bryan,

Thank you for contacting the customer service team at WineBid. The Washington state tax rate of 10.1% you are currently being charged will change when these new Terms and Conditions go into effect. You will no longer be charged WA sales tax and instead will be charged Napa county CA sales tax of 7.75%.

We appreciate your business.

Sounds completely fair.

[Rich_Brown]

They still provide the best chance to hunt down aged wines that I like. Tax is secondary.

^bingo. The tax won’t change anything for me as the access to otherwise unobtainable wines is why I buy from winebid

+1000

I’ll never understand the hate for Winebid. Awesome spot to find a wide range of wines, many which are hard/impossible to find anywhere else. Add in typically very good deals and awesome customer service. Tax or no tax (which is obviously something out of their control) - I’m a huge fan.

[MMunger]

They still provide the best chance to hunt down aged wines that I like. Tax is secondary.

^bingo. The tax won’t change anything for me as the access to otherwise unobtainable wines is why I buy from winebid

+1000

I’ll never understand the hate for Winebid. Awesome spot to find a wide range of wines, many which are hard/impossible to find anywhere else. Add in typically very good deals and awesome customer service. Tax or no tax (which is obviously something out of their control) - I’m a huge fan.

Agree with all this 100%. I buy on there regularly (as well as Spectrum, HDH, Brentwood, Herritage, K&L…). If you are on there only looking for deals on readily available wines, then it probably is not for you. But, if you want something aged, not available outside of being a member, or something harder to find then there are lots of great opportunities. I regularly find aged wines from places I am a member of for less than I paid to begin with.
Most all of auctions sites tell you the total including the premium before you even hit the bid button, so there are no surprises.

As for the storage, most all will store fro a while at N/C mostly so you can keep buying over a couple auctions to put a case together. In Winebid specially they will store for 6 months from date of purchase before charging you $.50 per bottle per month. Too me this seems pretty fair.

I live in WA, but luckily have an office outside Portland OR so I have all my shipments shipped there to save tax then have it brought up to my main office on one of our transfer trucks.

[David_Bu3ker]

I sent WB an email for clarification on the non-permit state tax issue, per WineBid:

Dear Bryan,

Thank you for contacting the customer service team at WineBid. The Washington state tax rate of 10.1% you are currently being charged will change when these new Terms and Conditions go into effect. You will no longer be charged WA sales tax and instead will be charged Napa county CA sales tax of 7.75%.

We appreciate your business.

So, that’s actually a net positive for me!

You likely owe the difference of 2.35% to WA. It’s called use tax.

It’s hilarious that people get up in arms about this.

[Cris_Whetstone]

Mathematically challenged.

Not sure where all the anger comes from. We’re just chatting here. So angry.

Don’t be defensive, Mike. I’ve read no anger. Just many of us are a bit flummoxed as to how you could pay the ever increasing premium while skating on tax you know you would pay in most other transactions. The tax drops in and you are upset enough to say you’ll never buy again. It just seems a bit odd to suddenly get angry with Winebid. Ever increasing scalping is cool but following the law is over the line?

[Rich_Brown]

I recently stopped buying from WineBid when they decided in December to charge me for storage until I could ship my wines in April.

I had 2 bottles, and they charged me 50 cents per bottle, so we are talking principle. The fact that the organization is
so incredibly dumb that they think shipping in December is viable (and they kept suggesting it) tells me they should not be dealing with fine wine.

As for the tax, it has been an anomaly for a long time. Sorry to see it go, but it evens the playing field for everyone.

For what it’s worth, i shot them a quick note when I was falling outside of their typical hold window here in AZ, and they immediately removed the storage charge. Their customer service truly is top notch and they respond quicker than youd expect

[Arv_R]

Well hopefully the sales tax payments will let them keep shipping. I have been very reluctant to buy anything out of my home state (esp if it cant get shipped right away) the last 12-18 mos since it seems like shipping is tightening up nationally.

If this pacifies regulators and keeps the market moving, its probably ok. And I suspect in the long run, everything will get covered for sales tax. As annoying sales tax is, its one of the few ways to get some societal contributions out of those who aren’t participating in the lawful economy.

[John_Danza]

Winebid has always charged me Illinois tax on my purchases. My reading of this change is that they will now be double taxing any purchase I make (Illinois and California tax) since Illinois is not one of the 5 exempted states in their email.

VM

I was wondering this as well. I don’t expect this to be the case. The reason that WineBid charges us Illinois sales tax is because they technically still have an office here even though they closed the warehouse location in Elmhurst. I believe they still have a sales guy here. At least that’s what they told me when they closed Elmhurst but confirmed they could still ship to Illinois.

But it’s worth a phone call next week.

[Arv_R]

I wish they would do more frequent / scheduled Saturday pickups at their Napa location.

They had one during the fall, but didn’t give much advance notice.

A few scheduled times a year would be a nice benefit, as it would make a weekend trip to wine country much more fun.

[larry_schaffer]

Did people also stop buying from Amazon when they stopped the music for the tax free sales? Seems odd to get upset with WineBid over this.

Anyone not paying taxes on sales they normally would should have known they were getting away with something. Not that it was something they got because of principles.

They are plenty of beefs to have with WineBid as listed in this thread. Finally having to pay taxes seems like a petty complaint at this point.

I find some stuff on there that is within the ranges of things I’m looking for. It’s getting increasingly difficult to get them at good prices though. That’s not just a WineBid problem though. Lots of under the radar classics are now going for large percentages more than they were 5-10 years ago.

Well stated.

This thread reminds me of some of the threads on shipping companies and the fact that some like one over another because the driver will simply leave there wines for them without having to be signed for. I get the convenience factor but this is completely illegal antique are some major issues if the wine is taken.

Sometimes doing the right thing sucks!

Cheers

[Gray_G]

Isn’t there a sellers premium as well?

yes they take a cut on both ends

as of of 4/1/19 now passing on the taxes in addition to shipping…moves the added cost to near 30% on the buy

the Winebid model will likely fail as the volume won’t be there

bummer

cheers

[Keith_A_k_e_r_s]

Isn’t there a sellers premium as well?

yes they take a cut on both ends

as of of 4/1/19 now passing on the taxes in addition to shipping…moves the added cost to near 30% on the buy

the Winebid model will likely fail as the volume won’t be there

bummer

cheers

I’m more than willing to bet that this won’t be the case. What timeline are you placing for them to fail? Seems to me that there is plenty of volume as wines I used to walk away with have become more competitive (and I’m not talking about bidding on Jamet or the like). But, I’d be quite happy for people here to stop bidding on wines since it will at least take some people out of the pool.

[John_Danza]

I just got off the phone with Winebid and here’s the skinny relative to Illinois. I’m not addressing those five outlier states.

We had been getting charged the Illinois sales tax of 6.25% (used to be 7.75%, but that’s a different story). Due to the Supreme Court ruling in the Wayfair case, the federal ruling is that the sales tax that needs to be collected is based on the location where the sale takes place. For Winebid, all sales take place in Napa County, so they will only be collecting the tax for Napa County at the Napa County rate of 7.25% (I might have mid-heard that and it’s 7.75%). They will remit the tax to Napa County.

They confirmed that they will not be collecting double taxes. So that means that Illinois will cease getting the revenue. Not being a lawyer, I’m not sure what ramifications this has to Illinois trying to come after us poor residents for the sales tax, or use tax, or whatever they want to call it. I’ll burn that bridge when I get there.

[Gerry_Morrisey]

I stopped buying from them a year ago when they closed their Chicago distribution facility. The vig wasnt too bad but combined with increased shipping and sales tax the all in cost just wasnt worth it anymore.

[Gray_G]

winebid should relocate to OR…no sales tax

[JohnP]

This Sunday will be my last WineBid purchase for some time. Whoever said there were no gems left should peruse the inventory this week. I found some… not telling my picks

[Gary_Rust]

Isn’t there a sellers premium as well?

yes they take a cut on both ends

as of of 4/1/19 now passing on the taxes in addition to shipping…moves the added cost to near 30% on the buy

the Winebid model will likely fail as the volume won’t be there

bummer

cheers

Zachy’s and Acker are now 31-32% as they charge tax as well.

[CJ_Beazley]

First Bottle Wines;

“Due to the recent Supreme Court ruling (Wayfair) on sales tax, First Bottle will now collect appropriate sales tax on all orders, regardless of where customers are shipping their purchases. Please see our web site for our full terms and conditions.”

[Neal.Mollen]

So people are angry that WineBid is trying to not break the law?

I must have missed the anger

[Neal.Mollen]

In my case, residents of Nebraska are required to pay Nebraska sales tax on all internet purchases. If an internet seller does not collect and pay to Nebraska this sales tax, I am required to claim and pay it via my Nebraska tax return. Places like Amazon collect the appropriate Nebraska sales tax. According to Winebid’s new policy, they will be collecting CA sales tax but no mention of who will receive this sales tax. If they are going to be paying it to CA as I am assuming, that leaves me with still having to pay Nebraska sales tax for a total of 14.25% (7.25% CA plus 7% NE) in addition to the 17% buyers premium for a total of 31.25%.

I am pretty sure this is and has been the law in all 50 states for a very long time. People just didn’t do it, which mean that states went without those revenues because chasing people down for the money was difficult, and because (until last term) the dormant commerce clause case law prohibited states from “burdening” interstate commerce with laws that forced the retailers to collect the tax. Now that the law has changed, retailers are getting into compliance